It seems like everyone has that one room in their home that is dedicated to housing all of the junk mail and clutter that accumulates over time. It’s that room or area in your home that houses a mix of all the things you’d like to use one day, or the projects you’d like to work on, and the things that you simply can’t part with but don’t have places in your home. Sound familiar?
We all have a space in our house that isn’t being used to its full potential. This month we are focusing on organization, cleaning, and decluttering your home and making it an even better environment in which to live. Instead of using a space in your home to house all your clutter and mess, why not turn it into a calm room?
Declutter your home and dedicate the space to creating a peaceful and relaxing environment that everyone will enjoy. Destress after a long day, lounge with a good book, or take a nap while letting all of your worries and cares drift away.
Organizing your home and creating a space where your mind can simply rest is an invaluable feature that will make your house feel like home. We are here to walk you through the decluttering process with some of our favorite tips and tricks we like to use. Re-organizing entire rooms on your own can seem overwhelming at first, but once you get started while using our organization techniques, you will quickly find that it’s a lot more manageable than you think.
Start with 5 minutes at a time. If you’re new to decluttering, you can slowly build momentum with just five minutes a day.
Give one item away each day. This would remove 365 items every single year from your home. If you increased this to 2 per day, you would have given away 730 items you no longer needed. Increase this number once it gets too easy.
Donate clothes you never wear. To identify them, simply hang all your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction. After wearing an item, face the hanger in the correct direction. Discard the clothes you never touched after a few months
Take the 12-12-12 challenge. Locate 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to be returned to their proper home.
View your home as a first-time visitor. It’s easy to “forget” what your home looks like to a new visitor. Enter your home as if you’re visiting the home of a friend. Write down your first impression on how clean and organized the home is and make changes.
Get help from a friend. Have a friend or family member go through your home and suggest a handful of big items to throw away or give to someone else. If you defend the item and want to keep it, your friend must agree with your reason. If they don’t agree, it’s time to get rid of it.
Use the Four-Box Method. Get four boxes and label them: trash, give away, keep, or re-locate. Enter any room in your home and place each item into one of the following boxes. Don’t skip a single item, no matter how insignificant you may think it is. This may take days, weeks, or months, but it will help you see how many items you really own and you’ll know exactly what to do with each item.
No matter which decluttering tip you choose to get started – whether it be one of these ten or one of countless others – the goal is to take your first step in decluttering your life with excitement behind it. There is a beautiful world of freedom and fresh breath hiding behind that clutter. Deciding how to declutter your home is up to you.
When developing a design scheme for the room, try to decorate with the space’s function in mind. What is going to serve you and your lifestyle the most in your home? A multi-purpose room, art room, yoga studio, home gym, media room, game room, family room etc. are just a few examples of functional rooms that could benefit you according to your needs. Decide what would serve you most.
Once you have decluttered and decided on a purpose for your functional room, it's time to begin on the interior design process. This can include anything from simple redecorating to full scale demolition and remodeling of the entire space. Some rooms need only a fresh coat of paint in order to begin on the furnishing and decorating process. Click here to continue reading our blog on the art of arranging for the next steps in the process!
~This blog was brought to you by S. Donnelly Interiors. Learn more about the interior design project process by following Stephanie Donnelly and her interior design services in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and the surrounding areas!
