4 Easy Steps for a Clutter Free Space {With FREE Printable!}

A clutter free home makes for a happier home! There are small steps we can take everyday to help keep our spaces clutter free and happy. Check out my 4 easy steps to declutter any room in your home!

Let’s be honest, at least for this girl, nothing feels better than having a clutter free home that makes you feel relaxed instead of making you stressed out! Am I right? I’ve always felt there is something therapeutic about coming home to a clean and tidy home that makes everything feel calm and stress free. So let’s talk about 4 easy ways to declutter any room in your home!

I like to think of myself as organized, clean, and tidy but to say that at any moment if you came into my home that everything would be perfect would be a major stretch! I constantly have some project going on, my son’s toys are scattered all over the place, and there’s always a load of laundry that needs to be put away (or two)!

I am a true believer that before you can organize you have to declutter. The key to decluttering your home is to take it one room or space at a time and not to expect to get it all done in one day or even over a weekend. When it comes time to tackle that clutter there are a few things you should do to ensure you get clutter free and stay clutter free. I am going to share my 4 easy steps for a clutter free space plus a free printable for you to snag to help along the way!

Steps for Decluttering Your Home

Step 1: Plan & Clear Out

Before you start tossing and sorting you need to have a vision and plan for the space. How are you wanting this space to function? Picture in your mind how this space would work if it was exactly the way you wanted and it worked perfectly – what does that look like and what will it take to get there?

After you have your vision for this space in your head, now you need to schedule time to declutter. Like I said, decluttering is not something you can do all at once and I honestly recommend tackling one area every day or even one a week depending on the size of space. You can burn out quick if you try to do to much at one time. The key here is to focus on only one space at a time, not try to handle several spaces all at once – finish one area before you move onto the next. I recommend taking anywhere from 15-30 min a day for decluttering until you have every space on your list completed. If you struggle with feeling motivated to do this, block the time off in your calendar. Having it blocked out in my calendar makes me feel more committed to the task.

So you’ve got your inspiration on how you want the space to work and you’ve scheduled your 15-30 min to tackle the space, start clearing everything out. And when I say everything…I mean everything! You want to start with a blank slate.

Step 2: Sort it Out

After everything is cleared out, next comes the sorting. This is where it starts to get fun (am I the only one that thinks this is fun?)! You will be sorting all the items into these 4 categories:

• Toss
• Recycle
• Donate
• Sell

If you’re struggling on what to do with something ask yourself a few questions:

• Do I love it?
• Is it in good condition?
• Would I buy this again?
• Have I used it in the last year?
• Do I have somewhere to put this in my home?

Toss: If it is broken, worn, or ripped – toss it!

Recycle: If it is old papers, plastic, or glass instead of throwing them out, recycle them. If you’re unsure of what you can and can’t recycle, check with your local city recycling company to see where you can take these items and what you can recycle.

Donate: My donate pile is usually pretty random and can range from anything like clothes & books to larger household items. I usually tend to donate items that I don’t plan on making money off of. Sometimes it is just easier for me to take a pile of clothes to Goodwill then it is to price and sell online. It all just depends on how quickly you’re wanting to get rid of something. This is your call here…if you’re really wanting to get rid of a lot of stuff quickly and pain free, donation is the way to go. Plus you are giving to a good cause!

Click here to get access to my FREE donations tracker!

Sell: After your sorting, if you end up with items that are of value and are in good condition, it might be worth selling it. What’s better than decluttering and making money at the same time?! Here are a few of my favorite ways to do this:

• Ebay – this is a good option if you are selling smaller items with higher values. You need to keep in mind that you will have to pay shipping or include shipping in the cost of your item as well as pay a fee to Ebay for selling your item on their site. Ebay is probably not worth it if you’re selling a lot of lower value items or large bulky items.
• Craigslist – I used to think the days of people buying on craigslist was over, but trust me it’s still hot! This is really great for bigger items that you would rather sell locally and not have to pay shipping for. A few things to watch out for on Ebay is spammers. I highly recommend never giving out your phone number and creating a separate email account for all craigslist business. Also, never go meet anyone or have anyone come over to your home when you are by yourself. I would even advise that you meet them at a public place instead of ever having anyone come to your home. Just be safe!
• Local Facebook resale groups – this has become one of my favorite ways to sell my used, but in good condition items. All you have to do is perform a search on your Facebook account for local Facebook resale groups or Facebook Online Garage sale groups. Same rules apply when selling on Facebook, always meet in a public place and keep communication through Facebook messenger.
• Yard/Garage sale – if you have a ton of stuff you want to sell, a yard sale may be a good idea. I am planning one of these in the next week (a post to come on that soon). Garage sales are great this time of year and can move a lot of your items quickly. My yard sale motto is price-to-go!

Step 3: Put Things Back

Now you should be left only with the items that you want to keep and will use. This is where you put everything back in an organized way. I like to use cute bins and baskets to group like items together. You can also just make sure to keep like items together without using baskets or bins, but in my opinion things can easily get cluttered again without some sort of organization and grouping!

Step 4: Maintenance

Now that you’ve got your space cleared, sorted, and items discarded (in which ever way above you choose), and only the things you “need” put back into place – it’s time to maintain your clutter free space. I know this is easier said than done. Something I have started to do that has really helped is to dedicate 15 minutes a day to having a 15 min pick-up before I go to bed. Adding 15 min of pick-up to your daily tasks can help keep those clutter piles from slowly creeping back into our space!

No matter how many systems we put into place or how many spaces we clear out, the clutter sometimes tends to come back in. Either we just have days where we tend to get lazy or we cling to systems that just aren’t working. Decluttering and organizing requires sometimes reevaluating a system and not clinging to what is not working and come up with a better system. The process of decluttering and organizing is a marathon not a sprint so take your time and before you know if you will be on your way to a clutter free (well most of the time) home!