Declutter your Home

Spring has officially sprung! With this peppy season of blossoming flowers and bright, warm days comes a slightly more mundane activity: Spring Cleaning. Yes, it’s that time again! Time to try and get our lives and homes in order and ready for the year. Usually this can be a hassle, but with these five decluttering tips, you can make spring cleaning just a little bit easier!

1. The Oprah Winfrey Hanger Tip
   Getting rid of clothes can be difficult. Whether it’s “But what if I need to wear that for this?” or “That was the top I wore when I met my husband,” the excuses we come up with continue to become more and more detrimental. A simple way to decide what you should be getting rid of in you closet is to organize your clothes with all you hangers facing one way. When you wear that specific item of clothing, flip the hanger the opposite way to indicate which clothes you are wearing and which you aren’t. At the end of the year, take a look at the clothes that haven’t had the hanger switched and donate them to a new home. If there are items in your closet that are only slightly used or still have a tag, think about selling them on a thrifting app like Poshmark or Depop.

2. Fill One Trash Bag
   This tip is simple yet incredibly effective. If you seem to have too much clutter in your space, set a daily goal to fill one whole trash bag with items to get rid of or throw out. If one trash bag isn't enough, go ahead and bump it up to whatever is most suitable for you and your needs. This is a great tip because it encourages you to go through your home everyday and reevaluate everything you hold onto. You may not realize how many things you find lying around that you were meaning to throw away anyways, or how much just doesn’t fit in your life anymore.

3. Don’t Feel Guilty With Gifts
   We all have those unused gifts that we can’t bring ourselves to part with because of the looming guilt that waits. It’s important to remind ourselves that the point of a gift is to express one’s feelings towards another. We’re here to tell you that once a period of time has passed, it is okay to give the gift a new home if it no longer serves you a purpose.

4. Recycle Electronics Packaging
   You know that area in the back of your closet dedicated to accumulating iPhone and laptop boxes? Time to purge! You don’t need all that packaging taking up space - it doesn’t add any value. Keep the manual if you really think you’ll need it, but even those can found online. Furthermore, make it a habit to recycle the packaging as soon as you unbox your new electronic.

5. Storing vs. Hoarding
   It’s time to stop justifying holding on to lots of random bits and pieces by calling it “storage.” Consider going through your storage boxes and decluttering those for a more micro attack to your macro clutter problem.