How To Keep A Clutter-Free Home All Year Round

Nobody wants to live in a house full of clutter, and having cluttered rooms in your home is surely not something you and your family purposely did – and you’re not alone on this. With how busy and tired people can get with work, resting would take priority and spending time and energy to clean up can sometimes feel bothersome. But maintaining a clutter-free home won’t take a lot of work if you make the proper preparations.

It may take some time to declutter your home at first, but if you go through the initial decluttering phase and develop good habits, you’ll be sure to have a tidy space all the time. If you’re ready to start the decluttering process, set aside an afternoon to gather all the clutter. Depending on the size of your home and how much time you can actually spare, you may set aside an afternoon or two to do either of the two options:

• Gather all items in one room and sort clutter from there.
• Do a room-by-room decluttering.

The first option is best if you have a small or average-sized home, and you can set aside a whole day to tidy up and sort items. For large homes or limited time, we suggest going for the second option by focusing on one cluttered space at a time. However, you must keep the already tidy room clutter-free once you’re done with it or else miscellaneous items will pile up all over your home again.

Sort through clutter

The first thing you need to do is to figure out what to do with all the items that clutter your home and sort them according to their necessity in your daily life. If you’re unsure how to categorise your clutter, consider preparing cardboard boxes where you’ll toss in the items. You can start off with the labels below:

• Store: For sentimental items you need or want to keep.
• Repurpose: For items you may not need but can serve a different purpose right away.
• Dispose: For items you don’t need or have no use for anymore.

You may also want to prepare a box for items to “Return” for items you borrowed but forgot about.

Once you’ve sorted through everything, we highly recommend going through your “Store” box again just to make sure you really want to keep all the items in the box. If in doubt, take the Mari Kondo route and only keep what truly “sparks joy” then dispose of the rest.

Store

When it comes to decluttering, there should be a place for everything and everything should be stored in its proper place. If you’re set on keeping the items that used to clutter your home, you need to provide ample storage space for it – simply stuffing and locking them all together in a junk drawer won’t cut it.

Home storage

If you wish to keep items in your home, determine if you have enough cabinet space to store your miscellaneous items. If there’s none, you may consider purchasing, building, or installing the necessary storage space, such as inexpensive baskets, caddies or new shelving.

However, if you’re running out of space at home, you can always consider other options, building a storage shed in the backyard or renting from storage providers. If you’re keen on the latter, you can choose from a commercial storage space provider or searching for privately-owned rental spaces.

Commercial storage space rentals

There are many accessible commercially-run storage space rentals across Australia – you just need to do a quick search to find one that meets your requirements near you.

Most commercial storage facilities offer 24-hour security, so you can rest assured that your items for storage will be secure. Furthermore, if you have items that are sensitive to temperature changes, some facilities offer temperature-controlled storage units to ensure that

Privately owned storage spaces

If you don’t want to sign a lease with a commercial storage provider, you can always look for people willing to rent out a room or garage for storage purposes. Some people advertise the space they rent out online, such as in Gumtree and social media marketplaces. Both are good options, but you’ll have to compare listings carefully because their terms and conditions (T&Cs), as well as payment options, may not be suitable for your needs.

But if you don’t want to go through the trouble of reviewing the T&Cs each listing, you can also check out online platforms that list rental spaces and facilitate smooth transactions between hosts and potential renters.

Spacer is one such platform, and it provides a large number of parking and storage spaces for rent across Australia at affordable rates. Spacer offers over 30,000 listings for monthly storage space, so you’ll be sure to find one that meets your requirements – whether it’s a bedroom storage space in Sydney, a basement storage cage in Melbourne, or a weatherproof outdoor shed in Canberra.

Repurpose

As you sort through the clutter, you may find items you’re not exactly keen on keeping but, at the same time, you don’t really wish to dispose of either. In these cases, consider if you can breathe new life into them by repurposing these old items so they can become useful once more and may even help you avoid spending money for new items.

For instance, a cookie tin can serve as storage for small miscellaneous items like pens and paper clips, and you can turn old picture frames into cute jewelry organisers just by repainting and decorating the frame, removing the glass, and adding tiny screws or hooks.

Other items, such as bottles and jars can also be turned into nightlights just by placing fairy lights inside. But if you have no idea what to make of your item, a quick search for DIY tutorials may give you a lot of useful ideas – just avoid buying more materials that will end up as additional clutter.

Dispose

Just because you placed items in your “dispose” box doesn’t mean they’re going straight to the garbage bin. Although this is also an option, it’s best to consider the state and value of each item you’re removing from your home so you can sort them further and maybe even make money off unwanted items.

Donate

Give back to the community by donating items that are still in good condition, whether it’s old clothes or even children’s toys. These items will especially be helpful to those who suffered from natural disasters or are simply having a tough time at present.

As the old saying goes: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, so instead of accumulating waste in your home, consider presenting it to someone who can treasure them.

Sell

For items that may be valuable but you have no space for anymore, such as collectibles and old furniture, you may want to consider selling them in a garage sale, flea markets, or on online marketplaces for extra cash.  Such items may not always fetch a high price, but earning a few dollars of additional pocket money  in exchange for a clutter-free space won’t hurt.

Recycle

There are a variety of recycling programs being implemented across Australia and a quick search can point you to a facility that would happily buy off your old recyclable items or exchange them for discount vouchers. Likewise, there are well-known companies and brands that promote trade-in of old items from their brand in exchange for discounts on new items or discount vouchers.

Some of these popular well-loved brands and their recycling programs include:

•  H&M: Drop off old clothes and textiles in exchange for a thank you voucher that can be used on your next purchase.
• Apple: Trade in your old Apple gadgets for recycling and receive a trade-in credit that you can use to receive a discount on the new device.
• Kiehl’s: Exchange used up Kiehl’s cosmetics packaging for recycling and receive Kiehls Rewards Points which you can use to redeem vouchers and exclusive offers from their rewards program.
• Telstra: Post-paid service subscribers can recycle your old devices through Telstra and earn bill credits.

The brands and companies above are only the tip of the iceberg, and you can find more recycling programs with just a quick search.

Of course, once you have sorted through all the clutter and disposed of the unwanted items, you need to avoid unnecessary purchases as well. Consider practising the “One in, One out” policy. That is, before buying anything new, evaluate whether you really need the item and decide what item you currently have in your home you will dispose of to make space for the new one.

Make it a habit

The most important thing that will keep your home clutter-free is to change your behaviour and ensure that everyone else at home is committed to the same goal. Form the simple habit of cleaning up after yourselves and setting aside time to tidy up.

Likewise, consider adopting a minimalist lifestyle and changing your buying habits to avoid the accumulation of possessions. The battle against clutter is a continuous process, but taking these basic steps to minimise the unnecessary items that end up as clutter can help you achieve a calm and clutter-free home.

 © This content is originally published for Spacer AU, a Spacer Technologies company, and is protected under the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth). Unauthorised use or reproduction of this article, in whole or in part, without permission is prohibited and may result in legal action.