De-cluttering Your Home Archives - Your Colorado Springs Realtor

Why Decluttering Saves You Money

Hilary — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:06:12 +0000

Why Decluttering Saves You Money

You Find Items You Forgot You Had

By HILARY JOHNSON

Why Decluttering Saves You Money

Clutter. It’s terrible for the soul, and terrible for all other life aspects as well. Clutter not only drags you down mentally, but it is also a huge waste of your financial resources. How exactly does clutter waste money, and how does getting rid of it help you save financially?

You Find Items You Forgot You Had

When you declutter, it can be like going shopping. As you clean, you will likely come across many objects that you forgot you had. You may need more pens and find close to one hundred. You just never know what you are going to find when you declutter. The rescued items can be organized from this point on, and used as needed.

You Don’t Have to Buy New Items Because You Lost the Old One

We’ve all been there. You have an item you need and you are sure you bought it already. You know that you have it somewhere, but you have so much clutter lying around that you may never find the item. You inevitably end up buying a new one, only to find the original several months down the road.

With piles and piles of seemingly random things being stored in your home, it can be near impossible to find what you are looking for when you need it the most. Decluttering can make your home more organized so that you never have to waste time looking for things you bought and misplaced, or buy a duplicate item.

It Encourages You to Buy Less

When you have spent a large amount of time decluttering your home, you realize what a time-waster it is to have too many items. It can be the most effective way of convincing yourself to buy less. You will save a large amount of money if you take the simple step of curbing your spending patterns. Buy less, and your life will instantly go in a positive direction.

You Can Downsize

The amount of real estate that clutter takes up is amazing. When you declutter, it makes you feel good and you will want to keep going. When you have gotten to a point where you are closer to being a minimalist, you will find that you truly do not need a lot of space to enjoy the home you live in. You may even find yourself seriously considering downsizing your home in order to save money and prepare for the future.

You Can Create Income Selling Old Items

Decluttering leaves you with not only a lot of junk, but also with many perfectly good items that you simply do not need. By selling these old items, you are not just saving money, but making some.

This can be an added incentive to your decluttering efforts. Whether it be through a garage sale, word of mouth or an online ad, sell your old items and make some extra cash.

Decluttering is good for the mind, body and soul. It is also good for the wallet. If you are hoping to save money and be more responsible with what you have, take these thoughts into consideration. Decluttering can and does save you money, and in a big way.

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Where to Find Ideas for Home Organization

Hilary — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 18:53:28 +0000

Where to Find Ideas for Home Organization

By looking extensively and collecting ideas

By HILARY JOHNSON

Where to Find Ideas for Home Organization

As you make plans to organize and declutter your home, you will probably want to do as much research as possible in order to get an idea of what you like. By looking at several different places for inspiration, you will get clear ideas of what you do and do not like.

By looking extensively and collecting ideas, you will have enough information to decide on an appropriate way to manage the mess in your home, and create a new space you love.

Pinterest is a great place online to collect a variety of ideas on any topic, and home organization is one of them. Simply do a search for a variety of phrases, such as “home organization”, “decluttering tips” or “tidy home hacks” and you will find endless ideas on how to get and keep your home in an amazing state of orderliness.

The sky is the limit, and with this website you can create folders on your account with titles that help you to find the information easily at a later time.

Houzz

Houzz is a fun website where you can be inspired by looking at beautiful homes. Sometimes by viewing someone else’s organized spaces, you can glean ideas that will amaze you and help you to create your own organization solutions. Save pictures to folders that you create in order to categorize the ideas. You can even find out where certain items and accessories that you see on the website can be bought.

Internet

The internet is a wide-open place, and you can use this tool to collect ideas from around the world to help you with your organization journey. Google the words of absolutely anything you are looking for, and then view photos and find various websites that will satisfy your creative drive, while helping you organize your own home.

Save screenshots of inspirational and helpful photos in a folder you create on your desktop for this task, or print them out and make a binder if you are a hands-on type of individual.

