Clear and clean, sort, store, and relax. Professional organiser and YouTube star Vicky Silverthorn shares her top decluttering tips.
Recently, I was asked if I thought the craze for Spring clearing (and cleaning) is disappearing. My answer is ‘absolutely not’!
As the new season dawns, we are ready to shed, clear and organise and I believe that goes hand in hand with better weather and a fresh feel in the air. Throughout the year there isn’t always time to give things a deep clean, to go beneath the surface and actually focus on what may be cluttering our homes. This is a great chance to do just that. It’s a refreshing, energising and mind-clearing exercise I think we should make sure sticks around forever! If you, like many, get slightly overwhelmed at the thought of starting this process then don’t. Here’s some tips on how to get started, how to best approach it and, just as importantly, what not to do!
The right head space
Firstly, it is very important that you don’t see decluttering your home as a giant job lurking around waiting for you to start. Remember why you’re doing it and the positives it will bring – the head space, the clarity, the boost in energy and productivity, the ease of tidying and cleaning more efficiently. Less stuff means less responsibility and less to weigh you down.
Do
Choose a small section of a room like a cupboard or corner and pull the contents out. Don’t focus on anything as yet. Once it’s all out, lay it out a little more neatly and then work your way through the items making a decision on what is staying and what is going.
Don’t
Start pulling the entire contents of your room out and throwing them in a big pile on the floor. This will overwhelm you and believe me it takes longer than you think to go through, make decisions and reorganise your belongings properly.
Do
Start with an area that bothers you the most. It’s the same feeling as when you are deciding whether to go to the gym or not – you have to just do it before you talk yourself out of it!
Don’t
Overthink where to start. Everything will eventually get done and giving yourself too much time to think will make you procrastinate!
Do
Ask yourself ‘Can I live without this?’ Go with your gut feeling and you will have the answer. You know if you are going to wear or use something again, if you wasted money on it or if you simply don’t have a use for it anymore.
Don’t
Ask yourself too many questions and draw out the process. Does it matter if you’ve worn or used it in the last year? You may not have seen or had access to it in the last year because of other surrounding clutter so this question isn’t necessarily relevant!
Do
Remember something isn’t necessarily sentimental because we have owned it for a long time – our true sentimental items should be treasured.
Don’t
Use sentimentality as an excuse!
Remember
Start work on one area, complete it, move onto the next and you’ll finish with a liberating feeling of success.
Find out more about Vicky:
@youneedavicky – Instagram
youneedavicky – Facebook
youneedavicky – YouTube
