We’ve indulged in The Great British Bake Off for over a decade now. More recently, we’ve marvelled at the nation’s needle skills on the Great British Sewing Bee and their knife smarts on the Great British Menu. We’ve even snoozed off during Great British Train Journeys, not because it was narrated by a tory, but because that’s what the rhythmic movement of the railway always does to us…
Anyway, we wouldn’t be half surprised if a show called the Great British Spring Clear Out was just around the corner, owing to the amount of ‘stuff’ we all accumulated at the start of the decade, during that cursed time we’d now rather not speak of. With many homes still moonlighting as offices, classrooms and gyms, it’s only natural for residents to want to carve out a little extra space.
Although it’s now sometimes referred to positively as ‘cluttecore’ and somewhat more accurately as ‘stuffocation’, if all those Amazon deliveries and impulse purchases have got you tripping, cursing and longing for a larger home, then from self-storage to smart shelving, check out these 5 great decluttering tips for 2023.
Take A Detailed Inventory
First things first, it’s essential to first take stock of, well, everything you own, to determine what you have surplus of, which items you have going spare, what is in a state of disrepair, and what could be saved with a little love.
Make a list of three columns, to ‘keep’, to ‘discard’ and a ‘maybe’ section, then pledge to get rid of everything from the latter two. Decluttering is all about being hard-hearted and there’s no room for maybes here. It’s impossible to be efficient in your clearout when sentimentality takes over. Go into the decluttering process with a mentality of ruthlessness.
Of course, ‘get rid’ doesn’t mean simply throwing unwanted items into the rubbish indiscriminately. You might even find a new home for some of the stuff you don’t need anymore (more of that in a moment).
Read: The transformative power of having a clean home
Set A Timer
Let’s face it, decluttering isn’t fun. But to make the process less of a chore, many expert declutterers swear by a methodical, time-constrained approach. As such, it might be wise to set a timer for a set period; for instance, 30 minutes.
Knowing that you have a time limit for each task or room in the house means you work practically and proficiently, moreover, you don’t dwell on disparate elements and instead enact that steely focus we keep encouraging. When the timer goes off, finish up and move on. Items that remained might be items worth keeping.
Delegate…
Online searches for self-storage increased by a fifth at the start of the UK’s first lockdown. We can only imagine that number has increased since, as we’ve continued to accumulate housefuls of things we don’t need.
For those items that you’re keen to keep but don’t need right now, self-storage certainly makes sense financially; for 1 month of 50 square foot’s worth of storage, you’ll pay just £95 on average.
Indeed, self-storage isn’t only for the purpose of decluttering, but also comes in handy when renovating or redecorating, moving house, downsizing or dealing with a home emergency. In such cases, you might want to consider storage with 24-hour access, to ensure your stuff is close-to-hand and not completely boxed-off.
Check that any company you’re considering is a member of either the British Association of Removers (BAR) or the National Guild of Removers and Storers (NGRS). As always in situations like this, be sure to get several quotes before settling on a decision.
Read: 5 IDEAL reasons to stop the hoarding and just declutter
…& Donate
You’d be amazed at how much stuff you uncover which hasn’t been used for years and, therefore, has brought no value to your life for a long while. That said, it could bring value to others.
Embrace what some have coined a ‘circular’ attitude to clutter, and donate anything and everything you can to a charity shop or sell it on at a car boot sale. In doing so, you’ll potentially help a local charity increase their revenue, and in finding a new home for your old things, you may reduce the need for someone to buy a similar item brand new, thus contributing to lifting the load a little on the environment.
Smart Shelving Solutions
Let’s be honest here; ‘clutter’ is most keenly felt when it’s on the floor and trip-uppable. Figuring out storage solutions that involve exploiting space via smart shelving is a wise move in such cases.
When it comes to saving and managing space, the golden rule is to always go vertical. One way you can go vertical and increase storage space in your home is to use the walls. You can make the most out of walls by installing shelves or building cupboard space where you can stack your stuff such as books, magazines, etc. You can build floor-to-ceiling shelves where you can put your displays, or you can install shelves by the edge of the wall and the ceiling where you can hide your stuff.
It can sometimes be possible to make better use of cupboard space within our home rather than outsourcing your storage needs, too. The use of dividers within cupboards, for example, can mean that many smaller items can be accommodated on top of one another, without causing damage. A shelf within a cupboard can take care of this.
The Bottom Line
Whether it’s self-storage or smart shelving, there are plenty of ways to declutter in 2023. We hope you find some extra floor space this year!