Declutter To Reinvent: Cat Coluccio
Physical clutter in your home is distracting.
Physical clutter can also be a huge obstacle to you being able to focus on the things that are really important to you.
Unfortunately, it’s so easy to accumulate “stuff” as clutter seems to have a supernatural ability to multiply. Even the most organized home-maker is often hiding their own “dirty little secret”. An overflowing junk drawer that left unchecked has the potential to grow into a junk room!
The good news, however, is that you don’t have to wait until spring to declutter your home. You can start decluttering any time of year. And a change of season is the perfect opportunity to do just that. These easy ways to declutter your home can help tremendously.
“Start by putting all of the objects into one central area.”
How To Declutter Your Home:
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At the end of each season assess each room in your house.
Are there new belongings in there? Are there seasonal décor items? And are there objects that no longer fit the storage in that room?
Start by putting all of the objects into one central area. Be it on the bed, on a table, or on the floor. Next, crank the music, and as quickly as possible, sort the items into three piles:
- Throw away.
- Donate or Sell
- Keep.
Once the sorting is completed, clean the room thoroughly, get the rubbish out straight away, pop the donate box into your car, (and don’t make the mistake of then driving it around for a month before passing it on!) and find the right home for each of the items you are keeping.
Committing to this quick method of decluttering over the span of a week at the end of each season, will result in both your home looking wonderful and you feeling focused and ready to experience the new season ahead.
“Have the seasonal décor items you want to keep got a place to be stored.”
2. Invest in storage solutions:
If you don’t have a place for something, invest in a storage solution. This could be anything from baskets and bins to shelves and cabinets.
Note I didn’t list this as the first step! It’s easy to get excited about arranging pretty storage containers and not actually deal with the clutter you don’t use or need. After your sorting process, however, you might discover that you actually do need a better storage system.
For example:
- Have the seasonal décor items you want to keep got a place to be stored? Or, do they remain tossed in the spare bedroom throughout the year?
- Could the bulky winter coats, boots, and scarves that don’t fit in your regular wardrobe instead be placed in a wardrobe built in the corner of the garage especially for the family’s winter gear?
- Could the beach gear have its own set of storage tubs, and the camping gear another instead of all being tossed in a heap together, causing a headache each summer?
“great storage solutions are of no use if you cannot locate these items the following year!”
3. Label everything!
When you are wanting to store items that might only be used for a few months of the year – holiday décor, winter clothing, camping gear etc – it’s important to store them well – but great storage solutions are of no use if you cannot locate these items the following year!
It’s easy to forget exactly what items you use each season. And if you can’t locate them, easy to find yourself purchasing items you already own. There’s nothing worse than doing a huge clean out and discovering you actually own three winter jackets that look the same. What a waste of your hard-earned money, not to mention your time in shopping for the new jackets! Knowing where your seasonal items are stored AND which exact box or cupboard they are in will not only help you keep the clutter down in your home, but will help you enjoy all the seasons of the year as you are able to find exactly what you need, when you need them.
All Year Round Help:
So there you have it, 3 easy ways to declutter your home – tips that show how you can use the change of seasons to keep your home neat and clean all year round:
- Assess each room in the last week of each season,
- Invest in Storage Solutions and
- Label everything.
Have fun with them and I’d love to know any tips you might add to that list!
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About the Author:
Cat Coluccio is a qualified Educator, Personal Trainer and Life Coach – and a champion of midlife women. She is the host of the Rocking Midlife® Community and Podcast, and the author of a number of books, including 21 Hacks to ROCK your Midlife. Join my FREE 30 Day Love your Home Decluttering Challenge for 30 days of email prompts to help you fall in love with your home once more!
Cat is passionate about helping midlife women create fulfilling and purposeful lives yet understands how challenging it can feel to consider reinvention when your world is already so incredibly full. Hence she firmly believes that the first step to building the life that you desire in your next season, is to declutter and create space right now – be that physically, mentally or digitally.