Magazines

There are a variety of magazines that are dedicated to beautiful homes and home organization. Use these magazines as a visual aid to inspire you and add to your knowledge about how to get and stay organized. Create a binder and add the articles and photos that inspire you the most.

Friends

Friends can be a great source of inspiration in your home organization project. When you are visiting a friend in their home and you notice that they seem to have a special talent for organization, ask them for tips. Individuals who are organized know how great it feels to stay on top of their day-to-day tasks, and are generally more than happy to help anyone else get to the same place.

Home organization can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, the world we live in is full of great ideas to help you get to a place where you can feel like you are not only surviving but thriving in this area. Use these resources to take you from overwhelmed to feeling great about your organizational skills.

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When Did You Last Wear That?

Hilary — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 18:41:55 +0000

When Did You Last Wear That?

Why You Should Declutter Clothing

By HILARY JOHNSON

When Did You Last Wear That?

When it comes to clothing, most of us have far more than we really need. If you take a good, honest look through your closet, you will find that you have much more than you use. In fact, most people wear only a small percentage of their clothing over and over, and neglect the rest.

Why You Should Declutter Clothing

Having too much of anything takes up not only physical space in your home, but mental space as well. When you are looking for something to wear, having too much clothing makes you feel like you are searching through endless piles of stuff and yet still cannot find something suitable. When you declutter, you will be able to quickly find outfits that you love. This will save you time, and keep your stress levels low.

How Does It Make You Feel and Look?

As you are sorting through your clothing, think about how the item makes you feel. Do you look at it and feel excited to wear it? When it is on your body, does it make you feel and appear attractive and ready to take on the world?

Clothing is much more than a cover. It is a part of who you are, and how you feel in it is the image of yourself that you are presenting to the world. Keep only the clothing that makes you feel confident, and causes you to be proud of who you are.

Have You Worn It in the Past Year?

A good rule of thumb is that anything not worn in the past year needs to go. The reason for the rule of a year is because certain items of clothing and accessories have particular yearly events that they are appropriate for, and it’s ok to keep a few of those special items.

Are You Keeping It Out of Obligation?

Many of us are harboring clothing out of guilt, given to us by well-meaning friends and family. Unless someone knows your taste 100% of the time, clothing generally does not make an appropriate gift. Too often we are given an item and then feel stuck with it for an undisclosed amount of time, and we never quite feel right getting rid of it.

If you are keeping clothing you hate just because you feel loyal to the person who gave it to you, go ahead and get rid of it. This will make room for items you love, and you won’t feel guilt every time you glance at it, knowing that it hasn’t been worn and will probably never be.

Also, many locations have seasons that are very distinct in temperature. You will have clothing that you don’t ever wear in summer, but faithfully make use of every winter… or vice versa. If you didn’t wear it in the past year’s appropriate season, it is likely that this item is no longer needed, or that it no longer flatters who you have become.

Once you have made choices about what to get rid of, you can throw away any damaged items, sell a few select items and give away the rest to those in need.

Organize what is left, and you will see what a difference it makes in your life when you have in your closet only what you need and love wearing. Enjoy your new organized closet and never search for hours for a lost item again.

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How to Sort Out That Messy Drawer

Hilary — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 18:31:55 +0000

How to Sort Out That Messy Drawer

Begin With An Empty Slate

By HILARY JOHNSON

How to Sort Out That Messy Drawer

Desks are one of the most difficult places to organize. The drawers in them, as well as other drawers around home, can be a challenge to get in proper order. If you have a drawer that you struggle to shut, and cannot find anything in when you need it, here are some ideas to help you get started on the path to drawer organization.

Begin with an Empty Slate

Instead of trying to clean within a mess, your first step should be to simply remove everything that is in the drawer. Take out all your pens, random business cards, souvenir keychains, and other knick-knacks. Make sure there is nothing left in the drawer. At that point, cleaning the drawer is the next step. Use some disinfectant, or water with a bit of vinegar and a drop of your favorite essential oil to wipe out the inside.

