Decluttering your home is a lifetime process. Even if you’re a claimed minimalist or if you declutter frequently, the chore will always find a way to sneak in and surprise you from time to time. The thing is, accumulating clutter is unavoidable, and you’ll have to deal with it at some point.
The source and amount of your clutter are largely dependent on the type of lifestyle that you lead. For instance, if you have kids, you can expect that most of your clutter is from your children’s toys and clothes.
Meanwhile, if you live alone or are a full-time worker, most of your clutter is from newspapers, old paperwork, and the like. Either way, there will be days when you walk home and see random stuff everywhere, telling you that you need to declutter.
But what about those days when the clutter isn’t always visible? How can you tell that the clutter is creeping into your home and has accumulated without you realizing it? Fortunately, there are warning signs that signify you need to declutter your home.
To give you an idea of what they are, here are the five signs that you need to declutter your home.
1. It’s A Constant Struggle to Find Certain Things
How often did you arrive late to your job because you were looking for your car keys for almost an hour? Perhaps you keep having a bad hair day because you can’t remember where you put down your hairbrush. Or maybe you end up reheating food leftovers because you couldn’t find that one kitchen tool you needed to cook your meals. If it’s a daily struggle to find certain things when you need them, it’s a huge sign that you have to declutter your living space now.
When you have a clutter-free home, it’ll be a lot easier for you to find what you need because everything is organized and in its proper container. On the other hand, if you’re flooded with too much clutter, you tend to put things down in random places, causing you to misplace them and just add to the growing mound of mess.
So, if you’re struggling to find your items, get a box and fill it with all the trash lying around. Once done, you can call rubbish removal specialists like dirtcheaprubbishremoval.com.au, and they’ll get rid of it in a jiffy.
2. You Hardly See Your Flat Surfaces
Aside from your floors, the second most common place you can find a pile of clutter is on your flat surfaces.
Some of the flat surfaces you commonly see and use in your home may include your dining table, coffee table, kitchen countertops, dresser tops, and the top of your fridge. These areas are often considered ‘clutter collectors’ as they’re one of the easiest spots to keep your things. For instance, if you don’t put away your mail and keys right away, you might casually put them on your coffee table—until they pile up over time. Once you can hardly see these flat surfaces, it’s a huge sign that you need to declutter your home.
As much as possible, resist the temptation to use these flat surfaces as storage areas. Make sure only to limit your flat surfaces with one or two decorative items, or better yet, keep them clear and empty.
3. Your Cabinets and Drawers Would Hardly Close
Perhaps you’ve tried shoving your clothes into your closets and drawers, only to find that they won’t close. If you find it hard to close your cabinets, drawers, and closets despite all that shoving, then that’s a clear sign that it’s time to start decluttering. You don’t need to go through constant shoving and pushing just so you can put your things away.
The thing about these storage spaces is that you don’t always see what’s inside, leading you to think that you’re free from clutter. As such, the tendency is to forget about it and keep adding more. But when it comes to the point wherein you need to exert a lot of effort to close a drawer, it’s a clear sign to start decluttering.
Your closets and drawers are designed to keep valuable items, not act as a stock room for your clutter. However, with some crafty innovation, you can create some handy storage spaces to actually organize your things and avoid adding to the mess.
4. Piles of Paper Are Forming
Another clear warning sign that you need to declutter your home is when piles of paper are visibly forming in your house. Most of this mess comes from your old newspapers, magazine subscriptions, and unread mail. More often than not, when you don’t attend to your mail or choose not to read the newspaper or magazine, you end up tossing them on your table, leaving them to accumulate and get messy.
To conquer this paper clutter, make it a habit to tackle your mail right away or opt for paperless billing. If you think you don’t have time to read newspapers or magazines every day, you can unsubscribe and choose the digital (and more eco-friendly) option. The lesser paper you let into your home, the less clutter you’ll have.
5. You Can Barely Park in Your Garage
Aside from your basement or attic, the garage is another common space that some people use as their clutter storage. But this room was never intended for this purpose; it was designed as a parking space for your vehicle. So, if you can barely park your car in your garage, then that’s a clear sign that your garage is overflowing with clutter, and you’ll need to do something about it.
Start by disposing of every damaged, old, and broken item you’ve kept in there. If you have no plan to repair them in the future, then it might be better to donate them to junkyards or hand them to rubbish removers. When the mess is all cleared up, then it’s best to reorganize that garage to avoid any future mess.
Takeaway
Paying attention to these signs and warnings will help you avoid accumulating clutter and stop it from getting out of control. So, keep an eye out for these signs and take action before it’s too late.
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