How to Declutter Your Home in 3 Weeks Without Tearing Your Hair Out

Decluttering your home should not cause you any stress - yes, we said it! While it sounds nearly impossible, when planned and executed correctly, doing a deep declutter in your home and garage should be a calm and easy process. Don't believe us? Here’s how:

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Before you start

Before you start on your decluttering mission, prepare as much as you can. Get storage boxes with lids (clear plastic is a winner), large labels, permanent markers, an empty notebook, and some clear, zip-seal bags in various sizes. You should also get a couple of black bags and recyclable boxes for items that can be trashed or donated. It will also be wise to stock up on some cleaning products like a surface cleaner, surface wipes, rubber gloves and clothes.

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Week 1

The messiest out of all the weeks, the first week is when the heavy lifting and hard work comes in. While you might have moments of feeling slightly frazzled, getting the larger, more tedious tasks out of the way will ensure that you have a clean and decluttered living space by the end of week 3. We suggest starting your week on a Friday night so that you can get the bulk of your task done over the weekend. This is especially helpful if you work on the weekdays and means that the smaller tasks can be done after work without causing excess stress.

Begin by choosing the room you want to tackle first - we usually recommend the bathroom or bedroom since there are far fewer storage spaces than usual in these areas. Empty out cupboards and unpack shelves before giving them a good wipe down. Lay tissue paper on shelves and go through every single item that was unpacked. When doing your clothing in your closet, be sure to check each item before packing it away. If you haven't worn anything in the last 2 years, why not donate or sell it? Trash or recycle items that are broken or torn beyond repair and make it a rule to only repack the items that you really need and use. The same rule applies to your bathroom - except you need to be sure to toss out anything that has expired or smells off such as makeup products that have gone hard and crusty lotions that have changed colour.

Make a conscious effort to pack away at least 10-15 items a day so that by the end of the week, you have a pile of items that you can donate, sell or toss. This should only take a few minutes of your day since you cleaned and organized the important things over the weekend.

Week 2

Once you have tackled the smaller rooms in your home, you might feel more inspired and confident to move to the larger parts of the home like the garage. Granted, a garage often needs more time than the rest of the home since it automatically becomes a storage space for many. This is most likely where the bulk of your work will come in but don't despair - breaking the garage up into ‘units’ can be a big help!

Depending on the size of your garage, we recommend breaking it up into 2, 4 or even 6 sections. Tackle each section one at a time, unpacking each box, cupboard and bag in that section which will not only keep anxiety at bay, but ensure that you don’t have a huge mess to clean by the end of the week. We recommend giving yourself 2 weeks to sort out an area like the garage since it often needs a lot more cleaning, packing and organising than the rest of your home. While organising the garage, be sure to set aside a corner of the room where you can pack bigger items that you rarely use but can’t get rid of like garden tools, sporting equipment and old electronics.

Another significant part of the home that can take a bit longer to sort out is the… kitchen. Perhaps one of the spaces in a home with the largest amounts of draws, shelves and cupboards within a single space. Again, we recommend breaking the kitchen up into sections. Start with the pantree and literally take out every single item. Throw away all expired and stale food items and categorise your remaining food items into groups such as tin food, pasta, spices, cereal and so on. Give the cupboard a good wipe down and neatly repack all the items into the cupboard within their categories. This helps greatly when needing to quickly find your cinnamon for example as you know the spices are always on the left side.

Go through all of your shelves, cupboards and draws to see what you can throw away, donate or store away. Perhaps you have an excess of dinner plates that you can store, a few broken cups and plates that can be donated or old electronics that you no longer use. Place all items that you would like to keep but don't use regularly such as perhaps an extra toaster, bread maker, sets of cutlery, additional baking goods etc and place them in a plastic tub that you can store at the bottom of a cupboard.

Go through your kitchen drawers and throw away all ‘out of place items’ that may be hanging around such as old straws, plastic cups, birthday candles etc and throw away what you don't need. Place those odds and ends that you’d like to keep into a small box and place it into one of the draws.

Tupawares… where do all the lids go right? It’s time to be brave and tackle that tupperware cupboard. Go through all your tupperwares to pair each base with their lid. Place the smaller tupperwares into the larger ones to save space. Relentlessly throw away or donate all tupperwares that no longer have their lids. You could also upcycle them and grow some herbs or plants in them.

Don’t forget, you can always get some extra storage space if you need to store bigger items or boxes temporarily or permanently. Many people hire a unit for a month or two as it allows them to get items out of the way while they are cleaning.

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When repacking each section in your garage, be it a cupboard, storage box or a draw, be sure to write down the contents of the cupboard in your notepad so that you know exactly what is being packed and, more importantly, where they are. Tackling larger areas this way also ensures that you pack at your own pace and pack smartly rather than rushing to chuck everything back into your storage space. Seeing where everything is going, writing down lists of what goes where and giving all sections of the room a deep clean will give you feelings of accomplishment which will inspire you to sort out the rest of the room in no time. You can also let this task spill over into the first part of week 3 to give yourself more time!

Week 3

Now that the garage is clean and organised, you might find random bits and bobs that don't quite have a space to go back to. This is where your storage boxes come in - simply pack all of the smaller items in a clear plastic box, label it and store it on top of a cupboard or on a shelf. With the bigger items that you don't really use but can't throw away, why not get a storage unit? Hiring a unit close to your home will not only enable you to store away your items that are hardly used but ensure that you have less clutter and chaos in your now decluttered home.

Make sure that you keep the garage and home as decluttered as possible by packing things away on their correct spots after using them and storing any new items correctly. Cleaning up as you go is also a great way to ensure that your space stays neat and clean!

Image by: Elnur