How do you Get Rid of Clutter in the Home?

I have read so many books on this subject and they are all a little different but at the same time just reading them can get you moving on doing the cleaning and de-cluttering. I have 6 other people in this house, we have lived here for almost 15 years. My husband is a collector of EVERYTHING! LOL! Drives me nuts but what can you do. Well what I do is I slowly get rid of his things that I know he doesnt use or wont notice. I just hope that he doesnt notice when I do this. LOL! I have been going thru my books (Im an avid book reader and collector), they have taken over so much room that Im trying to part with some. I think my other problem at this point is baby clothes! I have to go thru them and seperate them and stuff and there is ALOT of them. The other problem is hubbys sport cards. *SIGH* With the books or anything that I decided Im done with I take to the Salvation Army or second hand book store we have. The clothes I think will be giving some away and selling some. I basically work room to room. Yesterday I did the computer room or at least most of it. Today it is my bedroom with all the books and baby clothes. I really dont like clutter. I always have a box ready for things I no longer want, a box for things that I do, a garbage bag for things that just dont seem worth even handing down and a box for things that shouldnt even be in that room. As I clean I put the things in the appropriate place and then make sure the boxes get to where they are suppose to be. I find that if I read a book on the subject I am much more apt to clean out. Good luck to all of de-clutters!

wow... i was just thinking of spring cleaning our home and get rid of clutters. im just worried that my kids would not want to get of rids of their toys which they dont use anymore. thanks, this discussions reminds me to throw away a lot of clutters.

I am constantly battling to keep the clutter at bay at my home. Once I clear the place, I try my very best not to mess it up again. Other wise, it is gripe gripe gripe, wipe wipe wipe and then gripe some more before wiping some more. A ritual I hate to have to perform every year come near to the new year. What I usually do is to do a one time clean up. Rather than one section at a time. Cos by the time I am through all the section I drew up, the first section that I cleared would have been cluttered up all over again.

Saddly my only way to stop clutter is to stop buying stuff. Other than that they are parts of my home that could be clutter. Thanks for the info.

I'm not sure what to do with all of my stuff, but I'll figure it out once I get my house together! Still got boxes in my dining room I haven't unpacked yet...lol! Taripre$

I gather up all the stuff I don't want or need on a regular basis and then I will post them on free cycle or craigslist. I post them on a first come first serve basis, whom ever gets here gets them first!

I identified all the things which are cluttering our home. I put them labelled in a box and took some of them to friends, relatives and other charities. This way I have less clutter at home. © ronaldinu 2008

As I get older, I have less and less clutter in my life because I don't buy anything that I don't really need. When too many books pile up, I sell them on half.com or trade them online. I do the same with movies. You can sell DVDs on half.com and Amazon, or trade them. I seem to need less stuff in my life these days. As long as I have something to read, movies to watch, and my writing to keep me busy, there isn't really much of anything else that I care about. No needs -- no clutter.

Thanks a lot for these wonderful tips. I myself find it hard to declutter because I tend to attach sentimental values to a lot of things. Hence sometimes I find it hard to throw them away. What I have learned now is to throw away or give away stuff that I don't really need especially if they have been sitting in my closet or drawer untouched for a year. Also, if you are undecided if you are going to throw away stuff, put them in a box and decide later on if they are really worth keeping.

hi Sydney, Those are some really great ways of getting rid of clutter. When I was younger I wouldn't do a huge throwing out of my things until I moved but now my hubby taught me that if I don't use or see something in one year and don't feel that I miss it, then that's when you should throw it out or give it away. For clothes, I usually hand down clothes depending on wether or not I gain weight or lose it. Have a great day

Hi Sydney, thanks for such amazing tips on getting rid of clutters, actually, I usually do mine spontaneously. Sometimes I get frowns from my kids having given some of their usable stuffs/ toys to donations. I wish I could be more effective in doing such t maintain order and cleanliness in the house. Thanks for the discussion.

Thanks for those tips. As for me the clutter is removed or donated as well. If I know i can;t use it I just give it to another who might need it. I think it is good that we remove all the clutter in the house at least once a year.

Hi sydney! Well I don't really have the best approach to cleaning clutter because if I did I would be finished by now! I have been cleaning up my apartment since May on and off. Actually more off than on! I did a major clean out and throw out in May before I got my apartment painted. I hadn't done a major clean out in the 28 years since I moved in here. My boyfriend moved in in January and he needed more space so he made me throw out some of my junk. I am still throwing out stuff and trying to reorganize and redecorate. I am repainting some furniture too. So it is a major job that I have been doing. I cleaned out my closets about 3 weeks ago when I changed my clothes over from summer to winter and I threw out alot of things that I had been keeping for years. I couldn't even give them away because they were so old and messed up. So every year I clean out my closet twice according to the major season change-summer & winter. Once I get this work out of the way and finish throwing things out and put the apartment back into order that should be it for awhile!