3 Things To Try When Decluttering A Space In Your Home

If you’re like most people, you likely have at least one area of your home that has more clutter than it should. Whether you like the feeling of your space being filled with things you love or you simply don’t know how to maintain your home any other way, there can be major benefits to decluttering your space every once in a while. However, actually doing the decluttering can be challenging.

To help you meet this task, here are three things to try when decluttering a space in your home. 

Don’t Keep Expired Items

One of the best places to start when you’re attempting to declutter in your house is to get rid of items that are expired. 

According to Amanda Garrity, a contributor to Good Housekeeping, this can easily be done in the bathroom or the kitchen where you can see the date stamped on the item and then know if you’ve had it for too long. If this is the case, simply toss that item and get a new one if you need it. Otherwise, enjoy the extra space you now have without that thing taking up unnecessary space. 

For items that don’t have a set expiration date, like clothes or other belongings, you may want to think about when the last time you used that item was and if you plan on using it in the next three months or so. If you can’t remember when you last used or even moved that item, it’s safe to say that it’s expired from your life and can be donated or trashed. 

Get In A Moving Mindest

In some instances, people need a little more motivation to really declutter their lives effectively. If you’re going to be packing up and moving soon, whether that’s to a new home or into an assisted living facility, you’ll likely want to get rid of as many things as possible so that your move is lighter.

Even if you’re not planning to move soon, Shifrah Combiths, a contributor to Apartment Therapy, suggests that you pretend that you’re moving so that you can really streamline the items in your home. Try to imagine that you’re having to pack up and move or store these items before you decide to keep them. And if you can’t imagine that they’re worth the effort, get rid of them. 

Create Systems You Can Maintain

When people declutter and reorganize their space, they often set themselves up for failure by making their systems too rigid for them to maintain after the excitement of decluttering has worn off.

To combat this, Toria Sheffield, a contributor to Bustle.com, recommends that you aim for decluttering and creating organizational systems that will work for you in your everyday life. If it’s good enough for you to live with consistently, then you’ll have a much better chance of sticking with it. 

If you’re needing to declutter space in your home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you effectively do this. 

3 Tips For Getting Organized When Moving Into A Brand New Home

If you’ve got a big move coming up, now’s the perfect time to leave behind the things in your life that weren’t working before and start some new habits that will improve your life. One area that you might want to consider starting with is becoming more organized. 

But while starting with the clean slate of a new home can be great for getting organized, dealing with reorganization on top of all the stress of moving, home loans, and everything else can be extremely challenging. So to help you in meeting both of these issues head-on, here are three tips for getting organized when moving into a brand new home. 

Pack Based On Where Things Will Go In Your New Home

To give yourself the best chance of getting things organized in your new home, you’ve got to get the organization started as you’re packing up your old home. 

Ideally, you should try to pack up everything in your old house based on where you imagine putting everything in your new house. While this will likely mean packing things from each room into their own boxes, you may find that certain rooms need a bit of editing before just blindly packing everything all together. Then, once you get all the right items packed with items going into the same room at your new house, Marian White, a contributor to Moving.com, advises that you color code your moving boxes based on which room they’ll end up in to make the unpacking process go much smoother. 

Set Up All Storage Beforehand

Before you start unpacking the first box in your new house, you should first take the time to set up any and all storage items that you’ll be using to store and organize your belongings once they come out of their boxes. According to Laura Gaskill, a contributor to Forbes.com, this includes any storage that you’ll be using in the garage or other areas of the house. 

By setting up all of your storage spaces before you begin unpacking, you’ll ensure that you have room enough for everything coming out of boxes so you can put everything away where it belongs from the get-go. 

Start With The Hardest Rooms

Once you’re ready to start unpacking the boxes of all of your stuff, it’s wise to begin in the room that’s going to be the hardest to organize, which is usually the kitchen. The reasoning behind this is that you want to tackle the biggest projects while you have the most energy, which you might find dwindling as you go through rooms and rooms of boxes. Additionally, once you have the kitchen unpacked, Madison Wetherill, a contributor to LifeStorage.com, shares that it will be much easier to feel like your home is a functional space. 

If you’re going to be moving into a new home soon, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you organize your new space as you move in. 

Things To Consider Before Buying a Home

When deciding to purchase a home, there is much to consider. Continue reading to ensure you've covered your bases before making such a commitment.

Understanding a few essential points before buying a home can not only save you money initially, but in the long run as well. Additionally, you could walk away from your investment making more money than you spent, and using your profit to invest in your next adventure. When embarking on the journey of ownership, remember these things to consider before buying a home. 

Location

Understanding the area you are looking at, and its projected population growth, will help you decide. If you are one of the first in an "up and coming" area that's either being gentrified or newly developed, your potential property may be worth a lot more later. Pay attention to areas that are adding new store and restaurant chains, knocking down old abandoned structures, or building new neighborhoods.

If you are thinking about starting or growing a family, great parks, schools, and child-friendly speed zones and streets are essential details to consider. You want to ensure that the area you're picking to raise your family is safe and leaves room to explore and spread out when possible. Check out the crime rate in the area. The internet is a powerful tool in helping you make a decision for your future residence.

