Decluttering your home is one of the most impactful things you can do to improve your quality of life. It allows you to live with more space and light in a beautifully clean and organized environment, which makes your home a better place to be. But it can, however, be a daunting task, especially when you have a very messy house to contend with! And it sometimes feels like you’re throwing away a lot of memories and pieces of yourself when you throw out old clothes, books, and other items that have no practical use anymore.
In our previous article with tips on how to get started decluttering your messy home, we took a deep dive into the benefits of decluttering your home and practical ways to get started. In this article, we have a Declutter Your Home Checklist in a printable PDF format that will hopefully help you tame your messy home and bring some order to your life.
Declutter Your Home Checklist PDF Download
You can download a free copy of our declutter checklist PDF by clicking the button below. Depending on what device you are using the PDF Checklist will either open in a new tab or will download to your device.
If you would like to download a copy of the Declutter Your Home Checklist to your device, you can right-click either of the buttons and choose “Save As…”.
How To Use The Declutter Checklist
In our last article, we went over how to quickly create categories for your clutter. To recap, these were:
- Things To Keep
- Things To Donate Or Give Away
- Things To Store
- Things To Sell
- Things To Repair
- Junk
Depending on how much time you have, you can start small, using the declutter checklist to help you declutter one area at a time.
How Do You Declutter Your Home In 7 Easy Steps?
Decluttering your messy house doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task! With the right preparation and planning, you can start quickly and easily even if you only have 15 minutes a day. Here are 7 easy steps to help you.
1. Get Comfy
Get into some comfortable clothes and choose some of your favorite tunes to keep you company while you get stuck in to your work!
2. Remove Obvious Clutter
In any area, there is going to be no-brainer clutter which will be easy to trash. Think old papers or magazines lying around in your living area. Or old menus or empty bottles in the kitchen.
Don’t think, just trash!
3. Remove Items Which Do Not Belong
This one is also easy! Remove anything that doesn’t belong in the area that you are decluttering. These items are usually pretty obvious so this should also go quickly. If they are junk, toss them!
Also remove anything from the area that is broken, old, unused, unwanted, or even things that you simply just don’t like anymore. Don’t hang onto stuff for the sake of hanging onto stuff! If you don’t like it, get rid of it!
4. Clear The Clutter From Area You are Decluttering
Remove everything from the area you are decluttering. For example, if you are decluttering a closet, remove all the clothing. If you are decluttering your pantry, remove everything from the shelves.
But go slow, do one shelf, drawer or area at a time if you need to – you don’t want to overwhelm yourself and end up with your whole house on the floor!
5. Clean The Area
There is nothing like a fresh start so once everything is out of the area, you can now go ahead and give it a good clean!
6. Categorize Each Item You Have Removed
Now you can go through and categorize each item you removed from the area. Try to work quickly and try not to overthink things.
Decide whether the item should be kept, donated, stored, sold, repaired, or thrown away.
A good rule of thumb is that you should get rid of anything that you haven’t used in the last 6 months. If you need more ideas on what to keep and what to get rid of you can get some ideas from our last article.
7. Repack, Reorganize and Move Onto The Next Area
Once you have gone through and categorized each item give them a good clean and put them back in the area that they belong.
Now is the perfect time to label and sort all the things that you are keeping. Have you ever imagined your pantry beautifully labeled and categorized? Well now is the time to do it!
Once everything is back in its place you can move on to the next area.
Tip! Remember to remove everything that you are donating, giving away, or throwing away from the house. Try not to look at the items that you are throwing away and don’t rethink the things you are giving away or donating. Once your decisions have been made, try to stick with them no matter how tempting it might be to change your mind.
Where Do I Start Decluttering When Overwhelmed?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of clutter in your home then definitely start small. Use our declutter checklist to help you decide where to begin. Choose something easy to start with like a bedside table drawer or a small countertop.
Another easy way to start is by simply removing all the obvious clutter that we mentioned in our first step. Go through your house and start by throwing away the no-brainer items such as papers, newspapers, magazines, old stationery, empty bottles, broken items, etc.
Set yourself a goal to work towards and when that is done take a break and then move on to the next area when you are ready.
How Can I Be Ruthless When Decluttering My House?
It isn’t always easy to part with things especially when you have a lot of stuff that has been with you for ages! It’s funny how these things tend to grow on us and it almost feels like you are throwing away a part of yourself. It is really important to try to change your mindset when it comes to decluttering. Don’t think of decluttering and throwing things away as losing part of yourself, rather think of decluttering as a way of welcoming new and better things into your life!
And we aren’t just talking about physical things here. Decluttering has many benefits for your mental health and for your overall well-being so don’t be afraid to let go of things that aren’t bringing value to your life.
Here’s a quick tip! While you are working through an area, get rid of the no-brainers first. And then when you get to an item that is tricky, imagine that by throwing it away you are creating space for something new and better to replace it.
Imagine how you will feel when that new and exciting thing comes into your life to replace it and you will soon begin to enjoy the decluttering! It can be a tremendous weight off your shoulders to get rid of things that are no longer useful or bring happiness to you. By getting rid of the clutter, you will also have more room to decorate your home with things you really love!
Another good way to encourage yourself to get rid of things is to go out of your way to look for things to donate to your favorite charity. It is always easier to get rid of something if you know that someone else will benefit from it. Why let something sit in your closet unused when you can donate it to someone else who will genuinely benefit from it?
Don’t let unnecessary things take up space in your home, life, and mind!
What happens When You Have Too Much Stuff In Your House?
When you have too much stuff in your home it can be hard to find the things you need quickly. It is also incredibly difficult to keep your home organized and clean. Trying to clean around unnecessary clutter is a real headache. Don’t put yourself through this especially when your clutter problem can be easily solved. It can also become very stressful when you have a messy house.
How Do You Know If You Have Too Much Clutter?
There are a couple of ways to tell if you have too much clutter in your home and in your life.
- You keep needing more and more space for all your stuff.
- You seem to lose things more often than not.
- You have a closet full of clothing but you still have nothing to wear.
- Your relationships are strained.
- You can’t use certain areas of your home for their intended purpose.
- You get stressed out when unexpected visitors arrive.
- You don’t want to invite friends or family over because you are embarrassed by your messy house and you don’t have the time needed to clean up before they arrive.
- You are embarrassed when workmen or contractors come to your house to work.
- Your life feels overwhelming and out of control.
Conclusion
Decluttering your home really doesn’t need to be a drag, and the benefits will far outweigh the time and effort you are investing in now. Use our Declutter Your Home Checklist to help you sort out your messy home quickly. And remember to start small if you need to!
Work out what works best for you. For example, some people like to organize and declutter their home in a more linear way, starting from the front door and working their way down through the house. Others prefer tackling heavy clutter zones first and then moving on to less cluttered areas as they go. Still, others prefer sorting out their living areas first because that gives them a sense of achievement and as an added bonus, friends can come over without having to worry about being embarrassed by a messy home!
We’d love to know, what have you found works best for you? Did our Declutter Your Home Checklist help you? Let us know in the comments section below!
