Not everyone loves a Marie Kondo.
Some of us like our books, even if we haven’t read them yet, and we’ve still got our favourite school rugby shirt even if we haven’t fitted into it for a while now.
Throwing away all our items and cutting them down to 100 is not an approach for many of us.
There is a kinder, gentler way to declutter. These are a few tips to prune your possessions in a methodical way, meaning you can still keep what you love!
ONE: Pick out your kids’ best toys…
…and put the rest in storage!
We love this idea because our children often have far more toys than they know what to do with.
If you’re planning to move house, then having all the toys out can cause unnecessary stress. Not least if you’ve got viewers popping by to view the house.
Keep out their favourites so they always have them to hand, but the others that they mostly ignore can go “on holiday” for a bit, leaving you more space to organise your home for the imminent move.
The bonus is that once the kids get some of their toys back, they’ll feel a sense of novelty again!
TWO: Plan out your declutter
Decluttering can feel overwhelming for those of us who aren’t naturally the most organised in the world.
We can feel tempted to pull everything out of the wardrobe, empty all the drawers then get distracted going through photo albums and old school exercise books… We look up four hours later to a bombsite that we don’t know how to fix…
We sneak out, close the door quietly behind us, and pretend it didn’t happen. Perhaps we’ll just go and start afresh new room tomorrow…
To avoid the above scenario, Chrissy Halton recommends you start with paper and pen. That way you can map out your process according to the “function” of each space: living room, bedroom, kitchen etc.
Anything that doesn’t belong to that “function” has to find a new home, and if there’s nowhere for it to go, then maybe it needs a new home.
THREE: Do a little bit at a time
Following on from your map with the different “functions”, you can also highlight the steps you’ll take to sort out the smaller areas.
A drawer at a time or a bookshelf is better than tackling a whole room. When you feel the sense of achievement completing smaller tasks, then you’ll feel motivated to keep going the next day and the day after without feeling suffocated.
FOUR: Change your attitude to your items
We often think of accumulating and “gaining” but in fact, we’re diminishing our quality of life if we own items that we don’t get to use or don’t have space for.
Jasmine Birtles suggests we focus on the positives – less time cleaning, a more tidy living space, better quality relaxation, room to actually do your hobbies.
FIVE: Think, would you buy this today?
We change over time, but often our items don’t change with us. If you started a hobby at university but haven’t looked at the equipment for over ten years, wouldn’t it be a kindness to let someone else have the benefit?
When going through your belongings, Laura Kinsella says we need to ask ourselves: “Would I buy this today?”
Storing your items with Spring Box gives you the space to declutter your home. We also have decluttering partners on-hand to help you progress on your journey to a minimalist home.