The 10 Commandments of Decluttering your Home

Do you struggle with clutter? From letters and bills to the seemingly endless outfits that make navigating your closet impossible, clutter can creep up on you and make your home feel more like a disorganized storage unit than a place to live.

Luckily, it's easy to declutter your home with a little bit of hard work and some good habits. Apply these 10 commandments of decluttering to make your home easier to live in and your favorite items easier to locate.

10 Commandments of Decluttering

1. Declutter now, not later

You've just got home from a long day at work. Do you kick off your shoes, toss your coat on the sofa and switch on the television, or store your shoes on the rack, hang up your coat and make sure your home is clean before you start relaxing?

Sometimes a minute of organizing once can save you five minutes of cleaning and declutter later. Make decluttering your home a habit to avoid having to clear up the clutter every weekend.

2. Declutter every day

Piles of bills, clothes, and shoes can build up over the course of the day. Fight clutter as it appears by cleaning up your kitchen counter, dining table, work desk, sofa, and entranceway every day to prevent clutter build-up from occurring. You can check our article about the benefits of a clean home.

3. Clean one room at a time

Is your home in need of serious decluttering? Make cleaning your home easier to manage by focusing on one room at a time. Start with your bedroom and work your way through the living room, hallway, and kitchen on a decluttering mission.

4. Donate rarely used items

Is your closet bursting at the seams? Fight closet clutter by auditing your closet once a year and sorting clothes into "keep" and "don't keep" baskets. Donate any unused or unwanted clothes to local thrift stores to pass on fashion to the less fortunate.

5. Invest in good storage

Are your shoes strewn across the floor of your closet? Make your wardrobe easier to manage by investing in good storage options. Use plastic shoe storage containers for your shoes and vacuum bags to store rarely used clothes with ease.

6. Sort and file papers

Bills, bank statements and junk mail can quickly clutter your kitchen counter. Make your mail easier to manage by sorting and filing letters, statements, and notifications as soon as you receive them.

7. Store shoes vertically

Is your shoe collection taking up too much floor space? Free up space in your closet or hallway by using shoe storage boxes or a shoe rack to store your shoes vertically and prevent them from getting scuffed or moldy.

8. Make organizing a habit

Does your house seem to become cluttered easily? Train yourself to put things back where they belong and after a couple of weeks, you'll naturally keep your home free of mess and clutter.

9. Tell others to declutter

Do your roommates, partner or children contribute to your home's clutter? Convert them into organized, clutter-free residents by making cleaning up an official policy of your home.

10. Not make impulse buys

Have you noticed that most of the items which clutter up your home were impulse purchases that are rarely used? Fight the root cause of clutter by making yourself wait 30 days to buy anything that attracts your interest while shopping.