Clutter can ruin the most stylish of rooms and create an atmosphere of chaos and anxiety in an otherwise charming environment. Even if your clutter is cleverly stashed away in cupboards and attics, why not let 2018 be the year you organise and let go. It’s amazing how much more you can enjoy your home after a good decluttering session.
Our stylists have some simple and satisfying decluttering tips to get you started.
Decluttering Tip 1
One of the best ways to see if your home is too cluttered is to take a photo. Once you have uploaded it to a large screen, you’ll be amazed at what you notice! Spend some time zooming in and analysing each corner of the room and noting down anything that looks out of place, oversized or downright useless.
Decluttering Tip 2
Any large project like this requires you to work in defined stages, and the next step in decluttering is to focus on your surfaces. Clear all your surfaces, windowsills and bookshelves and start again. Put everything out on the floor where you can see it all individually and then start to condense. You can use the following two tips to make your culling decisions easier.
The biggest thing to remember when organising viewable surfaces is the 70/30 rule: your shelves and surfaces should be 70% full and 30% empty. This empty space helps your ornaments and decorations stand out and gives the illusion of minimalism.
One way to organise bookshelves is by colour. Creating a rainbow of spines creates order and is aesthetically pleasing even in an overflowing bookshelf.
Decluttering Tip 3
When decluttering – whether inside cupboards or on surfaces – we recommend putting your items into the following three categories. Beautiful, functional and sentimental.
Ideally, if you have a large home, each item should fall into a category. If you have a smaller home, though, they should at least cover 2 of these categories. This is the time to be really focused. If something is broken, it is no longer functional. If something is only nice, not beautiful, then it doesn’t deserve a place in your home. And, the hardest of all, is to not attach sentimentality to worthless items.
Decluttering Tip 4
Just like when you go out shopping, make sure to keep your concept in mind when decluttering. You should have 3-4 words that define not only how you want your space to look but also how you want it to feel. These are words that you would love people to use to describe your home, words that mean something to you and fit your personality and that of your family. If something doesn’t fit these words or the three words above, then get rid of it!
Decluttering Tip 5
Another great way to actually get rid of stuff, rather than putting it in a cupboard and trying to forget about it, is to simply ask yourself whether you would you buy it again. If the answer is yes, great! Keep the item and display it proudly. If the answer is no or even maybe, it is time to get rid of it or indeed gift it to someone who would love it.
To encourage you to take on a decluttering mission this month we would like you to…
Send us a Shelfie!
Take a photo of one of your shelves before and after a decluttering sesh and at the end of the month, we’ll pick a winner. The winning shelfie should show innovative organisation and creative style – surprise us!
To take part, upload your shelfie onto Facebook or Instagram, tag The Home Stylist and include the #shelfie hashtag. To complete your entry, please also scroll down the bottom of this page and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
The winner will receive a free virtual styling session with one of our stylists.
