New year, fresh start, right? If you walk into your home later today and have a good look around, does it feel like a storage unit or a living space? Can you spot the obvious piles of old magazines you think you’ll reread or bags of unwanted clothes you just cannot give away. Maybe you had to park on the street because your garage has no space for your car… All these signs are telling you is that it’s time to sort it out. You’ll feel like a new person. Promise. Otherwise you might end up on TV and we all know how that works out. They are so ruthless.

Here are five tips on how to at least begin the transition into a minimalist home:

1. Start in one room and work on it for as long as it takes. Sometimes cleaning out the study will take a few hours each day for a couple of weeks. It is important to finish each room one at a time to give you a sense of accomplishment and keep your decluttering efforts organised.

2. Check out your kitchen. There are bound to be appliances in there that you will repair “one day.” Now is the time to trash it or donate it. Often you will go through old spice racks or tins of food and find they have been there for years. Time for those to go as well.

3. Linen closets and medicine cabinets are great places to find old medication to throw away. It is unsafe to have outdated medicines in your home and cleaning out your bathroom cupboards will allow more space to store the things you really need.

4. Get ruthless! Remember the goal here is to remove clutter so ask yourself, “Does this item bring me joy?” It is easy to get an emotional attachment to items we have had for a long time.

5. Just stop! Do you still have the box that your old computer came in? How about the packaging for kitchen appliances or your vacuum cleaner. Now is the time to ask yourself if you ever going to use these boxes? It is a great idea to put the items you want to keep but don’t often use into these boxes and then put them into your self storage unit. Two birds with one stone. Wham.

Your home should be the place you go to relax and unwind. Making sure it is clean and clutter free will restore your energy and enthusiasm levels.

Need space? Get a quote on your very own storage unit at Stor-Age here or call them on 0861 18 18 18.

[source: storage]