How to declutter your home in a weekend

Let’s break it down into simple, easy to follow steps:

1. Make a plan

Begin by working out where you wish to tackle first in your home. It may be helpful to have a walk through your home, room by room and identify where you wish to declutter and where you could make use of the extra space.

These places may be:

– The spare room  – where we all just close the door and think “I’ll deal with this another day”, let today be that day!

– Wardrobes or ‘floordrobes’ if they’ve overspilled into other parts of the room.

– The dreaded garage with an accumulation of the last 10+ years.

– The garden shed you can’t get into anymore past the rusty old bike and broken tools.

– The under the stairs cupboard that you forgot what it actually looks like inside!

We’ve all been there and had one of those spaces (or several) and looking at them altogether can feel overwhelming. Start by choosing 2 or 3 key areas you want to clear first. If you try to attempt the whole house in one go it can turn into chaos and you’ll be tempted to give up. Concentrating on an area at a time makes it much more manageable.

2. Categories

Once you’ve identified your first area to declutter, start by labeling four bags or piles:

– Keep (items you love or need)

– Donate / Sell (good condition items to donate to others in need or items you can sell)

– Recycle (items such as paper, plastics, metals)

– Rubbish (broken items or just general ‘junk’)

Once you have made your piles, it’s always good to go back through your ‘keep’ pile again if you haven’t been ruthless the first time. To make the clear space you want, you need to get rid of items! Our top tip is if you haven’t needed it, worn it or used it in the past 12 months (and it has no sentimental value) then it’s time to let it go!

Throughout this process it is important to bag or box your clutter as you go and label each pile clearly so nothing gets mixed up. If you are able, keep all the waste bags in one area so it’s simple and easy at the end for waste collection.

3. Start with an easy space

It’s not cheating – you’re still clearing space… it just eases you into it with quick gratification. This may be by clearing the hallway, a book shelf, under the bed or clearing the top and inside the sideboards that you keep putting off. These are all small spaces to start, but once you’ve done them, the instant difference is amazing! The feeling of achievement and seeing the clutter free space will spur you on to do larger areas next.

4. Let JJ’s Rubbish Removal do the heavy work

At the end of the weekend, you will likely be sick of the site of clutter and your old items and just ‘want them gone’…especially before you are tempted to go back through the boxes and ‘keep’ bits that had already gone in the ‘get rid’ pile! But the thought of then loading up a car load (or 2 or 3) and unloading at the local refuse centre can seem daunting or if you don’t have transport this can be even trickier. However, it is unlikely you will have enough waste to justify the cost and hassle of hiring a skip, not forgetting that the process can take days for delivery then take a few days before it would be collected again. Therefore, a local waste removal service is a simple, convenient and fast method of clearing your clutter for you.

At JJ’s Rubbish Removals we:

– Collect household, garden or garage waste

– Take care of all the heavy lifting and loading for you

– Dispose of all waste legally and responsibly

– Typically offer same day or next day waste collections

Decluttering in a weekend might seem ambitious, but hopefully with our top tips above, it makes it a lot more manageable for you. It is certainly doable with the right focus and planning. As you go through each room, you’ll quickly see and feel the benefit of a cleaner space and clearer mind. The satisfaction and sense of achievement will certainly spur you on to do more in your home and make the most of your space.