Get Rid of What You Don’t Need

Instead of stuffing everything back in, go through the contents you have removed and decide what you do and do not need. If you haven’t used an item in one year, or you forgot that you had the item there in the first place, get rid of it.

Depending on the value of the item, you can throw it away, donate it, or sell it online or at your next yard sale. If you need the item but you do not need it in this exact drawer, put it into another place where it is still accessible but not taking up valuable space in your small drawer.

Find a Permanent Home for Everything

As you decide where to put everything, give each item a permanent home. Instead of letting small items roll around in the drawer, use dividers to keep things in their place. This way you can be assured that your desk will not get back into the mess you found it in this time. Keep items with other items that are similar, for easy searching at a future date.

Try a New Method of Organization

If what you have been using for organization is obviously not working, now is the time to make some changes. Perhaps you need to buy a drawer insert that will provide the drawer with some obvious places to store items. Maybe you need to buy something as simple as a small tray for a drawer that is causing you grief because small items keep getting mixed up with each other.

Whatever your issue is, there is some way to fix it. Visit a home organization store to see what they have that might meet your organization needs in a better way than what you are currently relying on. Just don’t make the mistake of buying storage items that you don’t need, which soon end up becoming new clutter in your home.

Decluttering and organizing a drawer that has gotten out of control is a tedious task, but can be done pretty quickly when you know what you are trying to achieve.

By making some decisions and possibly investing a small amount of money, you can clean up those drawers in a minimal amount of time. Use these tips to create a drawer space that will make you smile instead of grimace every time you open it.

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Differing Standards of Tidiness within a Household

Hilary — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 18:21:30 +0000

Differing Standards of Tidiness within a Household

keeping everyone happy in areas where they differ.

By HILARY JOHNSON

Differing Standards of Tidiness within a Household

Family life and having roommates are both rewarding, but each can also be a challenge at times. One of these times is when you are trying to find a balance between keeping everyone happy in areas where they differ.

When some members of your household are neat freaks, and others are more suited to audition for a hoarding television show, it is not an easy task for everyone to live together. Here are some tips on how your household members of various levels of organization can dwell peacefully together.

Have a Group Meeting

The most important tip on how to negotiate this dilemma is to keep your lines of communication open. Hold regular meetings to discuss the issue. Make it a time where everyone can input and try to keep it light-hearted and as fun as possible.

Decide on Common Goals

Although some family members or roommates may be drastically more or less comfortable with disorganization than others, there are sure to be some common goals you can all agree on. Some of these might be to have a regular group clean-up time, or to keep the living room clean since this is where your visitors spend most of their time when they are over.

Choose deadlines that everyone can agree on, and talk about a minimum level of cleanliness that everyone agrees is important.

Decide on a Reasonable Compromise

Perhaps the messiest individual of the group simply may not be able to stay consistently organized, nor leave things spotless all the time. Maybe as a group you could choose certain rooms that need to be tidy, and others that are not so important.

Bedrooms are generally an area where organization can be left to one’s personal choice. This way, if someone has items that need to be put away but they don’t have time to do so immediately when they return home, they know that they can put the bags in their own room or another appointed “messy zone” until they have the time for it.

Make other compromises such as letting family members or roommates switch their cleaning duties with someone else if they are running late from work or have an especially busy day ahead of them.

Let Each Person’s Strength Be Highlighted

No two people are alike, even in the same family. Everyone has different strengths, and this can be capitalized on when you are creating your cleaning schedule. Perhaps one of the household members loves cleaning the kitchen after supper, while another prefers more time-consuming but less frequent tasks such as vacuuming. Create the schedule to cater to everyone’s likes, dislikes and natural abilities.

It can be a challenge to live with someone who is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to household organization, but there is no need to let it destroy your relationships or living arrangements.

Stay focused on what you love about each of your roommates, whether it be family or friends. Appreciation for each other and a commitment to working together will help you to live in harmony while taking responsibility together for the home you live in!

