Whether you’re looking to move home in 2023 or not, the new year is a time to take stock. Is your home working for you?
There aren’t many people who can honestly say that they’re not in need of a bit of reorganisation or decluttering. With space at a premium for many of us, January is a good time to look around and ask yourself whether you really need everything you own – and what to do with it if you don’t. Here are five tips on how to get started with the big declutter.
1. Ask yourself: Do I need this? Do I love it?
Just because someone gave you an ugly vase for Christmas five years ago doesn’t mean that it needs to become part of your permanent inventory. Take a fresh look and if you don’t like it, ditch it. Life is long and keeping every item that you acquire along the way is unsustainable – and results in clutter that wears you down. Between the charity shop, eBay and the dump, you will be able to rehome unwanted clutter and you’ll soon be enjoying the sense of freedom that reclaimed space offers.
2. Put things into storage
But consider it carefully – this is a short-term solution only. If you’re about to put your home on the market, your photographs will look better without suitcases and junk piled up on top of wardrobes. Empty surfaces appeal to buyers, while clutter implies that the place is too small. Put things that you really want to keep in storage until you move – but don’t forget about them. Storage costs can mount up and there’s nothing more pointless than paying to store stuff you’ve forgotten about (although this is pretty common). Don’t go there.
3. Look inside your kitchen drawers. Are they overflowing?
Could it be that you have multiple versions of the same thing? You do not need five palette knives. Get rid of four. Also: mugs. How many mugs do you actually use? There are likely to be unloved ones at the back of the cupboard that you would never dream of drinking from because you hate them. Get rid. The same goes for ice cream makers/spiralisers/bread machines, unless you have actually used them in the past year.
4. Depending on your age, you might have shelves full of records/CDs/DVDs
This is a tricky one. If you are hoarding music on all media, yet mostly listen via streaming services, then you are storing things needlessly. However, it’s all very emotional and trying to sort through CDs and records can make us feel very sentimental. Sometimes we need to make hard choices. Books can take up a lot of space too and while a tidy wall of books is an attractive feature and a valuable part of life, piles of tatty tomes stacked up everywhere is not a good look. The solution is to build good and dedicated shelving, or take them to the charity shop.
5. Storage is key. In a well-organised home, everything has a place
If your house feels cluttered, it could simply be that there’s not enough storage. Think about what you have and how to order it. Piles of papers should be filed or recycled; shoes should be on a rack. Coats should be in cupboards, as should spare toilet rolls and skateboards. If you’re lucky enough to have closets, use them, and if you don’t, then consider investing in some cupboards and units that are right for your particular kinds of clutter. Make 2023 the year of getting organised.