Have you decided to find out how to declutter your home fast because you don’t know where to start?
I know that feeling!
Do you feel overwhelmed by the huge task and think “I can’t be bothered”?
I have been there too!
When I decided to declutter my house I felt so anxious that I always left it for the next day.
Until the day I decided to take the bull by the horns.
If you are in the same boat, I have a few tips and steps you can follow to make the decluttering process as simple as possible.
You can take it as slowly or as fast as you want.
Some prefer to declutter the whole house at once, while others prefer to take things slowly.
It doesn’t matter how long it takes, the important thing here is to keep moving forward to reach your goal.
With the right mindset, decluttering your house doesn’t need to be stressful or painful.
A 2010 study published in the scientific journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin used linguistic analysis software to measure the way 60 individuals discussed their homes.
Women who described their living spaces as “cluttered” or full of “unfinished projects” were more likely to be depressed and fatigued than women who described their homes as “restful” and “restorative.” The researchers also found that women with cluttered homes expressed higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
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Think about the benefits that a clean and organized home will bring to your life as a motivation point to get you started.
Now that you have the motivation let’s begin decluttering your home.
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How To Declutter Your Home Fast Room By Room
If you are asking yourself ”where in the world do I begin”, check these tips to learn how to declutter your house fast.
#Make a Thorough List
Being organized is essential to get the best results. Write a list of all the areas in your home you wish to declutter, starting with the one you think will be the easiest.
It may be the kitchen, the bathroom, or the living room.
Continue by writing down the specific areas in those rooms you wish to declutter too, for example, the closets, drawers, cabinets…
Once you have finished the list, you’re ready to do some work!
# Use Color Containers
When you start to declutter each room, you’ll soon find yourself wondering about what to do with each object you choose to throw away.
To make it easier buy containers with different colors. Label each container with its purpose: put-away, recycle, fix-later, donation, and trash.
Keep the containers handy every time you declutter a room. This will make the whole decluttering process so much simpler.
# The Important Questions
We all tend to buy things we don’t actually need and then simply place them somewhere and forget about them.
Only buy what you REALLY need or want.
Stop being an impulsive buyer!
Ask yourself questions like: “do I really need this item/object?” “am I going to use it?” “do I like it that much?”
You can also wonder about the reasons you’re keeping certain objects.
Is there some sentimental reason, for example?
I tend to be ruthless when I’m decluttering and try not to associate every item with a sentimental or nostalgic feeling because if I do, I have to keep most of the items.
And this is not our purpose!
We are trying to declutter and get rid of things we don’t really need or want anymore.
# Focus In Consistency
The key to a great decluttering plan is to be consistent.
If you want to fix something, do it as soon as possible.
Do not sit there all day and just stare at it.
You need to set some rules that you’ll strictly follow until you have transformed your home into the one you have dreamed of.
For instance, you can have a “decluttering day” a week, a month, or any time that fits your purpose.
Keep going until your decluttering mission is complete.
And keep on top of it to avoid doing it all over again.
# Make a Plan to Declutter Room By Room
As I said earlier, some rooms in your house should be your first priority when you decide to start decluttering.
Start with a room that is easy and doesn’t take as much time.
In my case, I like to start with the easiest room to avoid getting overwhelmed.
Remember to keep your containers/bins handy so you can put everything that doesn’t belong there in the right container.
To recap, the containers we need should be labeled like this: put away, fix later, recycle, donate, and trash.
If you want to simplify it, use just 3 containers: trash, put away, and donation.
1. Bathroom
A good idea to declutter your home would be to start in the bathroom.
Take a look around your bathroom and the items you keep there.
Depending on the size of your bathroom you will keep more or fewer items in it.
I’m going to go through items that are usually kept in the bathroom.
If it doesn’t apply to you, move on to the next one.
Towels
Check your towels and keep only the ones that are in good condition.
Get rid of old towels or the ones you don’t really like.
Beauty Gadgets
We have too many beauty appliances these days, many of which we don’t use on a regular basis.
Go through all the appliances you keep in your bathroom and dispose of the items you no longer use or want.
Things like hair dryers, curling tools, hair straighteners, shavers, portable saunas, skincare devices, etc, could find a new place or even a new home.
