Here’s an idea: the state of your living space mirrors the state of your mind. A messy house equals a messy thought process, and the other way around. If you want to have a more productive way of life, your surroundings can help you achieve that.
Clearing any form of chaos in your home can have a massive impact on your mental state. If you are on the artistic side, like a painter, musician, or poet, you probably have experienced creative blocks here and there.
But what if you could get your muse back by ridding yourself of objects that l weigh on you emotionally? What if decluttering your living space means decluttering your mind as well? Well, you can give this an honest try and even if it doesn’t work, you’ll at least have a neatly organised home. Minimalistic is among the trendist concepts in interior design.
Reclaim your long lost coffee table from the piled up clutter
Everybody has that one side table bearing the weight of months worth of unread mail, old magazines, and vacation brochures. If you are not planning to become a master in the arts of origami, cut your poor table some slack and get rid of them. Sort the important information like water and electricity bills. Throw out the old magazines with that one dish recipe you know you will never prepare but convinced yourself that you will “one day”. Any vital information like phone numbers, names and addresses can be digitalised!
Knockout the knick-knacks out of your life
Do you see that old metal cookie box? Yup, that’s the one. Bet you that it’s filled with buttons, old batteries, headphones with only one of them working, a couple of coins… and most likely the list goes on.
Think about it: do you really have any use for them? You probably don’t remember which button belonged to which jacket and no, you won’t repair the headphones. Consider “death cleaning” and empty the box straight to rubbish.
Help the planet! Recycle your plastic bags
Here we aren’t only talking about freeing your property from clutter, but being environmentally responsible, too. Do you know how much time it takes for a plastic bag to decompose? Up to a thousand years! Naturally, we are not suggesting to throw them out (not the whole point of the tip), but to recycle them and to never buy new ones. When they start to tear apart, put them into the appropriate recycling bins so they can be melted and used again.
Of course, you still need some way to carry your groceries, duh. Don’t be fooled by the paper option if it doesn’t say “Recycled” on it. We all know what paper is made out of. By far the best solution are tote bags! You can get them in a fun design that suits your personality, save your home from the plastic invasion, and take care of nature at the same time!
Save your wardrobe from looking like a war zone
This one is definitely one of the toughest. There is not a single person on this planet that enjoys tossing out their well-loved attire. Well, there are maybe a few exceptional hippie cases. Go through your wardrobe and sort everything. Old, stained t-shirts, socks without siblings, torn stockings – some of those you can re-use, others go directly into the trash. Cut up the shirts and use them for cleaning purposes. Make sock bunnies for your kids. Let your creative side go wild!
Outfits that are in a good condition, but you haven’t worn in years? You can give those away to friends or donate them to charities. Do a good deed! You will have more breathing space and make some people happy.
Memorabilia: Keeping happy memories and throwing out unhealthy reminders
Like with clothes, sorting out memorabilia is hard. It’s completely understandable – many items like photographs or grandma’s old china keep the memories alive but can look old-fashioned, messy and unkempt. You don’t really need to get rid of everything, just find an original storing solution. Here are two fresh storage ideas:
- If you have any free space under your bed or sofa, neatly pack the pieces, label them and make that area their new home.
- Another solution is to pull out the old shoe boxes, decorate them with some fun and colorful paper, and set the items inside. Just make sure they match the room that you are planning to keep those in.
It’s like killing two birds with one stone! You get to save your memorabilia and free up some space!
On the other hand there are things that can emotionally block you. Most of those items are unhealthy reminders of past relationships you keep because of the “good old days”. Your boyfriends old t-shirt, the movie tickets you saved from your first date,etc. Take a deep breath, equip yourself with a garbage bag and get rid of those. You don’t need anything that triggers nostalgia. Emotional baggage is the heaviest one to carry.
Hide absurd kitchen appliances
Ask yourself: “How often do I make ice cream, cake pops or unicorn shaped waffles?” The answer to that question is “Not often enough”. All of the delicious things described above (except the unicorn part), were first made by hand, only using what you got in the kitchen. According to the local Fantastic property experts, if you really don’t need those special appliances on a regular basis, store them away, so they aren’t taking space and collecting dust, or make some money online.
Now open that top kitchen drawer and get the spices out. Unlike with food, you can’t tell when they have expired. Don’t get this the wrong way, old oregano can’t kill you, but it certainly won’t make your pasta sauce taste any better. To figure out if a spice has lost its flavor, put some on the palm of your hand and rub it in. If its scent doesn’t hit your nose, it goes straight to the trash. No point in pilling up old herb jars!
Wake up and throw out a little makeup!
The only excuse for storing year old makeup if it’s limited edition. Otherwise, let’s face it, do you genuinely require 12 different shades of red lipstick? And is that 6 months old mascara truly doing anything for your lashes? You don’t have to answer.
Old makeup can’t do any severe damage to your skin but can break you out like crazy. Most decorative beauty items have a year worth of lifespan. Make a habit of keeping a track of the date on the package, so you don’t find yourself looking like a spotted preteen, drowning in cosmetics.
Bonus tip: Rediscover your long forgotten storage spaces (garage, basement, loft)
Imagine the situation: You want to start a rock band or you have finally decided that you can’t bear anymore side distractions and would like to prepare your art exhibition in peace. You go through all of your rooms and find no space for an easel, let alone a drum set. What if I told you that there is a lost and forgotten area in your home, perfect for your artistic endeavours? No, we aren’t talking about the Chamber of Secrets. Think in a smaller scale and less enchanted. Yup, you have a garage that you can use. But why didn’t you think about that earlier? Well, because your garage is probably filled up to the sealing with old furniture, mysterious boxes and many more non-necessities. Go through all of those. Store everything that you have to keep in labelled containers, everything else goes in the pile named “Yard Sale”. And what do you know? You have just obtained your very own art studio or jamming room!
All of this can sound a bit overwhelming, but being able to have some extra breathing space is worth it. We hope this article has helped you to figure out a way to free up your home (and life)! And remember that “Less is more” is a phrase that never goes out of fashion. Happy decluttering!