We all have sentimental items that we cherish and want to store away, but when is it too much, and when do your belongings become “clutter”? Clutter is basically anything that takes up space and isn't improving or making your life better.

Remember, not everything is trash or needs to be donated. Learn how to declutter by giving things a home within your home. Read on to learn how to declutter your home when you don’t know where to start.

1. Sort & Toss

Throw Away Trash First

This is the easiest task to start with. By removing trash, it helps your eyes adjust to the things you actually need to sort out without getting distracted and running back and forth to the garbage can. Discard anything broken, receipts, half drank cans, old mail, etc.

Tip!

Keep a small trash can in each room to ensure that trash ends up in the bin and not around your home.

Sort Into Piles

Doing a preliminary sort can make a big difference when it comes to decluttering your home. Start by sorting your things into vague categories and returning them back to their designated space. For example, take all dishes into the kitchen, take all clothes into their owner’s bedroom, return toys to the playroom and so on. Don't worry about putting things away right then and there, simply return them to their appropriate space and come back to it as you clean.

2. Purge the Clutter Room by Room

Handle the Piles

Remember the piles we made and left? As you work around your house, learn how to declutter those things in that coordinating room. If you find that things don’t have a “home,” make one using storage bins, shelving, and containers. Use this as a time to determine if something needs to be kept and stored, donated, or just trashed. Take one item at a time when determining to keep it or not. While sorting, keep in mind that the goal is to purge and reduce the amount of stuff in your home, and the best decisions are the ones made quickly.

Tackling Your Kitchen

Being a common space, it can be easy to let clutter accumulate on counters, tables, and even chairs. The main goal is to maintain clear surfaces. Use racks, bowls, and canisters to assign to kitchen items like utensils, spices, or pots and pans. By giving each item its own designated space, it has somewhere to return to at the end of the day.

Bathroom Storage Systems

Another high traffic area, the bathroom has several opportunities for organization systems. Like the kitchen, you want to keep your countertops as clean as possible. Having stations for makeup, handwashing, and linens can help to ensure things are kept organized. Proactively prevent dirty laundry from piling up by keeping laundry bins right in the bathroom. That way, it’s all in one place ready to be collected. Don’t forget the first tip – getting rid of trash as it comes. Keep a small bathroom trash can hidden away.

Identifying Your Clothes

In each bedroom, make clean clothes visible. Sort your clothes and shoes by what you wear often, things you find yourself never reaching for but are still in good condition, and lastly, things that are damaged beyond repair. To help identify what you actually wear, put away your clothes in the opposite fashion– your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction. After wearing an item, store it correctly. After a few months, discard the clothes and shoes you never touched.

3. Ask Yourself Questions

If you get stuck and can't decide what to do with a particular item, ask yourself clarifying questions including:

• When was the last time you used this item, and was it in the last year?
• Is it broken, damaged, or the wrong size?
• Does it make you happy or have sentimental value?
• Do you really need this item?

4. Keeping the Clutter Managed

Once you figured out how to declutter your home, the best way to keep it that way is to set up a schedule and timeline. Keep a checklist of tasks to do daily, weekly, monthly. Hang it in a common space so everyone in the house can know their tasks and help.

If the clutter is overwhelming, get help from a friend. Have a friend help you figure out how to declutter your home and suggest a handful of big items to toss or give away. This fresh set of eyes can offer perspective to help you decide what you really need to keep, and how to properly store it away.

Clutter in a house is nothing to be ashamed of, it simply proves that someone lives there. Knowing how to declutter is the best way to serve yourself and get the most out of your space by keeping it neat and organized.