Cosmetic products
Go through all cosmetics and beauty products and throw the ones you don’t use or have expired.
Organize the remaining items neatly into cupboards, drawers, or containers.
There are some great organizers for cosmetic and beauty products.
Use them to group similar products together: makeup, skincare, haircare, nails, bath items, or body products.
Medicines
Check all the medicines (if you keep them in the bathroom cabinet) and dispose of everything that has expired or you no longer need.
In any case, you shouldn’t store your medicines in the bathroom.
This is how you should be storing medicines:
Take care of your medicines.
Know that heat, air, light, and moisture may damage your medicines.
Store your medicines in a cool, dry place. For example, store it in your dresser drawer or a kitchen cabinet away from the stove, sink, and any hot appliances. You can also store medicines in a storage box, on a shelf, in a closet.If you are like most people, you probably store your medicine in a bathroom cabinet. But the heat and moisture from your shower, bath, and sink may damage your medicine. Your medicines can become less potent, or they may go bad before the expiration date.
Pills and capsules are easily damaged by heat and moisture. Aspirin pills break down into vinegar and salicylic acid. This irritates the stomach.
Always keep medicines in the original container.Take the cotton ball out of the medicine bottle. The cotton ball pulls moisture into the bottle.
Ask your pharmacist about any specific storage instructions.
Keep children safe.Always store your medicines out of reach and out of sight of children.
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Store your medicines in a cabinet with a child latch or lock.
✅ If you need a childproof organizer to keep your medical supplies, check this medication box storage.
Cleaning supplies
If you keep your cleaning products in the bathroom (I keep mine in the kitchen, underneath the sink) check the ones that are almost empty, you don’t use, or have expired.
Yes, some cleaning products have a recommended shelf life, so make sure to dispose of them securely after they pass their expiration date.
Want more tips to have a tidy bathroom? Check out declutter your bathroom for chaos-free mornings.
2. Bedroom
Continue by decluttering your bedroom.
Closet
The closet is a good starting point.
I find it easier to declutter my bedroom if I organize my closet first.
Place all your color containers handy and start sorting out your items. Place every item in the corresponding container.
Do you find it difficult to let go of clothes? Then, ask yourself ”have I used this item in the last year?”
The basic rule here is that if you haven’t used a piece of clothing for over a year, then you should probably get rid of it.
That doesn’t apply to clothes with sentimental value, like your wedding dress, or a present.
Make your closet presentable by grouping similar items together: color, type, or fabric.
For more tips about decluttering your closet, read 11 brilliant closet organization hacks.
If your closet has a bad odor or you simply want it to have a nice smell, check these effective tips about how to make your closet smell good.
Now the rest of your bedroom
Since you have already organized your closet, decluttering the rest of the bedroom won’t be that difficult.
Ensure that your clothes are either in your closet or in the laundry basket. Don’t randomly place them on top of chairs.
Before you start to declutter make sure your bed is done so the room will look tidier.
Start by removing everything that’s hidden below your bed and make use of the color containers to dispose of items.
Organize the objects you want to keep into custom-printed boxes and label what’s inside each one.
This will help you locate them later.
Keep organizing the rest
Follow the same steps with other things you keep in your bedrooms such as decor items, belts, books, jewelry, handbags, and shoes.
If you are short of space have a look at this hanging jewelry organizer.
It saves space and makes it easier to find what you need.
Shoes
Apart from your clothing, it is similarly important to organize your shoes.
You’ll definitely have in your possession some pairs you don’t use anymore.
Also, damaged shoes, uncomfortable ones, or shoes from another era you don’t wish to wear anymore should be thrown away immediately (before you have time to change your mind ????).
If your space seems limited or you are the “Imelda Marcos of shoes”, think about buying containers to store your precious collection.
There are brilliant storage ideas for shoes that will enable you to keep them handy at all times.
✅ If you need more help decluttering clothes, read how to declutter clothes and downsize your wardrobe.
3. Kitchen
Your kitchen could be the next place to continue decluttering.
Cabinets
A good place to start decluttering your kitchen is your cabinets.
Go through all the items you keep in your cabinets and get rid of old and chipped plates, mugs, cups, glasses, bowls, etc
Add dividers to your cupboards to gather similar objects together.
