If you’ve started to notice a significant amount of clutter in your basement, garage, or the rest of your home, you may have started to think about taking some de-cluttering measures. Well, you are certainly not alone if you are at the point where you feel as if you have too much stuff. At least half of the homeowners across North America run into the same feeling at some point. So the question then becomes, do I have too much stuff? In order to help you find the answer, we have prepared a list with a few common signs that indicate you have too much stuff in your house, and its time to de-clutter.
Common Sign When You Have Too Many Stuff
Sort Your Clothing
One of the biggest items that people seem to contend with on their mission to de-clutter their homes is the amount of clothing they keep. Plenty of us have those favourite old t-shirts or sweaters, or that pair of jeans we know we’ll fit into again someday! The truth is that clothing is something that is really easy to get rid of if you are honest about your intentions to wear things again. You can determine what stuff to keep and what to donate or throw away by sorting your clothes into three piles.
- The regularly worn pile
- The never worn pile
- The piles we want to wear again
Losing Your Belongings
Are you constantly having to search for common household items? If you find that finding things is difficult, no matter where you are in your house, this is also a good sign its time to get rid of a few items. You might find that removing unnecessary or unwanted items will free up additional space at home, making it easier to both store and find items again.
General De-Cluttering
Once you start sorting things and getting your belongings organized, you might be tempted to find additional storage so you can keep these items and determine what to do with them at a later date. While storage facilities are a great option for people looking to free up space at home, you really need to consider whether it is worth it to invest in more storage. The idea behind de-cluttering is to completely remove things from your space, so you never have to deal with them again. Investing in a storage unit shouldn’t be a license to spread your belongings around. You can save yourself a lot of future hassle and expense by getting rid of your items right away.
Duplicate Items
Sometimes when couples move in together, they end up with a lot of redundant items for things like the kitchen and the bathroom. If you have a section of your basement full of items like duplicate microwaves, televisions, monitors, and kitchen and bathroom items, it might be time to clear that stuff out. You may even be able to make some money selling a few things online. Either way, if you have left something sitting unused for 6 months to a year, there is a good chance it will remain unused, so why not get rid of it now?
Drawer Cleaning
After a while, the drawers in your kitchen can bathrooms can start to seem like a depository for random items rather than an organized place to keep things. Most of us have one or more of those so-called ‘junk drawers‘, and they are usually given that name for a reason. De-cluttering your drawers may not seem like a major task, but you will be surprised at all the random junk you’ve probably accumulated over the years. For the most part, we are betting none of it will be something you miss once it’s all gone.
Sentimentality
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? Well, sometimes. Most of the time its just trash, especially if you start to lose track of it in your own house. We all have certain keepsakes and items that we treasure, despite the fact that they have little to no use in our daily lives. While you don’t need to throw all of your personal treasures away, you should try to be somewhat objective when determining the true value of keeping these things. Will you really miss it in a year from now? If the answer is yes, then by all means keep that item in a specific area, or better yet in a featured area where you can truly cherish it. If the answer is an honest no, it is probably time to throw some of your keepsakes away.
Extended Unpacking
Have you ever got home from a long trip and just been too tired to unpack your items and put them away. Have you ever left your items packed for a week or so after getting home? This doesn’t always mean a person is too lazy to unpack, it can often mean they are simply too overwhelmed with a lack of space to put things away. It can also mean they simply don’t value certain items anymore, which can be a good indication that it is time to move on from these particular belongings.
Storage Bins
There are a lot of great examples of stackable and easy-to-store bins out there these days, and for some they can be the perfect solution for storage and de-cluttering. For plenty of others however, adding more storage bins is the last thing they should do. After a while, you will start to run out of room for places to keep your storage bins. When this happens, you might find entire rooms become filled with storage bins. In this case, you aren’t freeing up more space, you’re simply shifting the clutter to a different area because you already have too much stuff.
Replacing Lost Items
Circling back to the regularly misplaced items in your cluttered space, a good sign you need to get rid of some things is if you find yourself replacing items that you simply lost. It’s one thing to have to replace the odd piece of misplaced equipment or a specific tool, but if you seem to have to buy new phone chargers, or small appliances on a regular basis because they have disappeared into the clutter, you should try to get rid of some things first. You may find some lost items will turn up during the de-cluttering process!
Limited Mobility Inside
Climbing over items and constantly having to watch where you step in your own home is a sure sign you need to clean the place out. Not only will this free up a lot of space that you are in need of, but it can also keep you safe from dangerous falling hazards caused by your own belongings.
Poor Health
One of the last things to be aware of if you are considering de-cluttering your space is the quality of your health. Piles of junk and other items around the house can make it difficult for air to properly circulate at home. If you suffer from asthma or allergies, you will likely start to notice your symptoms are starting to flare up on a regular basis. This is likely due to the increase in dust particles, mites and other airborne allergens caused by the excess junk around the house.
Plan to de-clutter? Contact us for getting your own storage units.