If you desperately need to declutter your home but aren’t sure where to start, you’re not alone. Plenty of people are stressed by the task of organising and find themselves surrounded by clutter.
However, there are some tips you can use to tidy your home without stressing yourself out in the process. With colder months approaching, now is a great time to get your home cleaned out and cosy. The colder months are the perfect time to organise as we begin to spend more time inside and also prepare to host more people as Christmas approaches.
Decluttering your home now means you’ll be ready to have friends and family over without feeling embarrassed about the level of mess inside your place.
It also plays into the nesting impulse – humans naturally prepare for the cold by preparing their spaces, so now is a great time.
Robin Antill from 1st Choice Leisure Buildings has shared his top tips for tidying up – that won’t stress you out.
The first thing to try is what he calls the “suitcase swap” trick. With autumn and winter drawing on, many of your summer clothes are probably getting shoved to the back of the cupboard. However, Robin says that rather than shoving everything into corners and ignoring it, treat it like a holiday instead.
He said: “Fold clothes into a suitcase, zip it shut, and keep it under the bed or on top of your wardrobe. When spring comes around, opening that suitcase will feel like discovering a shop full of your own items, packed with different fabrics after months of knitwear.
“This trick frees up space instantly, transforms a chore into a ritual you will continue to use twice a year, and will avoid the dreaded ‘wardrobe squeeze’ completely.”
In a similar vein, you can also try Robin’s reverse hanger trick. To use this one, flip all the hangers in your wardrobe backwards and then when you wear something, flip the hanger.
By December, you’ll be able to see the items you are wearing the most and which ones aren’t getting space in the rotation. These lesser used items can then either be stored in the suitcase, or donated to charity.