Appliance Quality

Before purchasing a home, you should have the HVAC systems inspected. These systems are the ones you want to make sure are not hazardous to you and your family. A faulty unit could start a fire, explosion, or cause carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be lethal.

You don't want to move into a property and find out that you need to replace a furnace or water heater right away. If this needs to be done, you can often negotiate these units' replacement into the price you pay for the house or have the previous owner handle before another inspection. Expand examination onto electrical outlets and water faucets and check for mold from faulty equipment. Inspections before a purchase can save you loads of money after you move in.

Finding a Loan Lender

When you've taken the necessary precautions and selected the home that's right for you, you'll need to find a lender for your home loan. Choose a reputable company that is transparent with what they offer and what you need to know to select the terms that work best for you. Be sure to keep in mind that the company you choose should have no problem answering all your questions.

Pay attention to how organized the lender is as a sign of legitimacy and proficiency. Steer clear of lenders that appear to be disorganized, lose track of important information or documents, or fumble over answers to questions. Before selecting your lender, you need to fully understand what you’re agreeing to and what the terms of your loan will be. Disregarding warning signs could leave you in an unfavorable position, owing much more than you were willing to pay for your house.

Keeping in mind these things to consider before buying a home will help protect you from a bad investment. This is where you're going to live with your loved ones for as long as you want. Reviewing all avenues of possibility will not only make the process of buying a home easier, but a good purchase can also appreciate over time.

Guest Post - 8 Home Organization Ideas to Declutter Your Space

All it takes is a few busy days and your house can start to look untidy. But if you want to have guests over and simply enjoy the comfort of your own home, it’s important to keep the space free of clutter. Luckily, this isn’t difficult at all.

In the past few years, minimalist kitchens have taken off among interior designers, homeowners, and the like. So, while you’re saving space, you’ll be keeping up with the latest trends in kitchen design.

Check out eight of our home organization ideas to keep your home clean and tidy!

Storage in Your Kitchen Island

Kitchen islands are prevalent in today’s homes; in fact, you almost never see a kitchen without an island. They are quite versatile, giving you more counter space to use while cooking – not to mention you can even install a kitchen range and range hood over your island.

Most islands are fitted with lower cabinets, too. This is a great place to tuck away more dishes, towels, cleaning supplies, or whatever else might be taking up space on the counters and floors.

Open Shelving

Open shelving is easy to install and can be built almost anywhere in your kitchen, as long as you have the space. You can also make it decorative by putting knick-knacks or fancy dishware on display. This personalizes the space, too.

Open shelving is a much more cost-effective option than adding more cabinetry. In fact, kitchen cabinets are one of the most expensive areas of your kitchen to renovate. Not to mention that open shelving also takes up less space on your wall. Give it a try!

Storage Ottomans

Storage ottomans are incredibly practical for your home. They make great stools and footrests, but you can also store kitchen supplies there too. Some footstool ottomans have removable lids and you can store items inside. Or, you might find storage ottomans that feature a bottom shelf, which you can use for storage or decorative purposes.

Hanging Pot and Pan Racks

Hanging pot and pan racks are quite the space saver. If you have a kitchen island, you can install hanging racks in your ceiling – either in the center or surrounding your range.

You can also find wooden racks that attach to your wall. This is a more unobtrusive option if you don’t want the pans hanging right in the middle of your kitchen.

Have you ever scrambled around the kitchen looking for one pan that you need out of dozens that you own? Big pans likely take up the most space in your cabinets so a pan rack is a practical option to declutter those cabinets. It will make all your dishware so much easier to find. 

Drawer Organizers

These are most commonly used to separate out silverware in the kitchen. You can also use them to separate out other utensils such as spatulas, straining spoons, wooden utensils, and more. They are one of the most convenient storage-saving solutions out there – and every kitchen has them!

Garage Storage Hooks

Out of all the spaces in your home, the garage is probably one that requires the most decluttering. For many homeowners, it’s not something that they have the time to keep organized consistently. One storage method that will keep your tools neat is storage hooks. Hang your rakes, clippers, brooms, shovels, and any other hand tools you might have on these hooks rather than setting them against a wall where they might fall.

Shoe Storage Bench

If you have a big family, you might find yourself picking up your kid’s shoes all the time. They are so often scattered everywhere around the house that they get lost and you have to buy new shoes.

To solve this problem, invest in a shoe storage bench. Just set it at your entryway and have anyone who comes in place their shoes on the bench.

As an added bonus, you don’t have to worry about anyone tracking dirt, dust, or snow throughout the house either.

Closet Separators and Labels

The last tip on our list of home organization ideas is to buy closet separators and labels. This will make life easier especially if you are in a rush in the morning to head to work, take your kids to school, or just get your day started.

If you have kids, you can make a fun little project out of it too. Just make your own fun labels and find some decorative closet separators online. Then let your kids have some fun personalizing their closet.

Recap

That’s it for our article on eight storage-saving solutions to try everywhere around your house. From the bedroom and kitchen to your garage, there are so many different creative ways you can declutter your space. With these ideas, your friends, family, and guests will all be impressed at how well you keep your home tidy.

Author Bio: Eric Mellmer is the Content Marketing Manager at Proline Range Hoods. Among other things, he writes for the Proline blog and manages guest posting there as well.