Clearing the clutter

Banishing mess and muddle from your home may seem a lot of hard work, but once you have tackled the clutter hot-spots in your home it will feel refreshed and revitalized... and so will you.
De-cluttering your home is well worth the effort. It can be difficult. It can be stressful. But it will make you feel fabulous and proud of your house, not embarrassed by it.

What's clutter?

• Anything that is broken and that you are not going to fix.
• Anything you don't like the look of.
• Anything you never use or wear.
• Unwanted presents.

What's not clutter?

• Anything you use regularly.
• Anything you consider beautiful.
• Anything you remember with love and good feelings (be careful with this category).

Clearing clutter needs planning. Before you start, look at every cupboard and drawer and, regardless of what it contains at present, decide what you are going to keep there in the future. Then, as you are tidying, you will be able to put any misplaced items where you want them to be. There's no point in simply tidying up the contents of a drawer or cupboard so that it still contains the same miscellaneous collection of stuff, but now arranged neatly. That's a recipe for frustration. 
Only tackle as much as you can manage at one session. Do a room at a time, or half a room, a cupboard or even just a drawer.
A good idea is to start with the "visible" clutter: the piles of magazines, shoes on the floor, clothes on chairs, beds and floor. Clear those areas and the impact is amazing.
If you are clearing out a cupboard, don't take out more than you can put back in an hour.

Before you start, get 4 plastic bin bags and label them: SELL, CHARITY SHOPS, RECYCLE, BIN.
If you put things you want to get rid of straight into the appropriate bags you won't end up with a pile of rubbish on the floor that then has to be sorted.
Anything you want to keep should be put away immediately.
It's also a good idea to have a carrier bag to put all the letters, bills, papers, instruction manuals and the like you're sure to discover when you clear out drawers and cupboards. Then, it'll be simple to sort them and organize in filling systems.

When you are holding an item in your hand, trying to decide which bag it should go into, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I really need it?
• Do I really like it?
• Do I use it?
• How many of them do I need?

SELL: anything that you think will raise you some extra cash. Take a pitch at a boot sale or table sale, or have your own garage or garden sale. You could even sell unwanted items on one of the reputable internet auction sites. Get advice first if you suspect that something might be valuable.

CHARITY SHOPS: charity shops are always looking for clothes, linen, household goods, toys and books that they can sell. Some shops will also take unwanted furniture. If you have large items, or more than you can manage to get to the charity shop yourself, most charities will arrange collection.

RECYCLE: you can recycle paper, card, glass, plastic, old rags, clothes, batteries, old mobile phones, garden waste and wood.

BIN: anything that is broken or that you consider "junk".