by ctsnowIn my recent post Moving, What a Pain in the Arse we discussed the fact that I’m facing a move. One of the best parts about moving from one house to another is you are getting the perfect opportunity to downsize and to get rid of clutter.
We’ve got so much stuff to go through and to pack, but there’s also a lot of stuff to get rid of. First off, we’re planning to have a big garage sale this weekend. Hopefully we’ll be able to get rid of some of the things we’ve been toting around all these years and never using. Plus it may help us raise a little money to go toward the expense of hiring a moving crew.
But all of this brought about some thoughts I was having about minimizing clutter and cleaning out the closets so to speak. Having to do these things can bring a lot of stress on yourself and your family. But it’s something that has to be done, so why not take full advantage of it? Fortunately we’re moving into a little bit larger house, so we’ll acquire quite a bit more storage space and living space. But what about those that are making a move to a smaller dwelling? This is where the nightmare comes in.
So with that thought in mind, let’s go over a few tips that will help you downsize your living space and work on clearing clutter.
6 Tips for Eliminating Clutter
1. Make Plans Early
This is the most important step of all. Don’t put things off until the last second, begin making plans immediately. If you are married or have a family, it’s very important that everyone be together on these plans. If everyone is going in different directions, it’s almost impossible to get anything accomplished.
2. Discovering your Needs
Take the time to sit down either by yourself or with your family and ask yourselves a few questions. It’s important to discover your needs based on what sort of lifestyle you intend to live in your new dwelling. This will help to realize what kind of organization you need to put into place.
A few questions you may ask yourself are:
- How much room does your new house have, can it accommodate large and bulky furniture, or do you need to downsize to smaller pieces?
- Take note of the square footage of the new home in comparison to your old one.
- Is it important to you to hang on to things merely because they were expensive? Or does the need for a nice neat new space outweigh the hoarder syndrome?
3. Finding Purpose in Your Space
Most people find themselves having trouble in finding the ideal purpose for their living space. Ever little nook and cranny has a purpose. What may appear as a simple corner in a room may make a great spot for your home office or maybe even a small art studio.
Remember if there are things that you have to get rid of that may hold some sentimental value, then pictures are a great way to preserve the memories of such things. This is especially handy when a child doesn’t want to let go of that special teddy bear or stuffed animal.
4. Eliminating Extra Clutter
Clutter may come in all different forms and fashions. I’m not just talking about old bills piled up or a stack of magazines that seems to follow you everywhere you go. But things like electronics wiring and computer equipment can really create clutter in a small space.
One thing that I intend to do in our new home is set up my network as a wireless system. Connecting your computers, printers and other wifi enabled devices wirelessly can really help eliminate cluttered cables and wires. Plus it just makes everything seem cleaner and with that comes less things to collect dust and also eliminates trip hazzards.
Also furniture can play a big part in getting rid of clutter and crowded spaces. If you have large pieces of furniture you may be able to sell in a garage sale and replace them with multi-purpose items it can save you a ton of space. Things such as nightstands that have opening storage compartments, tables with hidden storage or even ottomans that have removable tops that you can store extra blankets or pillows in can really help.
5. Think Quality not Quantity
When picking out new furniture to go in your new house, try to focus on a few great pieces that make a powerful statement. This is a much better option than try to stuff as many pieces you can into your rooms.
Also as mentioned before, try to pick out the kind of furniture that serves more than one purpose. Plus choosing furniture items that are strong and have durable fabrics is a must for a smaller space. A smaller space will usually warrant the furniture getting more traffic and wear than the stray pieces in a larger home. This is especially true if your furniture is doubling up for more than one purpose.
6. Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
This is a big one… Don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family to help you get organized. Sometimes an outside opinion on what to keep and what not to keep can help seal the deal. There are also many professional organizers available for hire if you want an unbiased opinion on things.
It’s also helpful to get help when the time comes to pack and move your stuff. It never hurts to have someone to offer an opinion on how to arrange things or ways to create a more organized space.
Well, these are just a few tips that I’ve thought about that could save you a lot of trouble when it comes to moving into that new place. These are not just limited to downsizing either, there’s nothing wrong with compacting things even if you’re moving into a larger place. Because remember, the more space you have, the more stuff you will acquire. So start early in getting it under control, this will make your house look neater and will help make those future moves that much easier.
Anymore great organizing ideas? Please share with us in the comments below.
Hi Robert,
Nice post it is very useful and needful. Amazing tips thanks for sharing with me.
Hey you’re quite welcome, everyone can use a little organization in their lives. 🙂
Thanks for posting!!! I sometimes can get overwhelmed with keeping things organized working from home. You have some great ideas that I will surely use!!
Great! I’m glad you found this post useful. I tell you, keeping things neat and organized is a hard task, but once you get it there, it’s quite easy to maintain.
Hi Robert,
Thanks for posting. This is truly an interesting post to me since I am staring to motivate myself on doing the housekeeping on my own. Will surely read more of your post. I just hope it would be more on housekeeping and any other DIY projects.. 🙂
Thanks for reading Margaux…I do plan on posting some more do-it-yourself stuff in time. I think it’s great if you can do things yourself and save a little money. Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing you fixed it yourself!
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Thanks for the compliment.
I absolutely do accept guest posting. Just check out the link Become a Contributor if you are interested in writing for Odd Random Thoughts. 🙂
Hi Rob, I consider this to be information of quality and it appears to be written so as to make the reader think. I really like your writing style and appreciate your efforts.
Thanks a bunch for the kind words. I’m glad you enjoy my writings and I hope you’ll visit often.
I do feel it important to leave a little to the readers imagination. It’s all about learning new things in my opinion.
It seems like clutter is something that I was constantly fighting. I would completely organize my room and then just a few days later it would be a mess until I realized I didnt need half the stuff I had and if it didn’t have an immediate use I pitched it.
For sure John, I know what you mean. Hanging on to things “just in case” you may need them sometime is what leads to a near hoarding situation in life. Of course we all have those sentimental things that we simply can not part with. But you have to ask yourself, “when was the last time I used this, and will I need it again in the near future” The answer to that question is key to cleaning up.
That’s how the garage sale we just had came about. Even though we didn’t make much money, we still were able to donate a ton of stuff to those in need.
Nice post. Its really a wonderful written blog. I think other bloggers should take your blog as a role model. I hate clutter so much and I really need to know the information related to this topic. Thanks for sharing this outstanding post.
Thank you so much for the kind words Suzan. It pleases me to know I could help you with the information you needed.
I am a “clutter hater” myself and I firmly believe that there’s “a place for everything, and everything has it’s place”. We can actually get by with way less than what we believe. Society has created this clouded view that we have to have an abundance of stuff, but the truth is, all that extra stuff is a dirt and dust magnet and can also bleed over into other aspects of our lifestyle.
Wishing you a neat and organized future Suzan.
You ‘ve compiled a fantastic resource package full of clutter eliminating ideas which can save a lot of time. Thanks for this inspiring blog,truly adorable.
I sure do appreciate the kind words Evie. Please stop by again, you never know what you may find on my blog. 😉
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well written article.
I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information.
Thanks for the post. I will certainly comeback.
Well thank you Garland, I’m glad you enjoyed the read. I try to keep a wild variety of subjects flowing so there’s a little something for everyone here. Thanks for bookmarking and keep posting comments, I love to hear my readers feedback.
Great ideas! Before moving a house many people get confused and don’t know where to start… so you are very right that everything should start with a plan! Decluttering is definitely a must when downsizing! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
You’re very welcome Maud, and thank you for stopping by! It can definitely be a painful task at times to start projects like this, but it’s a necessary evil.