How To Declutter Without Making A Mess

One of the top recommendations for decluttering your house is to first remove everything from the area you want to organize. But if you don’t plan your time wisely, you could end up living in chaos until you finish everything. Luckily, there are ways to declutter without making a mess in the process.

Don’t pull everything out. Instead, work room by room and break each space into smaller sections to go through items. Begin in the room you use the least, so you can set this up as your home base for the rest of your decluttering tasks. Focus only on decluttering and don’t worry about organizing at this point.

Does this mean you can’t start until you have weeks to spare or are in the right mindset to spend the entire day organizing? Not necessarily. It simply means you need to be intentional with your methods so you make progress over time.

Prepare Yourself For A Longer Process

When the urge to become clutter-free takes over, it can send some people into nonstop work mode. If this is you, when you plan to get organized, it might look something like this: You pull everything out, sort and pare down items, and then put back only what you plan to keep. You don’t stop until everything is away and all the things you’re getting rid of are out of the house. Then, you move on to the next space, rinse and repeat.

Unless you schedule enough time for the task, you could be left with a mountain of mayhem that can overwhelm you if you’re not prepared for it. Plus, life happens. What if, when you have everything pulled out of your closet and strewn across your bedroom, an emergency occurs? Or maybe you remember a looming deadline at work, or your kid suddenly feels sick. If you know you don’t have the time to do a complete overhaul of your stuff within a limited timeframe, you need to approach decluttering a bit differently.

And that’s okay. But it’s a good idea to prepare yourself for a longer process. If you don’t want to end up stuck with a mess (or you’re worried about getting derailed midway through the process), apply a more methodical approach. Prepare yourself to commit to more hours rather than envisioning tackling all your clutter goals in a weekend.

Create A Game Plan

No matter how fast or slow you want the process to go, you need a plan when you decide to declutter your house. To keep your house looking tidy, things may look a bit different. You need to space out the clean-outs and approach the process strategically, just in case company drops in when you’re in the middle of a pantry makeover. As you build your game plan, here are tips for decluttering without making a mess, so things run smoothly.

Set A Schedule

Do this first and remember to allow enough time so you can keep the house straight while you declutter. Start with an overall timeframe, perhaps one month or two weeks. Be realistic, but set a hard deadline to keep you on track. How long you pick depends on your house size, clutter load, if you have help, and your available time. Break everything into smaller chunks and set goals within the schedule for when you want to finish each room or area of your home.

Start With Large Items

Build momentum and free up space right away by getting rid of any large, bulky items that you know can go and don't have to think twice about. They’re old, worn-out, damaged, outdated, or you simply no longer like or want them. For example, toss the random side chair in the living room that you’ve had since college, and the cracked lawn chairs on the patio. This step should literally take you only a few moments as far as decision-making goes.

If the pieces are too large or heavy for you to move, walk through your home with a roll of colorful tape and mark everything that can go. Then, have a friend help you move everything out to the curb for trash pickup or donations, depending on the condition of the items. This step doesn’t create a mess because you’re simply tagging things already in your home. Once you remove them, you end up with more breathing room.

Have Boxes And Bags Ready

When you know you’re approaching your decluttering days, have boxes and bags on hand. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of stuff to get rid of and no easy way to gather and remove it. A few weeks before starting, collect spare boxes from friends, coworkers, or save them as you receive packages. Make sure you’re well-stocked with garbage bags and keep a few smaller bags and boxes for more delicate items. Old newspapers and masking tape are also helpful in case you need to wrap fragile pieces.

Discard Obvious Unwanted Stuff

After you move out all the large, bulky, unwanted pieces, take a second pass through your home to tackle the obvious. Everyone has things that they know they no longer want, use, or love; they just haven’t done anything about it. This is another way to free up space and keep the momentum going without getting stuck on hard decisions. Walk through your home with a box and grab what you no longer want. Once the box is full, get rid of it and start on a new one.

Work Room By Room, With The One You Use The Least

Now this is where things start to look quite different from a typical declutter. You’re not going to pull everything out and start sorting. Your goal is to do this without making a mess .Plan to work one room at a time (plan it out on your schedule). Start in the space you use the least.

Normally, when organizing and decluttering is stressing you out, a popular recommendation is to start in the room that causes the most stress. Or to begin in the space that would make the biggest difference, like the kitchen or your closet. But you don’t want to end up creating chaos in a room you use the most often. So pick a spare room or whichever spot you use the least as your starting point.

Here’s why. You’re going to end up using this space as your command centre for the rest of your decluttering project. Here you’re allowed to make a mess as you work through getting rid of clutter. If guests stop by or you end up taking an unexpected break for a couple of days, you can close the door. You won’t have a pile of servingware or dishes taking over the kitchen island or random piles spread across the living room floor.

How To Declutter In Each Room

When you start in a room, assuming you’ve already handled the large, obvious items, divide it into smaller sections. Sort through items in one small area to weed out the unwanted stuff before moving on to the next section. You’re not organizing anything right now; you’re only decluttering. This is important. Organizing and decluttering are not the same thing, and if you try to do both at once, it becomes a lot harder to declutter without making a mess.

Here’s an example of how you might approach your bedroom. Have a box for donatable items and a bag for trash. Start with one dresser drawer. That’s it. Pull everything out of only that drawer and put any trash you come across (old receipts, socks with holes, etc.) in the trash bag. Next, pull out anything that is in good condition, but you don’t want, and put it in the donation box. Put everything else back in the drawer. Don’t worry about organizing, that’s for another project. Then, move on to the next drawer, then the next, and so on. When it comes to the closet, focus on one section at a time to limit how many items you take out at once.

Not Sure About An Item?

If at any time you end up with some items you’re not sure about, don’t toss them back into a drawer or cabinet. Otherwise, you’re hanging onto clutter. Instead, put them in a separate box that you keep in that first room you started in (the one you don’t use a lot). You’re going to come back to this stuff at the end of your decluttering run and tackle the harder decisions.

Arrange For Help Ahead Of Time

If you know you need help staying focused and making decisions, arrange for a friend or family member to help you. Plan ahead, so you know you have the extra eyes and hands. Choose someone who’s going to be real with you and not afraid to tell you no. You don’t want someone who’s going to encourage you to keep everything.

Extra Tips To Make Your Efforts Successful

As you work through your clutter, keep these tips in mind to maximize your success.

• Set a date for items to sell, and be ready to donate them if you don’t meet that deadline.
• Take breaks to grab a snack and stay hydrated to keep your energy and momentum strong.
• Build mini-milestones into your schedule and set small rewards. For example, once you complete your bedroom dresser, you get to enjoy your favorite snack.
• Ignore the urge to organize as you go. Remember, the goal is to declutter.

You Can Declutter Without Making More Mess. It Just Takes Time

It’s possible to declutter without making a mess, as long as you’re ready to spend a little more time doing it. The upside is that you won’t have to stress about trying to get everything done in a day or worry about unexpected situations or company. At the end of the day, how you get rid of your clutter is a personal choice. There’s no right or wrong way; there’s just the way that works best for you.

Related Guides:

• Conquer Clutter Chaos: 8 Common Clutter Zones And How To Fix Them
• How To Keep Your Freezer Organized And Clutter-Free
• The Hidden Costs Of Clutter: How Too Much Stuff Undermines Your Budget