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Say what you want: you’re messy by nature or whatnot. But at the end of the day, nobody likes clutter. Nobody. This rings even truer if you live in a smaller home, where space is a critical commodity. So if you’re looking for tips on how you can make Your Home Clutter-Free or declutter, this is the article for you. Here are several ways you can try to free up space in your home.
Kickin’ It
If you like collecting sneakers or you just have way too many shoes, the clutter can be overwhelming. More so if you don’t have a dedicated rack (or for more serious shoe collections, an entire room). There is a brilliant two-way solution for this one, however. Try buying a shoe storage bench.
The thing with shoes is that they’re extremely easy to forget laying around. When you get home after a long workday, you typically don’t think about properly stashing your shoes around because you’re tired. You just want to rest after a long day. So you leave them lying around, cluttered about. But a shoe storage bench can help with that in two ways, especially if you have a small living space. One, it keeps your shoes organized; and two, it gives an added seating option. Not bad for something inexpensive, eh?
Outdoorsy Blues
For those who love the outdoors, there’s a chance you might want to own a good mountain bike. And why shouldn’t you have one? They’re badass all-terrain vehicles that can get you from point A to point B. Other bonuses include: keeping you fit and making you not worry about gas anymore. But if you live in a smaller home with no extra space for a bike garage, it can be troublesome.
No worries, mate. Your solution is easy and cheap: buy and install an indoor bike rack. The best thing about bike racks is that they do not occupy a ton of space. There are even racks that you can install directly onto a wall, so you can just hang your bike from there. These types of “bike hangers” as they’re also called, are easy to install and are often no bigger than a clothes hanger. You can also find bike racks that have extra storage spaces underneath them like drawers.
Try A Portable Garage
Consider yourself lucky if you own and drive a car. It’s a necessity that a lot of people may overlook. But the thing is, it can be tough to find a place to park it. More so if you live in a home with no garage. Parking it on the street is an option, but keeping your car protected from the elements is still better than exposing it out there.
This is where a portable garage comes in. Imagine a typical large tent that can fit an entire family for one of those grand camping trips. Only, this tent is big enough to house an entire car. That’s a portable garage. You put it up like a typical tent by assembling the poles and draping the shroud over it as directed. And when it’s time to pack it up, disassembling is easy enough for a group of people to accomplish.
But before buying a portable garage, however, make sure there’s enough space on the street or your backyard. You wouldn’t want to anger the neighbors by occupying so much space.
The Four Box Method
This is a great tip to try when you want to declutter your home. Find four boxes or containers large enough to contain a good amount of clutter, and label them: trash, give-away, keep, or relocate. Then take a look around your home and see which items fit into these four categories.
You will find that you can easily see which stuff you have that you don’t actually need. For example: spare shoe boxes? Trash. Spare clothes you rarely use? Give away. Your kid’s little league trophy? Keep. Your decorative cutlery? Relocate. It’s as easy as that. And to make sure you’re not overwhelmed, do it five minutes at a time, then take a break. It would save you from a lot of stress.
Final Thoughts
There are two truths to decluttering. One, it’s very satisfying once you pull it off. Two, it’s tedious and takes a lot of work. The latter is what can keep anyone from decluttering their homes in the first place. As such, cleaning things up successfully always starts with your will to do so.
Ask yourself a few questions to get yourself in the right mindset. For instance, do you really need to squeeze some more extra space? Say, you bought a new dishwasher and you need to find a place for it. It’s that easy. Or ask yourself if the space you live in is starting to make you feel a little tied down and suffocated. If you feel like it, then it’s time you start to make a change.