Interiors: Five decluttering mistakes we make, and how to stop them

By Anne Tuohy • 5 years ago

May
2020

For anyone tackling decluttering projects as we stay at home, Anne Tuohy the Room Junkie has advice just for you.

1. Not picking a focused area to declutter

If you are trying to declutter your home, don’t just pick and choose an item here and there to clear. This cherry-picking approach is very inefficient and will never make a significant impact. Instead, declutter focused areas – a drawer, a cupboard, a room. Keep using your 20 minute timer to motivate you.

You probably can’t declutter your garage in a day, but you could do it in a week if you break it into manageable areas.

2. Trying to find the perfect home for each and every piece of clutter you want to donate

Sometimes people are hanging on to some piece of clutter because they want to find just the right person for it.

Maybe it’s a child’s toy that they no longer want, but they don’t just want to put it in the bin or donate it to the charity shop. So it sits on the shelf, taking up space while they look for someone who wants to have it.

Instead of doing this, remember that even if you give something away anonymously, someone else will be thrilled with it. You’ll save so much time and energy, if you just make a big donation drop to the charity bank (or even throw the stuff in the bin if it’s no longer usable). Let it go!

3. Not disposing of the clutter right away

Some people are good at decluttering, but they don’t complete the process! They tidy up a room and remove all the clutter, which then sits in a pile by the door or in the boot of the car for weeks.

If you do this, you’re missing out on the best part of decluttering – the wonderful end result! So make sure to plan a drop off at the charity bank or to advertise your item for sale immediately. Make a deal with yourself that if it’s not gone in a week, you’ll throw it out.

4. Holding out for perfection

Some people postpone decluttering because they don’t have time to do it up to their standards. They want a nice long stretch of time uninterrupted by children or other responsibilities. This might be ideal, but probably not realistic.

If this is you, see if you can redefine the scope of what you want to do.

Change from “Today, I want to declutter my bedroom” to “Today I want to clear out my bedside locker”

Do that task from beginning to end and then do something else.

Use the rule of three to keep you focused, and set that timer for 20 minutes.

5. Thinking decluttering is the same as organising

While you can certainly organise WHILE you declutter, don’t confuse the two.

Organised clutter is still clutter. If you have too much stuff or things you don’t want, make sure you discard these things and only organise what’s left.