It can be overwhelming to go through the items in your home and decide on the ones that are unwanted. Whether an item has a memory attached to it, or you think you’ll use it at some point, getting rid of your possessions can feel like a very dull task. However, cleaning expert Dorothy Breininger suggests that clearing out a space can lead to a burst of creativity and a feeling of accomplishment, so it’s a task worth making time for.
Here, we take a look at creative ways for you to turn this boring task into a positive experience.
Table of Contents
12-12-12 challenge
Not only is this catchy to remember, but it is also a great way to set yourself a specific goal. The challenge is to find 12 items to donate, 12 to throw away, and 12 to return to their proper spot in your home. The amount of unwanted items you have will affect how often you do this, but you could perhaps set up a plan to do one room a week, until you’re happy with each space.
If you have a family or flatmates, why not challenge each person to do this? You can keep each other accountable by making sure that you don’t just replace items you got rid of with new ones. If you don’t use it and don’t miss it once it’s gone, you probably don’t need it.
Ask a friend
Seeing your home with fresh eyes can be really beneficial, but hard to do when you’re attached to the items inside it. Whilst it is important to keep sentimental items, it can be hard to separate the item from the memory of the time you got it, and small items like keyrings or baseball hats can easily look cluttered unless they are stored correctly or repurposed.
Getting a friend to come over, who you trust to be helpful, can be a great way to help you look at your things from a different perspective. Ask them to go through each room with you and point out what looks cluttered, as well as helping you decide what to keep. Sharing this task means that you get to spend time with a friend and you may find you can get rid of items that you’ve been holding onto, once you’ve shared the memory of how you got them with someone else. Additionally, by setting a date for someone to come over, it holds you to actually commit to this task, rather than putting it off for another day.
Turn your hangers
This is a fun trick to help you reduce the amount of clothing in your wardrobe. If you have plenty of outfits for all occasions, but keep buying more, it can be easy to lose track of what you actually need and wear.
To combat this, turn your hangers the opposite way to how you’d usually have them. When you wear an item, turn the hanger back to the correct way to show yourself that you’ve worn that item recently. After a period of time (six months generally allows for a change in the seasons and so a change in outfits), go through your hangers, and the ones that you haven’t turned haven’t been worn, and so you can get rid of them.
Deep clean
Thoroughly deep cleaning each room of your home can mean that you properly examine each item in it. To do this, you’ll need to remove all the items you possibly can from the room, and take the opportunity to ensure all the surfaces and corners are thoroughly cleaned. Depending on the surfaces, you could hire a carpet cleaner as well, and make the most of having the space to maneuver the machine around.
Before putting the items back, consider how you can best use the space. You can see it clearly now – is there a way that you can better organise the room? Do you really need and love every item that you’re about to put back? It can be difficult, but a deep clean is a great way to get a fresh vision for your space.
|
|
|
