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Home » Blog » Natural Home » 6 Signs It’s Time to Declutter​ ​Your​ ​Home

6 Signs It’s Time to Declutter​ ​Your​ ​Home

Last updated October 7, 2018 | By Tracey Black | 3 Comments

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Is it time to declutter your home? Check out these signs to watch out for and how to start getting rid of all the excess stuff and make room for the things you love.

6 Signs It's Time to Declutter Your Home - check out these tips to start decluttering - DontMesswithMama.com

Many people think of clutter as trash lying around the home. However, clutter is not just trash that needs to be thrown out. Clutter can be articles of clothing, toys, papers, and anything lying
 around that does not get used. If you look around your home, you will probably find plenty of clutter that needs to find a home right away.

1. Kitchen Cabinets That Do Not Stay Closed

Cups are one thing that we seem to accumulate, but never throw out. It is easy to get souvenir 
cups from baseball games, movies, and the fair, but these cups tend to be pretty durable, so we
never end up throwing them out. Before you know if the kitchen cabinets will be overflowing
with cups. When your kitchen cabinets do not stay closed, it’s a sign it’s time to declutter.

What to do: Let go of all the plastic drinkware. Opt for Mason jars instead. The glass is so much better for you (read 21 signs of a hormonal imbalance to learn how plastics can affect your hormones), and can be used to store food too. You can get multiple uses out of Mason jars.

2. You Have Run Out of Hangers

Do you find yourself short on hangers, and drawer space as you are taking clean clothing out of
 the dryer? It is very likely that this is because you have too many clothes. Go through your closet
and pull out anything that you haven’t worn or fit into in the past six months.

It may seem
 wasteful to get rid of clothing. However, it’s more wasteful to have more clothes than you can
 wear. You can always put away clothes, you don’t have any intention of wearing at the moment.
 You can choose to get rid of the clothing at a later date. This is especially a good idea, if you
 have kids that can wear these clothes later.

What to do: Get the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It’s a great resource to help you let go of clothes you don’t wear.

3. Falling Behind in Bills

Sometimes when you get home after work you head to the mailbox, grab whatever was inside,
and then toss it on the counter as you make your way to the bathroom and change into more
 comfortable clothing. This leads to you forgetting to take care of the mail you brought in. The
 next thing you know, you have one or two week’s worth of mail, accumulating on the counter. 
Prevent getting bill reminders, by taking care of the mail as soon as you bring it in. Sort the mail,
 while you are walking inside, and instantly throw out any junk received. If you really want to 
ditch the paper clutter, sign up for electronic alerts through your email.

What to do: Get off the junk mail list and stop getting credit card solicitations in your mailbox. You can even bulk unsubscribe to all those emails you don’t read.

4. You Cannot Find Your Keys

All too often, we find ourselves heading out the door in a hurry, only to find that our keys are not
where we thought we left them. This is likely due to clutter and poor organization. When you
 can’t find your keys, because of the clutter in the house, it’s time to declutter your home.

What to do: Get into the habit of putting your keys and outgoing mail in one place – usually near the door so as you walk in you immediately put your keys in an organizer like this.

5. The Toy Box is Overflowing

Most kids play with their toys for one to two weeks before they get abandoned in the toy box. If
 you find that your children have outgrown certain toys, it is time to put them in box to donate or sell. Most children play with the same 10-15 toys they have rather than the 100 or so that fills their room and closet.

What to do: Go through the toy box, kids’ closets, and other play areas at least once a month to get rid of things you don’t need. This helps to remove broken toys and toys that no longer
 work for your kids or that are just adding clutter.

6. You Can’t Find Anything Under the Sink

Look under your bathroom or kitchen sink. What do you see? You’ll likely see a ton of old bathroom and kitchen cleaners, old sponges and brushes, and maybe even some old products you don’t use (like makeup and skin care under the bathroom sink). If you haven’t used those items in the last 3-6 months, it’s time to let it go. Those makeup or skincare freebies you got from the department store? Those should go too if you haven’t used them in the last few months. All of it adds to the clutter and keeps you from having access to the things that you DO use.

What to do: Opt for natural products. When you make the swap from chemical household cleaners to something like Thieves Household Cleaner (which is one product and can clean basically everything in the home) then you’ll find that you’ll only need that and maybe some baking soda or vinegar and clean sponges under the sink. The same goes for beauty care products. I make a lot of my own beauty products with essential oils. Check out 100+ DIY beauty care products you can make at home.

What tips do you have to declutter the home?

You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

7-Day Decluttering Challenge

Looking for more ways to declutter your home? Join my FREE 7-Day Decluttering Challenge! I’ll go more in-depth on how to declutter your bathrooms and every room in your home. I’ll also show you how to deal with the emotions that often come up when you’re decluttering and simple strategies you can use to overcome them.

FREE 7-Day Decluttering ChallengePhoto of a decluttering workbook with a link to a decluttering challenge

More Decluttering Tips

  • 10 Steps to Declutter Your Home
  • 5 Questions to Ask Before You Buy
  • 5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Minimalist Living
  • Is Minimalism Right for You?
  • 5 Ways to Declutter Your Bathroom

 

Photo credit: Bigstockphoto.com / Kasia Bialasiewicz

Don't Mess with Mama is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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10 Steps to Declutter Your Home
6 Signs It's Time to Declutter Your Home - check out these tips to start getting rid of all the excess stuff - DontMesswithMama.com
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Filed Under: Minimalist Living, Natural Home Tagged With: home and garden, minimalism, tutorial Published December 27, 2017

Comments

  1. Tatiana Wilson says

    October 24, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    It sure hit me hard when you said that I need to declutter if I usually lose my keys because that means that the organization of the things in the house is bad. Actually, I sometimes even blame my husband for taking my keys when in reality, they just get stuck in between two layers of clutter. Because of this, I think I do need to hire a junk removal expert and start decluttering.

    Reply
  2. Charles Mitchell says

    August 29, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    Last night I nearly tripped over my little sister’s large toy that she doesn’t play with anymore but for some reason is still scattered on the floor. That is when I decided that maybe I should rent a dumpster and declutter the house. I appreciated it when you said that kids only play with their toys for a few weeks before they get tired of them and that I need to get rid of them when they do. Thanks. That’s exactly what I’ll do.

    Reply
  3. Dino Violante says

    August 17, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    I have to agree with you that there is a need to declutter if the person can no longer find their keys because that is a sign that there are way too many items in the house. And I have to admit that those items are not exactly important. That is why I do not understand why I still have them. It might be best to rent a dumpster bin and start sorting out the house. After all, I am tired of losing my keys all the time.

    Reply

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Tracey Black - author and creator of Don't Mess with Mama

Hi, I’m Tracey! I love to share about my favorite gluten-free recipes, real food tips, natural wellness, DIY tutorials, essentials oils and ways to live a simple life.

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