| g to declutter your house is a pretty big project. | | | | * Trash (actual garbage) |
| How and where to start? | | | | * Give away (to the thrift store, neighbors, friends or |
| Maybe you already know the answer to | | | | family) |
| where, because there’s one area of | | | | * Recycle (glass, plastic, paper etc which can be |
| your home which is crying out for decluttering. If not, | | | | recycled in your community) |
| think about which area gives you the most pain. Are | | | | * Sell (if you have things which might be worth |
| you ashamed to let visitors in the living room or the | | | | something at a garage sale or on ebay. Be practical |
| kitchen? Is the hall closet an avalanche waiting to | | | | here, though: most things are not worth the trouble |
| happen? Does the basement or garage need a | | | | and time to sell them). |
| shovel or even a small bulldozer to get to the far | | | | * Elsewhere (things to be kept, but which |
| side? | | | | don’t belong in this area you’re |
| Another way of picking a starting point, especially if | | | | working on) |
| you can only work for short periods, is to work on a | | | | * Pending (things you can’t decide about. This |
| small, limited area you can finish quickly. Then it | | | | should be a VERY SMALL category!) |
| won’t overflow into the rest of the house. | | | | * Keep (things which will go back into the space |
| One drawer, one cabinet, one shelf or one box might | | | | you’ve just cleared out) |
| be a good choice. You could also divide a larger area | | | | When you’re ready, get started. You can |
| into sections or chunks and work on them separately | | | | check out my other articles and my website for |
| Once you’ve decided where to work, grab | | | | more details, but the basic principle is simple: if you |
| your tools. Most important are containers for the | | | | don’t use it, love it, or need it, get rid of it. |
| stuff you’ll be moving around. Sturdy | | | | You get to decide the definitions of use, |
| cardboard boxes are great for things which will move | | | | love and need, in this context. |
| to other places in the house, or out of the house for | | | | When you’ve filled some bags and boxes, |
| recycling or gifting. Big, tough garbage bags for the | | | | don’t let them hang around for long on their |
| junk are another essential. You might want gloves if | | | | journey to the dump or the thrift store. Not only are |
| you’re working somewhere dirty or dusty like | | | | the boxes of stuff clutter in themselves, it’s |
| the attic or basement (and even a dust mask if | | | | too easy to change your mind and start pulling stuff |
| it’s really bad). And once you’ve | | | | back out! If you’ve got large furniture to get |
| decluttered this area you’ll probably want to | | | | rid of, or a lot of boxes, some charities will do a |
| clean it, especially if there are places which | | | | pickup, so take advantage of that if it’s |
| haven’t seen the light of day for some time, | | | | available. If your community has a day for putting out |
| so stock up on the cleaning tools and supplies you | | | | large items at the curb for pickup, make use of the |
| prefer to use. | | | | opportunity! |
| Arm yourself with containers for these categories: | | | | |