Tips for a Spring Declutter

At Home Instead, we know home is where the heart is. It’s the place we all love, feel safe and cosy and that’s why we are proud to help our continue to live in their own homes, with support from our fantastic team to enable them to stay as independent as possible. However, we all have parts of our home that could benefit from a clear out and a tidy – even if its just a drawer, or a cupboard or maybe the whole spare room! These can be where all our “stuff” accumulates – the pieces that don’t really belong anywhere and so they end up in the bits and bobs cupboard or piled high in the spare room or garage, awaiting the time for someone to sort through them. Over the years, and particularly as we get older, these “collections” grow, often to the point where we feel a bit overwhelmed, preferring to ignore the issue rather than tackle it!

But do not fret! Help and advice is at hand! Home Instead Maidenhead, Henley & Wallingford have spoken to two local professionals who specialise in organising, sorting and decluttering and they have given us some very sound advice.

Claire Lawrence runs Let’s Get Sorted, and Emma Hurll, owner of Harmonious Living, together have over 15 years’ experience in helping people declutter and organise their homes. The reasons people may work with both Claire and Emma include, downsizing, moving home or purely as additional support to sort out years of possessions. We asked them for their top tips on getting started with decluttering and giving our homes a bit of a spring clean in the process.

1. Start Small: Thinking of everything you need to sort can be demotivating, and often lead to us just closing that cupboard door and ignoring the items we need to sort out. Staring small, and taking just one drawer, one cupboard or limiting yourself to working for just 30mins will help you get started, feel like you have reached a goal and been productive. Work in bite sized chunks and you’ll be surprised in how much you can get done! Also, make sure you complete the task. The feeling of accomplishment when you have finished that small section will spur you on to tackle your next task.
2. The Easy Win: Start with a simple, straightforward cupboard, like the linen cupboard, or kitchen drawer, where it’s an easy, fold and keep or throw away chore. Ideally, don’t start with a drawer full of photographs or memories, as time will tick by and before you know, you haven’t even made a dent on the task. Keep those bigger projects for after you’ve completed a few small ones, so you feel that your moral is higher!
3. Workspace: Where you are doing this task is important. Make sure you have a nice, clear workspace to sort on. Give yourself plenty of room – theres nothing worse than feeling you are crammed into an area thats piled high with everything you are sorting. Work on a table or a bed, something at a good level and where you will sit comfortably – not the floor where you could struggle to get up from!
4. Declutter Buddies: Two pairs of hands are better than one and its usually more fun too! Taking on a chore with a friend means you can motivate each other and get the task done quicker. A friend can also ask those questions such as, “When was the last time you wore this?” or “Do you really need this?” and help you get rid of items you haven’t used in years. If you work with a friend, you could take it in turns to sort out at each other homes or perhaps call on a professional, like Claire and Emma.
5. Love It or Bin It: When sorting items, ask yourself “How do these things make me feel?”. If you love something, keep it, but if you aren’t bothered, let it go. You can keep a “Revisit” box in your garage of things you don’t use but don’t feel quite ready to throw away and take a look at it in a few months’ time. We probably have all had the experience of moving house, packing your belongings, sorting and throwing away items you don’t think you want as you go, only to find, when unpacking at the other end, that you still throw more things after the move. So the way we look at things can change over time.
6. Organise your Clutter: Stick labels on your sorting boxes with “keep” “charity” “bin” so you know where those items are headed. Items you are keeping can also be organised in nice storage boxes that can be labelled so you can see easily what it contains and find things quickly going forward.
7. Take photos: You’ll get a real sense of achievement when you look back at all your hard work, so take a photo before you start and another when you’ve finished.
8. Finally, a tidy house is a tidy mind: It’s well documented that the environment we live in is reflected in our mental health. Living in a clean, tidy, organised home make us feel lighter, more carefree and happier – studies have proven this. Our Care Professionals at Home Instead can help keep on top of your everyday housework, as our services include light house work, helping with laundry, cleaning and clearing a fridge – whatever you need to ensure your home stays shipshape and an enjoyable place to be.

William Morris : “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”. We hope these tips have motivated you to get busy and tackle those areas of your house you’ve been avoiding for years!

If you’d like to find out more about Claire and Emma’s services, go to;

www.letsgetsorted.co.uk/ email: [email protected] call: 07555 067511

www.harmoniousliving.co.uk/ email: [email protected] call: 07932 957039