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Prioritize Your Declutter Project

Hilary — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 18:12:26 +0000

Prioritize Your Declutter Project

One Area at a Time!

By HILARY JOHNSON

Prioritize Your Declutter Project

One Area at a Time

If you have not decluttered recently nor maintained since your last purge, it can be quite a task to get things back under control. Thankfully, there are many ways to go about this while keeping your sanity. By organizing and decluttering one section of your home at a time, you can tidy up in a manageable way. Here is how to do it.

Prioritize Areas

First, sit down with a notebook and divide your home into rooms. Include non-rooms such as hallways and the entryway. Decide which room will be your first priority, then your second, then your third, etc.

If your children always have friends over, your living room might be first priority. If you feel like you can handle anything that comes your way as long as you have a clutter-free place to relax every night, then your bedroom might take first place instead.

Choose Area Size According to Available Time

Decide how much time each day you can devote to the task of decluttering. If you have entire days to spare, you might be able to take on a room per day. If you are like most people and have several responsibilities to juggle, then it might be more reasonable to tackle small areas within a room.

Break Down Each Area into Sections

After you have decided how much space you are likely to be able to clean each day, break each room down into areas such as closet, desk, floor, etc. Make the sections small enough that you can complete your task in one day. Whether it gets accomplished in twenty minutes or four hours, you will feel satisfied that you have finished the task you assigned to yourself.

Enlist Some Help from Family and Friends

Ask an especially organized family member to help you, or arrange for a decluttering swap with a good friend. Involve them in the planning process, and of course when it comes to the actual physical labor as well. Make it fun, and order pizza for everyone afterward. Most friends are happy to help out when asked, and you can always return the favor in the future.

Be Realistic and Flexible

We can set goals, but sometimes life gets in the way. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach your goal one day, or if you have to reschedule due to life events. Even if it takes longer than planned, your decluttering will eventually come to an end if you stay consistent and stick to it. If you miss one day, simply get back to it the next.

Set a reminder in your smartphone, or find another way to get into the decluttering groove without forgetting about it. Be flexible about your schedule if for some reason you should need one room to be decluttered sooner than originally planned, even if it means putting off another room. As long as you are doing something almost every day, you are headed in the right direction.

Decluttering takes organization. Prioritizing your task means that you will be able to get everything done in a timely fashion. Use these ideas and get on your way to an organized decluttering spree today.

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How to Stop Being a Hoarder

Hilary — Fri, 10 May 2019 17:48:29 +0000

How to Stop Being a Hoarder

Hoarding happens when clutter gets out of control.

By HILARY JOHNSON

How to Stop Being a Hoarder

Hoarding happens when clutter gets out of control. Being a hoarder takes the joy out of life, and can severely alter your quality of life as your numerous possessions spiral out of hand. Here are some ways to stop hoarding and start living the clutter-free life you desire.

Figure Out Why You Hoard

Everyone has a different reason they lean towards hoarding, therefore each person will have a different motivation required in order to quit. Think back in your past. Have you always loved to keep things too long, or was there a certain point when the hoarding began?

Becoming a hoarder can happen very naturally. It can begin with a sincere desire not to waste, and to make use of what you have. It can begin with a love for shopping that gets out of control. It can begin with a tragic event and the loss of a loved one, and an eventual unwillingness to let go of any physical memories you have of them. Your “why” will determine your “how” when it comes to changing your ways.

Think of a Few Small Steps

You don’t have to completely give your home a makeover in an instant. Begin thinking of little ways you can change the home you live in, in order to slowly turn it into your dream home.

Take small steps, such as making a decision not to buy anything other than necessities such as food. If you do buy something, make a promise to yourself that you will get rid of at least ten other things before it comes through the door. Clean one section of your home at a time, even if it is only a desk or another small area.

