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5 Constructive Tips for Purging Your Home of Clutter

It’s often during the summer months that we realize we have more clutter in our home than is necessary. When guests stop by for seasonal gatherings, we steadily notice our rooms getting smaller as our piles of possessions get larger. In preparation for your summer fun, it’s crucial that you take the time to purge your home of any unnecessary items to make room for new memories.

Know the 80/20 Rule

Whether it’s clothes, games, or books, we tend to only use 20 percent of a certain type of item 80 percent of the time. While this might seem hard to believe, it’s important to remember that no matter how much of a certain item we have, we’ll always have our favorites. These favorites are what we typically use more often because we’re naturally drawn to them. That leaves us with 80 percent of our stuff just taking up space in our homes.

Keep Track of Used Items

Knowing the 80/20 rule will help make you more aware of the items you regularly use. In this process, it’s essential that you clearly define what items are the 20 percent and which ones are part of the 80 percent. As you go about your daily routine, be sure to pay special attention to the items you regularly interact with and use. Take note of these items to take the guesswork out of deciding what you need and what’s extra.

Set Goals for the Project

Before you actively start the process of decluttering your home, it’s necessary that you take the time to set goals to keep yourself on track. The key to this is to keep your goals small enough that they’re feasible. Otherwise, you could wind up frustrated and disappointed if the process doesn’t go according to plan. You may want to section the process off by room or by what areas have the most clutter. No matter how you go about it, it’s critical that you stick to your timeline if you want to make steady progress.

Create a Process that Works for You

As you go through your things, be sure that you develop a system to categorize everything. For instance, sorting them by what you’re going to keep, donate, or throw out will keep everything organized and easy to manage. You may also want to consider devoting several storage bins to each category to keep the things you’ll get rid of and the things you want to keep separate and organized.

Figure Out How to Dispose of the Clutter

Once you’ve sorted out everything you want to get rid of, you need to decide what to do with it. Fortunately, you have several options in this regard. Whether you rent a large, roll-off dumpster or have a garage sale, it’s important that you decide on the method that works best for your schedule and budget. You may also want to consider donating your items to a local charity, so anything in good condition can still be used.

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Written by Logan Voss

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