Is decluttering your home one of your New Year’s resolutions? We’ve all heard the saying “cluttered house, cluttered mind.” Clutter can make your home look and feel smaller so it is no surprise that cluttered homes take longer to sell and tend to sell for a lower price than clutter free homes. Not only that, but clutter can also affect your cognitive abilities as you will be subconsciously trying to remember where all of your stuff is.
Decluttering can therefore not only improve your living space but can also remove a weight from your mind.
If you have decided that now is a good time to declutter but are not sure where to start then read on for our top five decluttering tips.
Ask for help
Tough jobs are much easier to do if you have help so ask a friend or family member to spend a day with you helping you to declutter and sort your belongings.
The One-Year Rule
If something hasn’t been used for at least a year then you probably do not need it. You then need to decide whether you would like to keep it for sentimental reasons, or if it should go in the bin or be donated to a charity shop.
Keep, Rubbish, Donate
Label three boxes with keep, rubbish, and donate. Then pick up an item and decide which one of the boxes it should go in. Do this with every item in the room but bear in mind as you do it that once the keep box is full you will need to put everything else into either the rubbish or donate boxes.
Throw away things that are broken
If after a week you haven’t fixed something that is broken then you are unlikely to. You also probably don’t need it if you haven’t bothered to fix it.
One thing in, one thing out
This simple rule will prevent you from allowing clutter to build up again after you have decluttered. Every time you bring something new into your home you must get rid of one thing.
If sorting out your clutter seems too overwhelming at the moment renting a storage unit and putting your excess belongings in it until you are ready to sort through them is a better plan than leaving them laying around filling up your space and making it harder for you to find things.
Every time keeping your house clutter-free starts to seem hard just remind yourself that clutter-free homes are easier to keep clean, which helps to reduce stress and anxiety and they also tend to sell faster and for a higher price!
We are always happy to give you advice on things that you can do to make your property in Hampstead more attractive to potential buyers. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 020 7759 2199 and we will be delighted to give you our professional advice!