Find Ideas That Inspire You

A little dreaming always helps you along with your goal of quitting hoarding. Save a folder on Pinterest with photos of minimalist homes that you love. Envision yourself and your family living there, and think about how you might feel. Make a small binder of ideas you find in magazines, if you like. Just be careful not to go overboard with the clippings to the point where they are contributing to the mess.

Get Help If Necessary

There is no shame in seeking help if your hoarding goes beyond what is normal. Find an organizer who is skilled in helping hoarders reduce their clutter and organize their homes. Don’t be afraid to ask your friends for help, as they love you and are more than likely to be happy to help you step into your new, clutter-free life.

If you feel like you just cannot make the changes, seek a counsellor who is familiar with hoarding so that they can assist you in freeing yourself from the prison you’ve enclosed yourself in. Serious hoarding is more than just a bad habit, and can be mentally crippling.

Being a hoarder can have a negative effect on every single area of your life. You can exchange this way of life for a clutter-free version if you wish. Take the necessary steps and turn your home into a haven that you always look forward to coming home to.

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How to Keep Your Home

Hilary — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:38:29 +0000

How to Keep Your Home

Free of Clutter in the Future

By HILARY JOHNSON

How to Keep Your Home Free of Clutter in the Future

Decluttering is a little like losing weight. No matter how well you deal with your problem in the beginning, it will keep coming back unless you understand the concept of maintenance.

If you have gone to the bother of decluttering your home and making it more minimalist and free of mess, here are some tips on how to keep it that way so that you never have to have another moment of panic as you view a home that looks like a bomb exploded there.

Regular Maintenance

This step refers to simply keeping things the way they are by tossing junk when you realize you don’t need it, instead of stashing it in a pile that needs to be sorted over and over. Read your mail and immediately toss it, shred it, or deal with it and then put it into your file cabinet. There is no excuse for papers to be lying all over the floor, making it impossible to find them when you actually need them.

When you buy something from the store, put it where it is going to be kept immediately instead of setting bags on the floor and table. After the laundry comes out of the dryer, fold it and put it away immediately in the proper rooms and drawers. When you have five spare minutes, use it to tidy and clean up anything lying around. This is how you keep any huge messes from forming again.

Before you buy an item, think about whether you really need it, or if it is something you will regret at a later point in time.

Declutter Regularly

In addition to your regular maintenance, it is important to declutter on a regular basis. You can decide to have a serious decluttering day every three months, every six months, or just whenever your home starts looking like a junk yard. Make it a serious appointment and tidy your home from top to bottom, giving yourself another clean slate to work with.

Stop Buying Unnecessary Things

One of the biggest ways you can stop clutter in its tracks is to stop buying unnecessary things. By only allowing what you need to enter your home, you will cut down on the number of items you need to clear out later.

Get Everyone on Board

You can’t conquer clutter alone, unless you live alone. If you are part of a family who lives together, or have roommates of any kind, you will need to make everyone a part of the decluttering team.

to everyone about your wishes to maintain a junk-free haven, and talk about the many benefits of living in a more minimalist way than you have been. Let the other household members know that everyone’s efforts will benefit everyone else, and that you expect cooperation and teamwork.

Decluttering is only half of the solution. In order to maintain a beautiful home, you will need to take steps to keep it that way after the original clean sweep. Use these tips to keep your home free of clutter for years to come.

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How to Get the Family on Board

Hilary — Sat, 09 Mar 2019 17:29:08 +0000

How to Get the Family on Board

When It’s Time to Declutter

By HILARY JOHNSON

How to Get the Family on Board When It’s Time to Declutter

Decluttering is difficult enough when there is only one person involved. Bring in an entire family, and it can become a nightmare. Here are some ways that you can encourage your family to declutter together to create a beautiful home to live in.

Explain Why

It’s not enough to simply demand that your partner and children help you clean without giving any explanation. Talking about why you want to declutter is important, because it will help keep motivation when the actual work begins to get tedious.

Explain to your children that you wish to have an inviting home that they can invite their friends to more often, and that there will be more time for fun activities when everyone keeps on top of the cleaning duties. Remind them that decluttering old items leaves more room for new ones.

