Regular readers will know we live in a flat. But what you might not know is that itβs a two bedroom flat. And thereβs now five of us.
Itβs fair to say things are getting a little bijou on the space front β the toy mountain is getting bigger, our living space is getting smaller and after five years at the property itβs time for a major clear out.
The thing is where do you start? After three children we now have so much stuff itβs almost overwhelming, and itβs hard to see the woods for the trees.
Iβve started an eBay pile because Iβm determined we can make some money out of some of it (eBaying neednβt be a hassle, especially if youβve got big things like cots and furniture to get rid of – courier service Shiply has a dedicated eBay courier service and theyβll collect right from your front door) and weβre also doing a car boot sale to try and turn some of our clutter into cash.
But how else can we declutter and make sure we donβt end up back where we started? I asked some fellow bloggers for their advice and hereβs what they said.
10 easy ways to declutter your home
1. Be brutal. “If you haven’t used it in a year you probably don’t need it. I try and take a bag of ‘stuff’ out of the house a week, either toys or clothes to the charity shop or just stuff we don’t need to the bin!β Lauren at Scrapbook Blog
2. Go through your clothes. βSort through your wardrobe and if it doesn’t fit or make you feel good donate it. After that put all the hangers back facing the wrong way and if you haven’t worn something and consequently fixed the hanger after six months then it has to go too.β Hannah at Hi Baby
3. Think clever. βUse charity bags that come through your door as motivation to declutter. We get at least one a week and will fill a bag with things we don’t need. It’s an easy way to declutter, as they pick it up for you. It also feels like a good deed, as it helps charities out too.β Sophia at Tattooed Tealady
4. Start selling. βWe do two systematic clear outs a year and sell whatever we no longer need. What doesn’t sell gets donated to Safe Families or a local charity shop. We then put all the money in a pot and use it to travel. Our last big clear out paid for a huge chunk of our road trip around Northern Europe.β Emma at Our Fairytale Adventure
5. Police the toys. βGet all the toys in a big pile and sell or chuck anything that isn’t played with or with missing pieces.β Fran at Whinge Whinge Wine
6. Watch what comes into the house. “Otherwise you are back to square one. So, only buying things you need; encouraging relatives to buy children more thoughtful gifts rather than just a load of plastic toys just for the sake of it that then add to the toy mountain. I have been quite brutal with family and friends and told them we are drowning in stuff and trying to declutter and simplify things, and it seems to be helping.β Cathryn at Cardiff Mummy
7. Rotate toys and games. βWe rotate toys so they don’t get bored and our family area isn’t cluttered with them.β Sarah at Surrey Mama.
8. Stop creating piles. βWe have recently bought a tray which we call our βinboxβ and any papers go straight in there rather than being left in random places. Letters, mail, receipts etc. We try and sort it at the weekend.β Lauren at Sophieβs Nursery
9. Invest in storage. βGo to IKEA. Buy hundreds of baskets or storage units and hide it all in there!β Beth at Twinderelmo
Or failing that Jade at Raising the Rings says:
10. Move! βMove house. You’ll soon know what you want to pack and what you to throw away!β
Do you need to declutter your house? Have you managed to raise any money by having a good clear out?
This post was written in collaboration with Shiply.
Great tips and it is better for mental wellbeing to not be surrounded by too much even though I fought this idea for years. Recently moved and got rid of so much including hundreds of unread books. Also my tip would be that you have your memories even when you lose the stuff as I know I have hung onto stuff feeling I would lose the person or memory of them if I lost items.
Love this post, full of great tips! Especially love Jade’s tip of moving house – sometimes I think it would be easier! π
Love all of these tips! And I don’t think I knew that you lived in a 2 bed flat, makes me feel better about thinking about having a 3rd baby while living in our 2 bed house! x #TheListLinky
I should read this every morning to help me declutter!
Ha ha, great tips, especially number 9 . We have toy clear-outs before every birthday and Christmas but it still manages to take over the house!
#HappyDaysLinky
Oops, should have been #TheListLinky
These are the first organisation tips that I actually want to follow!
Amazing!
Some great tips. We do dinner of these, we have storage to store unused toys and try rotate them around too. Plus our eBay pile for selling gets bigger every day. #thelistlinky
Really useful tips – you really do have to be strict with yourself when it comes to throwing things away.