The Benefits of Decluttering Your Home and Where to Start! These helpful tips will get you started to a decluttered home!
Does your home look slightly messy even after you finish cleaning because of how much stuff you own? There are considerable benefits to decluttering. However, knowing where to start is hard if you’ve let things go for too long.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to grab those reins and take control of your galloping clutter pony. You need a systematic approach — and a firm understanding of the perks to keep you going when you want to throw in the dust towel.
The Mental Health Benefits of Decluttering
Does a single look around your cluttered home leave you feeling exhausted? Science explains why. Clutter bombards your brain with excess visual stimuli — like looking at a never-ending to-do list.
Decluttering your home lets you say “aaah” at long last. Furthermore, eliminating things that only create more work — all that dusting and organizing — makes more space for those that spark joy, in the words of minimalism maven Marie Kondo.
Is Decluttering Your Home Good for the Planet?
The Earth appreciates your decluttering efforts as much as your mental health. Doing all that work compels you to think twice before buying new items, the best way to reduce consumption and the corresponding drain on the planet’s resources. Your only motivation might be keeping your clean, “new” house tidy, but you still earn high marks for sustainability.
Can Decluttering Help Your Physical Health?
Decluttering your home can also improve your physical well-being. That’s because your body and mind are indivisible — what happens in one affects the other. For example, scientists associate chronic stress with heart disease, the No. 1 killer of men and women globally. Furthermore, cleaning up your pad reduces the chances you’ll trip over something, risking injury.
Tips for Where to Start Decluttering Every Room of Your Home
The benefits of decluttering may sound nice. However, you may harbor a secret worry your home may appear on “Hoarders,” and you’re so overwhelmed you don’t know where to start. Here’s how to tackle five of your home’s hotspots.
1. Kitchen
Look at your kitchen as an unopened pirate’s chest. Behind every cabinet door and drawer, hidden treasure awaits a trip to the nearest consignment or pawn shop, where it transforms into cash in your pocket.
List the appliances you use daily, such as your coffee pot, microwave and slow cooker. Those stay. Then, go through every cabinet and drawer, adding anything you haven’t used in the past year to the consignment pile.
One caveat: Keep plenty of plates on hand so you don’t have to buy disposables when you have guests. Doing so lets you use your dishwasher instead of hand-washing, and today’s models save more water than earlier ones, making it the more sustainable choice.
2. Bathrooms
Here’s where you need to slip on your reading glasses. The writing on cosmetic bottles can be tiny, but here’s a handy quick guide of what to toss:
- Liquid foundation: Six months
- Eye makeup: Three months for liquid, up to a year for solid liner
- Lipstick: Up to two years
Toss cosmetics if you have an eye infection or get a cold sore. Additionally, you can declutter the following:
- Face creams: Use within a year of opening for maximum effectiveness
- Shampoos and conditioner: Between six months and two years
- Sunscreen: After three years, per FDA rules
3. Bedrooms
The closet is your toughest chore to tackle here, but you can make it fun. Coordinate this decluttering task with several friends. That way, you can each contribute your unwanted items to a communal pot, refreshing your wardrobes without spending a dime. You’ll feel much better passing on that too-small sweater your aunt gifted you for the holidays, knowing it’s going to your BFF’s home.
Your closet will look neater with a touch of DIY organization. Consider adding shelves, belt hooks and extra floating bars to make it easy to assemble various outfits.
4. Living Areas
Decluttering your living area is generally easy. While you should keep any knickknacks with sentimental value, less important but crafty items sell like hotcakes at yard sales.
Additionally, look for electronic devices you and your family no longer use. Old gaming consoles and handhelds can fetch pretty pennies at pawn shops, and the process is stress-free when you don’t plan to reclaim them.
5. Attic and Basement
Ahoy, there, matey. It’s time to don your pirate hat in search of more booty. You could have hidden gold in a box in your attic or basement that you forgot you owned.
For example, those old baseball cards could be worth thousands, even millions. The china you inherited from grandma could be equally valuable.
How Much Money Can You Make From Decluttering?
Before you get too excited, realize most people who declutter their homes earn a few bucks at a yard sale, which they often decide wasn’t worth the hassle. However, you can be savvier than the average bear.
If you find something you think might hold value, look for free appraisal days at local auction houses or hit the antique roadshow when it comes to town. Your items might be worth nothing but could also fund your child’s college education.
If nothing else, pawning old electronics provides extra gas and grocery money. Who couldn’t use that these days?
Clear the Clutter and Ease Your Mind
There are psychological, planetary and financial benefits to decluttering your home. You also breathe more freely when you don’t come home to a never-ending to-do list.
Embrace these benefits of decluttering and tackle every room in your house. Even if you don’t strike gold, you’ll enhance your living space and experience more with less.
Cora’s passion is to inspire others to live a happy, healthful, and mindful life through her words on Revivalist – wholeheartedly convincing them that everyday moments are worth celebrating. Cora has spent 5+ years writing for numerous lifestyle sites – hence her sincere love for both life and the beauty of style in all things. Keep up with Cora on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.
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