The clocks have gone back and the dark evenings are here; those early evening summer walks are now becoming a distant memory. With the weather turning colder and wetter, it’s time to turn to those indoor tasks that you put off over the summer months. It’s time to declutter! The cupboards are overfull, the wardrobes are bursting and things have started to clutter up the work surfaces. Whether you get rid of some things or not, it’s definitely time to have a bit of re-organisation.
“Where do I start?” is the obvious question. If you empty all the kitchen cupboards in one go, you probably need to sort, organise and get them back in order before everyone gets back home from school or work. If you empty all your wardrobes onto the bed, can you try everything on, sort out what goes and what stays and package it all up ready to go before bed time?
Realistically, that’s not going to happen. Whether you’re out at work all day or a housewife (or stay at home mum to use the American term), it’s unlikely you’ll have long periods of undisturbed time, when you don’t need use of the kitchen or bed. If you’re lucky you may have a spare room or garage that you can dump it all in while you sort it out. However, we all know that the more space we have, the more space we fill so you may well find yourself struggling. If that’s the case, a small self storage unit can help and here’s why.
- You can get it out of the house while sorting it
- You can load up the car and make as many journeys or take as much time as you need
- If you want to dump everything in one go, you can, and then reduce the size of your unit as you go along
- Being away from the house you can be more objective and you’re less likely to get sentimental about some things – there’s no comfy sofa, warm fire and glass of wine to help with the reminiscing and put off the sorting!
- You can spread it out all over the floor without it getting in anyone’s way
- You can sort into piles and when you have enough in each, deal with them appropriately.
- Cost. Bluntly, if you’re paying for a space to sort everything out, there is an incentive to do just that – sort it! When using home space there’s always the temptation to stuff things back in cupboards, under beds or just close the door on it and come back to it later. If you’re paying for space to allow you to spread out and do things properly you’ll be less tempted to shut the door and forget about it.
With that in mind, here are our tips to help you declutter successfully.
Work through room by room
If you’ve got a spare room, start with that one. You may well then be able to use that room as the sorting centre for all the other rooms (if not, there’s always the short term self storage option). Empty the wardrobes and cupboards, spread it all out and see what you’ve got. You’ll find some surprises I’m sure!
Be Ruthless
With the exception of family heirlooms, you may well have things stuffed in cupboards that you’ve never used and are not likely to ever use in the future. Those Christmas gifts that you couldn’t bring yourself to exchange; clothes or household items that were passed on by family members that you felt you couldn’t refuse. There really is no point in keeping them for ever. In addition, when it comes to clothes, if you haven’t worn something for more than 2 years are you really ever likely to wear it again?
Sort
While you may not have a use for something, someone else might. Having a declutter doesn’t mean just throwing everything away. Consider whether you have the time and energy to sell things on and make a little money, or whether they can be donated to a charity. There are many charities that can benefit by selling your unwanted goods or passing them on to others in need – just remember, things need to be in reasonable condition for a charity to benefit, don’t use them as a replacement for the recycling centre!
As a general rule, you should have 4 piles:
- Keep – decide where and how these things will be kept in future
- Sell – can you do a car boot or sell them on ebay?
- Charity – Can someone else use or benefit from your unwanted belongings
- Recycle/Bin – not working or not in good enough condition for any of the above? Then they go here!
Space Centre Self Storage have sites in North Bristol, Gloucester and Stroud. We don’t tie people into long contracts and are very flexible about moving units, so are an ideal solution for your short term storage needs when having a major clear out.
Have you got any great tips for decluttering?
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