Decluttering your home for the New Year
The start of the new year is symbolic of new beginnings. A good time to take stock of one’s possessions as well as how necessary they actually are. However, seeing as the process may appear daunting – a plan goes a long way.
“The process of decluttering your home is a necessary practice and will be of great benefit to you in the long run as well as being a therapeutic practice to begin the new year with.” says CEO of Greeff Christie’s International Real Estate Mike Greeff.
He offered the following tips to start:
1. Make a list
Before you start, make a list of rooms that need decluttering. By doing so, a sense of order is established and gets the process off to a good start. On your list, allocate potential time to each room before you start. Often in the process of clearing up we find ourselves enamoured by our long-lost discoveries and spend more time reminiscing rather than decluttering.
2. Trash
It may be difficult to part with items which could have added significance to your life at a certain stage, however, you should endeavour to fill at least one trash bag per room which would go straight to the bin instead of storage.
3. Keep your space guest-ready
In the process of decluttering your home, bear in mind that your home should be presentable should guests arrive. With that in mind, ask yourself if your home is suitable for guests as is. If not, where would you start? The Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared” is your ultimate decluttering mantra should your resolve ever begin to wane.
4. Donate additional items
Additional items such as clothing and toys are always good for donations. Once you have cleared your space, assess which items will be good for donating. Place those items in a pile and be sure to wash them before giving them away. A bit of good will is an excellent way to begin the new year.
5. Maximise the space in your home
The saying, ‘less is more’ always rings true. Ask yourself which items in the room are necessary – a good way to do this would be to find a vantage point and take a photograph of the room. In looking at the room from a different point of view, you can assess which items belong and by removing the unnecessary clutter you automatically free up space.
6. The two f’s
We all know that paperwork can cause unnecessary clutter. Sometimes we are creative in finding places to store the paperwork. An effective system for managing documents is to follow the two F’s system. Categorise documents in order of being filed or framework. If the documents cannot be filed as per their importance or framed (i.e. a child’s painting or drawing) then toss it out. Chances are if it does not fall into one of those categories it bears no importance.
7. Start small but start
It may seem like a tedious task but aim to start somewhere. However small that start may seem, it will aid you in the long run. Start with packing one box and continue from there. After all, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
“What may seem a daunting task at first will be a great reward once you have completed the decluttering process. You will then be fully able to enjoy your home and the unique luxuries thereof,” Greeff concluded.