Does it seem like your home is never truly tidy, no matter how much you clean? It could be time to tackle the clutter!
Over our years of providing top-rated residential cleaning in Mcfarland, we’ve witnessed how clutter slowly takes hold of a house, making cleaning a daunting task and creating the illusion of a messier space.
Take charge of your decluttering journey starting today. We’ve compiled the most effective decluttering advice from experts, ensuring you reclaim a clean and organized home.
What is the best way to declutter?
Clutter can appear for many reasons, from procrastination to emotional attachments. In the same way, there are many methods to take clutter out of your home. Let’s see what the experts say!
We pick the following decluttering methods recommended by experts so that you can tidy up your home.
- Peter Walsh’s 5 steps to declutter any room
- KonMari method
- Joshua Becker method for a minimalist home
- 90/90 minimalist rule
- One in/two out rule
- 365 Less things challenge
Decluttering methods recommended by experts
Peter Walsh’s 5 steps to declutter any room
When clutter seizes a room completely, it’s hard to know where to begin. The professional organizer Peter Walsh tells us how to declutter any space in 5 easy steps. This method is the fastest way to declutter a messy room, but it will take you the whole day. Here are the steps:
- Empty the space: take everything from the room and arrange similar items together.
- Create a vision for the room: ask yourself, “what do I want from this room?”
- Sort everything into two piles: the “vision pile,” which contains the items that go according to your vision of the room. And the “out-the-door pile,” which includes the objects for donating or tossing.
- Donate or trash items: donate or toss the things in the “out-the-door pile.”
- Rebuild: now it’s only the empty room and the “vision pile.” It’s time to build the vision you created in step two!
KonMari Method
From all the professional organizers out there, Marie Kondo is perhaps the most widely known. The KonMari method has a fresh approach, organizing your house by categories instead of locations. This method focuses on the joy every object brings you—Kondo encourages keeping only the things that “spark joy.”
What should I declutter first? According to the KonMari method, you should start with your clothes, then books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items), and sentimental items last.
Joshua Becker method for a minimalist home
Joshua Becker is an author and founder of becoming minimalist—a website focused on the minimalist lifestyle. In Becker’s approach to decluttering, the best way to start tidying up is to begin by the easiest room. Joanne Liscano summarizes Becker’s book “The minimalist home” and his method:
- Set your goals
- Include your family in the process
- Work room by room
- Have fun!
- Revisit your goals
90/90 Minimalist Rule
The 90/90 rule is a decluttering technique posted by the minimalists (Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus) in their blog. To follow this rule, the first thing you do is picking an object. Ask yourself if you have used the item in the last 90 days. Then ask yourself if you are going to use it in the next 90 days. If both answers are “no,” then you are better off donating or disposing of the item.
This technique works great if you struggle to decide which objects are clutter and which don’t, according to a minimalist lifestyle.
One in/two out rule
A well-known rule to avoid clutter is the “one in/one out” rule. Are you buying a new pair of shoes? Time to throw away an old pair! We have the “one in/two out” rule explained by Wendy Boswell for a decluttering variant.
Following this rule is a great way to declutter your home without spending the whole weekend.
365 Less things challenge
Some years back, Colleen Madsen started a blog to register its new year resolution: get rid of one item per day during the year. Any household in Madison can replicate this easy decluttering challenge without spending hours purging the clutter. The instructions are simple: pick up every day a single item and get rid of it by donating it or throwing it away.
After you finish with your decluttering project, get your home professionally cleaned! Check out our residential cleaning services here and book now!