Cutting The Clutter – Top Tips To De-clutter Your Home

De-cluttering your home and making more space doesn’t mean living in a minimalist home. We've all got sentimental keepsakes that mean a lot to us. It might be a child’s first painting or boxes of old photographs. De-cluttering doesn’t mean getting rid of them, what it does mean is making more of the space you have and organising your home.
Follow our five simple tips to de-clutter your home and keep your house organised:

1. Start small

Think about setting aside some time each week to focus on a specific area, the cupboard under the stairs, your garage, even your filing cabinet.
Paper is a big space stealer, we are all probably guilty of holding on to lots of bank statements, credit card bills and utility bills; why not think about going digital? Many banks, utility companies and phone providers give you the option of electronic statements. By going paperless not only will you free up valuable space, it’s also a greener option.

2. Recycle, reuse, sell and donate

It’s not about throwing everything away. There are different options that don’t involve a trip to the tip to help thin out your belongings:

• Websites where you can sell your unwanted items
• Donate them to your local charity shop.

If you really aren’t sure about letting go of something, because you are worried you might need it once it’s gone, store it for six months in the loft or the shed. Make a note on your calendar and if you haven’t used it in six months give it away.

3. Be sentimental – but selective

De-cluttering your home doesn’t mean getting rid of all your most treasured, sentimental possessions. If you do have sentimental items that you don’t use but you do want to keep think about how best to safely store them.

People often keep their children’s paintings but don’t do anything with them. You could think about framing one or two of the best ones and hanging them on the wall. Photographs are another thing that people keep hold of. If you have lots of photographs loose in boxes look through them, transfer the best into an album and let the others go.

4. Multi-purpose furniture

When organising your home you might find that you have freed up enough space to give yourself a dedicated home office, or you might have space to buy new furniture. If you do, think about pieces that have more than one use like sofa beds, or footstools that have hidden storage for magazines and books.

In small rooms, or if you do want to make a room dual purpose, consider furniture like loft beds with a desk underneath or a day bed that can be folded away when not in use.

5. Getting organised – a place for everything and everything in its place

Once you have done all the hard work and decided what to keep, it’s important to think about storage. To maintain a clutter free home the key is that everything has a home, so it’s easy to find. Keep things together rather than spread out across the whole house: store like with like.
Once you are organised, you might find that you need to buy storage like filing cabinets for your essential paperwork, or a shoe rack to keep your shoes together in one place. This will help you maintain your ordered, clutter free home.

If you follow our five tips your home should feel more spacious and you’ll know where everything is when you need it. Having completed your de-clutter, now is the ideal time to check whether your home insurance is up to date and providing adequate cover, especially now you know exactly what you’ve got.

By: Dave Simms

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David Simms is the home, buildings and contents insurance manager at the Ecclesiastical Insurance group.