Cookware
Organizing your cookware is your next step. Do you keep any old pots or pans? Or maybe some lids that don’t fit any pot? Time to dispose of them!
There are some clever ways to keep your pots and pans organized (including the annoying lids).
If your space is limited hanging pots and pans will save you plenty of space.
You can hang them from hooks placed around the kitchen.
Other ideas are:
- hang pots and pants inside the walls of cabinets
- use your pantry to hang pots and lids
- pot racks are great for vertical storage, it saves lots of space
Cutlery
Throw or recycle anything in your cutlery that is old, you don’t use, is rusty, or does not serve a purpose (knives that don’t cut, bent forks, etc).
Kitchen Appliances
We tend to collect too many kitchen appliances that we later don’t use as much.
If you have appliances that you don’t use, think about giving them away or recycling them if possible.
Pantry
The best place to keep dry food organized is a pantry.
Discard food items that have expired or that you are not going to use.
Placing all dry food in transparent jars makes it easier to find it.
If you want to keep your pantry neat and tidy, check out how to organize a pantry with deep shelves to discover organization tips and storage ideas for your pantry.
Countertops
Busy kitchen countertops can really make your kitchen look cluttered.
Keep your countertop tidy by tossing away papers and flyers, appliances that are not used often, bottles (wine or water), or any item that does not belong in the kitchen.
The “junk” drawer
Do you have a drawer in your kitchen where you put all the items that don’t have a designated place?
I do too.
We keep so many things that it looks like a rubbish dump.
The drawer is full of things like small tools, pencils, pens, elastic bands, flyers, batteries, and so on.
Now I have decided to tackle it and get rid of everything that I don’t need.
If you have the same problem go on and throw the things you no longer need or want.
Be merciless with clutter!
4. Living Room
A cluttered living room makes it look smaller, darker, and claustrophobic.
You can make your living space look bigger and brighter just by getting rid of items that don’t belong there or you don’t want anymore.
Have your color containers ready to begin decluttering your living room.
What items don’t belong there? Put them in their right place NOW.
Go through the rest of the items in your living room and put away the things you want to keep but are unsure where they will go.
Use the “put away color container”
Now, go through all the items again and think if you like them.
Be ruthless here and get rid of the things you don’t LOVE. Use the “trash” “recycle” or “donation” color containers for this task.
Is there any remaining clutter you don’t want there?
Check if there are old papers, bills, magazines, books, DVDs, CDs, etc, and get rid of them.
If you have followed the steps above your living room is now free of clutter and ready to enjoy again.
5. Papers
Lastly, you should go through paper items.
For most of us, our home is full of bills, documents, receipts, and various other pieces of paper you didn’t file or throw away.
Cleaning up the paper mess on your desk or tables is vital to get everything under control.
A good system is to separate paper pieces into three categories: trash/recycle, shred, and file.
By arranging your paper into those piles, you’ll find it easier to sort it out once and for all.
Need more help organizing your papers? Check out how to declutter piles of papers at home.
6. Garage
When you have finished decluttering your home’s interior, you should move forward to your garage.
A good step in starting the whole process is to take everything out and put alike things together.
Do you really need all the things you keep in the garage?
Probably not.
Take all the colored containers to your garage and start sorting out all the items.
The system is the same that the one we used to declutter the house.
- place the things you don’t want in the “trash container”
- the ones you want to give into the “donation container”
- what you want to keep but go somewhere else in the “put away container”
- what you want to recycle into the “recycle container”
- and what needs to be repaired into the “fix-later container”
✅ Other home decluttering articles you might like:
- 10 tips to declutter for Christmas
- how to declutter toys and keep them organized
- 100 things to declutter from your home right now!
How to Declutter Your Home Fast & Room by Room Last Words
Decluttering your house can be an overwhelming but worthy experience.
Although you may find it a bit difficult and chaotic at first, you will soon discover that it’s not so complicated after all.
You simply have to create a thorough plan in your mind and stick to it, even if you feel exhausted, bored to death, or even frightened by the idea of disposing of some of your personal items.
Always remember that the first time you go through your home, it is only natural that you will not remove all the clutter.
But you will make some interesting progress that will change the way you were feeling about your house and make you wish to continue what you started!
Do you have any tips on how to declutter your home fast? Like to share? Thanks!