Get Everyone Involved

From young to old, there is something that can be done by everyone. Let the adults take care of any dangerous tasks, such as climbing the ladder to the attic to get more boxes, and give out the high-energy tasks to older children. Let your little ones sort through toys and pick out which ones they would like to keep and which ones they would prefer to toss.

Keep It Positive

The amount of enthusiasm you will receive from your family can be influenced by the manner in which you bring up the idea. If you start barking orders and making threats, you can immediately say goodbye to any happy family time you were hoping to experience in these moments. However, if you stay positive and remain consistently encouraging to each family member, you can all enjoy the process together.

Leave Out Young Ones If Necessary

Although it’s nice to get the whole family involved, there will be times when it is necessary to remove your younger children if your decluttering duty is turning into a heartbreaking drama. If your toddlers and preschoolers are having a difficult time entertaining the idea of giving away any of their things, or if they are unpacking items faster than you can get rid of them, it’s time to call in special help.

See if it is possible for your young ones to go to Grandma’s for the day, or if you can swap childcare with a friend who is looking for a day off sometime in the near future.

Use Rewards

You may not believe in bribes, but a little reward can go a long way. Let your kids know that when everyone has worked together and completed the task at hand, you will all go out for an ice cream. Or if you are hosting a garage sale in hopes of selling some of your items, give a percentage of the proceeds to your children in payment for their assistance and cheerful attitudes.

Decluttering is a necessity when raising a family. Aim to declutter your entire home at least once a year, to make room for what the next one will bring in. With a little enthusiasm and a lot of team spirit, you can motivate your family to get on board with decluttering.

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Giving Every Item a Logical “Home”

Hilary — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 17:18:19 +0000

Giving Every Item a Logical "Home"

Your quest for clutter-free living.

By HILARY JOHNSON

Giving Every Item a Logical “Home”

As you declutter your home, and after you are done, there are several secrets that will help you to keep it looking spotless long after you have finished your task. One of these secrets is to give every item a logical home. Here is how to use this step to your advantage in your quest for clutter-free living.

Why Items Need a Logical Home

You may have all the items you could ever need or want, but if you don’t know where to find them, there is no point having them at all. Giving each item a home means that you will always know where to return something when you are done with it, and then when you need it again you will be able to find it easily and immediately.

Giving each item a logical home means that you don’t just choose a random spot for it to be stored, but rather store it in a place that makes sense. This way, if you forget where your item is, you can think about where it should be and find it without wasting too much time.

Starting Off with a Clean Slate

The best time to give multiple objects a home is when you have just done massive decluttering. Now that your home is purged and ready to be organized, find storage places for all your items that make sense to you personally. There’s no point in trying to organize anything at all when you have too many things around that need to be given away or discarded.

Giving Each Item a Room

Observe the items that you have chosen to keep. Decide what room you are generally in when they are in use. Things such as scissors, paper and pens will likely go in your office – or if you don’t have a designated office, your living room.

Things pertaining to sleep or clothing will likely be stored in the bedrooms of those whom they belong to. Kitchen items always belong in the kitchen. Continue on in this way until all your items are sorted into rooms.

Giving Each Item a Particular Spot in the Room

Now that you have a room for each item, choose a particular place for it. Your bedroom might have a closet and shelves for clothing, a section in your closet for jewellery, and one drawer chosen for odds and ends. Try to keep similar items like shoes all in the same place so that when you are in a hurry to leave home, you don’t have to look through the entire house to find the pair you need.

As you take these steps, remember that wherever you choose should be fairly obvious and make sense to you and anyone else who lives there. For example, store your piano books in a small book rack beside the piano, rather than on the other side of the room. This seems fairly obvious, but it deserves repeating because this organization rule is broken so often.

If you are not a natural organizer, it can be a challenge to become one. With a little time and practice, however, you will get there. By using these simple steps, your organizational ability will grow in leaps and bounds.

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