A few days back, I found myself in a state of bewilderment after seeing how messy my entire living room had become owing to the lockdown. It had been a hotspot for mess for as long as I could remember and a mere thought of decluttering it would scare the hell out of me. The rooms looked like snack stores and the table tops held a heap of utensils, boxes, comics, board games and everything else that didn’t belong there. I once had to carry out an extensive search operation for the AC remote control amid the pile of junk.
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Being stuck at home with family was undoubtedly a blessing, but I never thought that it would come with a regular need to declutter. Not that I hadn’t been cleaning my home during the lockdown, but it was frustrating to see it getting back to being a mess within minutes of decluttering. This period truly made me think about everything that I had been doing wrong while decluttering my home.
Decluttering involves a lot of things – cleaning, organizing, purging and simplifying. Besides, there are a lot of things that can go wrong with decluttering that can make your house look dirty and unorganized. These mistakes are common and can hamper your progress towards the goal of a clutter-free home.
Keep reading to know if you have been making these common decluttering mistakes and how you can go about undoing them:
1. Decluttering Without A Plan
The biggest mistake you can make when decluttering your home is trying to do it without a plan of action. A proper plan is what you need to set your goals straight and to avoid making your home a bigger mess. I’m guilty of being the person who used to just start decluttering without knowing where and what to declutter and I would end up shifting the clutter from one place to another. It took me years to learn how easy decluttering can become if you just plan it properly.
You don’t have to write down every detail while making a decluttering plan. So if you intend to give the next 7 days to decluttering your home, the plan should look something like this:
Day 1 – Clean all the flat surfaces (kitchen countertop, bathroom counter, living room floor, dining table, coffee table, study table, etc.)
Day 2 – Closet Declutter (Go through the clothes, shoes and accessories and get rid of everything that doesn’t fit you anymore. Throw/Sell/Donate clothes that you don’t like.)
Day 3 – Paper Declutter (throw away the unimportant mails and documents, kids’ schoolwork/artwork that isn’t needed anymore, old bills, newspapers, magazines, books and folders)
Day 4 – Kitchen Declutter (clean all the utensils, get rid of the duplicate items, declutter the fridge, throw away the lidless/old containers, etc.)
Day 5 – Bedroom Declutter (Store away the extra bedding, declutter the drawers and throw away the junk)
Day 6 – Bathroom Declutter (throw away the expired makeup and empty bottles, clean the walls and tiles, get rid of the old cleaning supplies)
Day 7 – Miscellaneous (Garage declutter, declutter the display area of the living room, etc.)
2. Not Labelling The Boxes
Organizing is as important as decluttering which is why you must always make it a point to label the containers and boxes in your home. You can use simple white labels for the boxes in your kitchen or get a label printing machine to fulfill the need. Labelling the boxes and containers will make it easier to find stuff apart from making your home look more organized and clutter-free.
3. Holding On To Sentimental Clutter
Many items in your home, despite lying unused for years, can be hard to part with given the sentimental value attached. It’s okay to have place for a few important things but too much of sentimental clutter can make your home look unorganized. If possible, throw away the doll that you got as a gift on your second birthday and that coloring book from your childhood. If you find it hard to part with things, give yourself the leverage of keeping the ten most important things and throw away the rest.
4. Hanging On To The Unneeded Paperwork
Flat surfaces often end up becoming the breeding ground for clutter and while documents like tax papers, insurance policies and legal paperwork are needed to be kept safe, a lot of people have a habit of hanging on to stuff that is of no use. Make it a habit to go through the pile of papers every now and then and get rid of anything that you don’t need – old bills, newspapers, magazines and old mails.
5. Not Using A Sorting System
One of the biggest mistake many of us make is trying to accomplish our decluttering goals without making use of containers and boxes. Every time you set out to declutter, make sure that you pick up at least three containers to sort out the stuff – one for items that need to be thrown out, second for the stuff that can be donated and third for anything that can be sold. While it’s important not to underestimate the importance of storage bins and containers in decluttering, make sure than you don’t end up buying more than what you need.
6. Hanging On To Stuff That Should’ve Been Donated/Sold
Procrastination is the biggest enemy of decluttering. While getting done with the decluttering tasks can feel like a victory, what often ends up spoiling your efforts is the habit of holding on to the stuff that needs to be donated/sold. So if you have decluttered your home and kept things where they belong, don’t sit unless you have sent away the donation box and sold/thrown away the rest of the clutter.
Even after getting used to a minimalistic lifestyle and making it a point to declutter my home at least once a week, I still make mistakes leading to clutter. But I guess we are all a work-in-progress and there’s always scope for improvement.
What other decluttering mistakes have you made and how were you able to avoid them? Which are the ones that you still struggle with? You can drop a comment below or write to me at hello@theaestheticabode.com.