Feeling in the mood for a bit of a spring clean? Or is a cluttered house started to bother you? Research increasingly tells us that clutter can have an impact not only on our homes but also on our mental health.
Now that the weather is starting to warm up a bit, it is the perfect time to get started on tidying up and decluttering your home to create a bit more space for the family and your mind.
THE KONMARI METHOD
Marie Kondo’s KonMari method for decluttering has been made famous in recent years through her books on the subject and more recently through the Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. This method works well for a lot of people and the best part is, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. For best results, it needs to include all the members of your family.
Rather than working room by room, Kondo suggests tidying by category – starting with clothes and then books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items) and sentimental items. Keep only the items that spark joy for you and discard everything else. She suggests thanking the items for their service and then letting them go.
Just be warned: this method can often make the house look a whole lot worse before it looks better so make sure you have allocated plenty of time to get the job finished
ROOM BY ROOM
Another common method for decluttering is to work through the house room by room. This approach might work better if you only have a small amount of time to dedicate to tidying up, or if you want to work through the whole house slowly. Decide on items to keep, throw away and donate until the room is sparkling clean and tidy again before moving on to the next one.
COAT HANGER METHOD
This one takes a longer approach to tidy but can help you get rid of unused clothing without having to make too many decisions. Simply turn all your coat hangers to face the same direction. Now, every time you wear something replace it in the wardrobe with the coat hanger facing in the opposite direction. After a year, get rid of any pieces of clothing with the coat hangers still facing the original direction.
MINIMALIST GAME
Another approach that takes a bit longer to get the job done is to play the Minimalist Game. On the first day of the month, you get rid of one item. On the second day of the month, you get rid of two items. Continue this method until you reach the end of the month. At the end of a 31-day month, you will have removed 496 items from your house. This one works best if you challenge a friend to join you and see who can keep going for the longest.
With Spring in the air, it might be time to do some decluttering and cleaning at your house. Whichever method you choose you’re sure to reap the benefits of a tidy and clutter-free home.
