When the New Year arrives many people make resolutions for all sorts of things; diet, exercise stopping smoking or drinking and clearing out / de-cluttering are a few of the most common ones. But for a resolution or goal to be achieved, it has to be realistic. Many small goals are much better than one huge target which will take forever to achieve.
So, when it comes to clearing the clutter, resolving to empty the loft, garage and cupboards of everything you no longer need in one go is not the ideal way to do it – well not at this time of year anyway. For most people weekends and evenings are the time when this work will be done and it’s not really an inviting thought. It’s cold, dark and wet. Are you really going to spend a whole weekend or every evening when you get home from work in the freezing cold garage or loft? I think we all know that unless you desperately need the space for something immediate, the answer is no. So do it a little at a time, and at this time of year, it starts indoors. Set yourself a goal to do a cupboard or a room at a time. That way, you’ll have everything in the main living areas sorted before you start heading up to the loft or garage. You might even create enough space to start gradually bringing things down from the loft to sort through.
Here are some small projects you can do to de-clutter during the winter months that won’t involve you having to freeze.
Cupboards
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t got something taking up space in their kitchen cupboards that they haven’t used for years. Empty a cupboard at a time and decide what you use, frequently, infrequently and never. Once you’ve removed the items in the ‘never’ category make sure you put things back so the most frequently used things are easily accessible at the front of cupboards.
Wardrobes
If your wardrobes are bursting at the seams, it’s time to have a clear out. If you’re finding things you haven’t worn for years, get rid of them. If the unlikely event that there’s nothing you can get rid of, consider the way your wardrobe is organised. There are lots of hangers that will allow you to put multiple garments on them that can help save space. Baskets and hooks on the backs of doors are great for organising smaller things like belts and scarves.
Often, more space can be created by being a little more organised.
Books, CDS & DVDS
If you’re a book lover, it can be hard to part with books, but if you’ve got piles of them on the floors or layer after layer on the bookshelf so you can’t see what books are at the back, it’s time to be realistic about what you’re likely to read again and what you’re not. It’s the same with music and film. Get rid of what you’re never going to listen to or watch to free us some space to be more organised. There are so many shapes and sizes of storage these days, if you’ve got a little bit of space spare, the chances are you will find a box, basket or rack to fit.
Photographs
Lots of people keep all their photographs on their phones or computers but there are still many of us that like to sit down with the photograph albums every now and then and reminisce. What we’re not so good at nowadays is printing them and putting them into albums on a regular basis. Those little envelopes of photographs can be found in piles in many houses; on shelves, in drawers and even on the floor, which means when we want to look at them or find something specific we’ve got to go through every packet to find what we want. Put them into albums. If you buy a few albums of the same size it will also be easier to store them, and lots of albums now have an area to write alongside the image so you can even tell your story as you go along! Great for later generations to understand what was going on. If you don’t want to use albums find some storage boxes that will allow you to keep them together and store them neatly (on a shelf, on top of a cupboard, or even under a bed).
Don’t forget, just because you no longer need something it doesn’t mean it’s bound for the bin. If it’s in good condition there will be many places you can donate or recycle it.
If you do feel the need to have one huge clear out, a self storage unit can help. You can dump everything in to one big space and spend a couple of weeks going through it all without having to clutter up the house. Take the ‘keep’ things back home as you identify them and separate the rest into ‘rubbish’ or ‘recycle’ piles.
Most companies are happy for you to take short term self storage rentals. Here at Space Centre Self Storage, we have units of all sizes at our 3 sites and do not tie customers in to long contracts. If you find you have a short term storage problem, give us a ring.