As October begins, we start to embrace the season of change. Fall in Calgary is beautiful, and it brings about many new things: school starting, holidays ending, leaves falling and people returning back to their regular routines. Spring cleaning is popular as everyone is eager to get outside and freshen their place up for the summer to come. However, fall decluttering is just as important, as items pile up over the summer months and we spend many hours outside enjoying the summer sun while neglecting our regular chores. If you’re overwhelmed by the messiness of your home, here are three ways to declutter your home stress-free this fall season:
Categorize
If you’re an organizer, this method is for you. Round up everything in your home that fits into a particular category and place it in one spot, such as sports equipment, clothing, kitchenware, craft supplies – anything you know you have too much of. This way, you can see absolutely everything you own related to that category at one time. This serves many purposes: it allows you to see how much you own, compare items to others and decide which ones are the most useful, practical, in the best shape or simply don’t work anymore. Once this is complete, you can decide where to keep, donate or throw it away.
Pick a Room
If you’re a deadline-oriented person, try this method out. Start with one room and pull everything out of its spot. Look at your items and see what you’ve used in the last year – do you really need anything else? Starting with one room helps you focus on one area and not get distracted by the mess you see in other places of your home. A single room is manageable, and you will see a clean area more quickly than using the category method. Once one room is decluttered, you will see the joy in cleaning and organizing a room from start to finish, hopefully spurring you on to the next, and the next.
Step-by-Step
If both of these options sound too overwhelming for you, have no fear; there is a third decluttering option. Pick an area in your home that really bothers you, like a messy boot room or an unorganized kitchen. Break the area into steps, so you can do one step today and another step tomorrow. By breaking the larger task into many smaller jobs, you make this once overwhelming mess totally manageable. Set yourself a goal, perhaps saying “after these five daily steps, I will be done my task by Friday.”
Now that you have the tools to properly organize your home for fall, which method is right for you? However you decide to declutter, pick a way that serves you and your family best. Whether you’re a step-by-step worker or an all-or-nothing person, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when cleaning up after a long, fun summer. Take the time to sit down, prioritize what’s important, make a list and get started.
Happy cleaning!
