hi welcome back I'm Andrea Jean and this channel is dedicated to cleaning and
organizing for busy women so if that is you hit the subscribe button and join
the community today I'm gonna be talking about ten easy ways to help you
declutter your home and make it a space that you never want to leave
make sure you stay till the end so you do not miss my number one tip to help
you keep a decluttered home this first tip is going to be super helpful for all
you mamas out there that have kids that love their artwork now I definitely love
the artwork from my kids but I can't save every single piece of it because it
would take over our entire house so whenever my kids bring artwork home what
I'll do is I'll put it in a pile on our kitchen counter and I'll leave it there
for a couple days and kind of decide if it's something that they're really
interested in or passionate about and more often than not they've actually
forgotten about the artwork so I'll go through it pick out those items and then
the stuff that I don't want I will just throw in the garbage when they're not
looking of course and then some of it I will hang up here on the wall I got
these clips at the target dollar spot I believe several years ago but this is
something that you could easily make but I will just clip a few of their art
pieces up here especially if it's seasonal like Christmas or spring or
Easter and then as seasons change or it's time to replenish the artwork I'll
just take it down and again put it in the garbage where they can't see it and
then I will just replace it with some new stuff now for those really important
pieces of artwork maybe it's something that they made at home or at school but
it symbolizes an important transition or period in their life I have a binder for
each of my kids now I have a five year olds a three year old and an eleven
month old my eleven month old binder has not much in it but it will in time as he
becomes more creative and crafty and just loves to explore with all the art
supplies but I'll take those pieces of art that have a lot of meaning or
something that they really spent a lot of time in and I'll put it in this
binder that way as they become older maybe in high school we can look back in
those things and just kind of trigger our memories from experiences in their
life and the activities that we did you ultimately can decide how big of a
binder that you want maybe you have multiple binders my
goal at this point is just to have one binder and be very judicious about the
items that I put in here I've also seen some parents do filing systems where
they will file it by grade kindergarten first grade second grade so on and so
forth and they will put it in there but for me I really like the binder system
it's easy for me to tuck away less storage space and it's something that
they could easily take with them if they wanted to when they were grown adults
now let's talk paint supplies me and my husband we've lived in several
apartments townhouses we've owned a couple homes and those paint supplies
can add up and accumulate but where do you keep them all for a time that you're
gonna need them again it's not something that you use on an everyday basis
generally speaking so here's what we do to help keep our paint supplies
organized and easy to find here I have this old a grocery cart box this is
something I purchased a long time ago I think in college when I was moving but
we have saved it and it has been durable you can choose whatever size box that
you want maybe you want something a little bit more decorative maybe you
just have a regular old box lying around but put it all in that box
and try to keep it somewhat organized in there it doesn't have to be super put
together but just so you can get all the items in there that you need and I would
recommend putting everything in this box you can organize it however you like you
can see here ours is just kind of put in there but as long as it fits that's all
that matters but I would put these stir sticks the paintbrushes any sort of
paint cans if you use any sort of drop cloths you can also fold those up really
tightly and nice and then place them in the box put them in a designated spot in
your garage or in your basement somewhere where the temperature is not
too variable that way when you need those supplies again you can just easily
grab them and use them for your next painting job
let's talk books I have an affinity for books especially going to grad school I
had tons of books that I thought maybe that I would look through someday to
find resources and just I had some nostalgia attached to those books but
they can really add up and take up a ton of space so what I recommend doing is
really going through all your books and physically touch every single one of
them and decide is this a book that you're actually gonna pick up and read
again or if it's more of an academic book is
this a place where you would research on the Internet or are you more
inclined to actually go inside the book and find what you need chances are you
would probably look something up on the internet because you have some trusted
reliable sources or journals that you may use to find the information make a
big pile of those books if you have several of them and you can actually
choose to resell these books I ended up bringing a lot of my old textbooks to
Half Price Books and I got a decent amount of money back and this is really
helpful especially when we were going through a debt free journey we wanted
any extra cash that we could possibly use also it was really nice to declutter
and get rid of those books that did have sentimental value attached to him
because all the long studying hours and but I was never really actually gonna
use them again I do have a few books that I still hold on to that mean a lot
to me and then I will likely read again but now what I use is audible especially
being a busy mom of three and a working mom it's really important to me to have
easy access to books so if I'm driving to the gym or I'm driving my kids in the
car someplace I can easily put on my audible book and it's a win-win hey it's
more convenient and B it takes a very minimal space recipe books these are
something that can accumulate so easily I think at one point we probably had 20
recipe books and to be honest with you all I didn't actually go through many of
them and use the recipes in the books so here's a method that was really helpful
for me especially when it comes to decluttering those recipe books I went
through all my recipe books and decided what to recipes in there do I actually
use and love and while I make again and I made a copy of those recipes or I
wrote them down really quickly and what I did is I created my very own binder
with all of our favorite family recipes now moving forward if there's a recipe
that I love or that I want to try I will put it here in this binder and then I
will go through and make notes of things that I want to change or add next time
so it's very efficient keeps things nice and compact and that way our kitchen is
not cluttered with recipe books I love cooking but I do not like the clutter
let's talk Tupperware I know in many homes this is a pain point
Tupperware just adds up you can't find what you need and it just
becomes this big jumbled mess of plastic or glass whatever you choose so here's
something that I found really helpful when it comes to decluttering that
Tupperware any time that you decide that you're going to throw away an item maybe
it has been overused or maybe it no longer serves a function that it did
find the corresponding lid to that item is also recycle or discard it that way
you don't have an uneven amount of lids to bottoms or vases next if you're
looking for organizational items to help you organize your Tupperware you can
definitely check out the Dollar Tree they have a ton of items there for just
a buck or head on over to Amazon and you can find a whole slew of organizing
items so here's how we sort our Tupperware and it is so convenient so
easy and this system is so maintainable it's also really helpful because my kids
know where to put these items you can see here we don't have any sort of
organizational objects to help us just one big drawer what we have here on the
left-hand side are all the lids now they are not stacked in any particular order
just as long as they're lined up here and stacked against one another is just
find in our book and you can see here around the perimeter in the back and on
the right hand side we have all of the Tupperware containers and they are just
simply stacked by shape and again like I said when it's time to discard and
Tupperware item go ahead and make sure you find the corresponding lid or
container so that you do not have an excess or uneven number of both of those
items make sure that you have a space big enough to organize all of your
Tupperware in one simple spot and if you do not have a space big enough maybe
make some decisions around do you need all this Tupperware
chances are you have way more than enough I know the stuff contained here
in my drawer we have plenty here we probably do not even use a quarter of
the items in here so we could probably go ahead and declutter this Tupperware
jar even a little bit more alright my next tip has to do with makeup you all
this is all the makeup that I own and I know
this is really crazy and may seem a bit unattainable to many of you but bear
with me I'm going to share some tips that be really helpful now maybe you
don't have this little amount of makeup but here are some tips that will help
you reduce the amount that you have and decrease the overall clutter that you
have when it comes to your makeup go through all your makeup and touch each
item and decide is this a product that you are going to use or not or maybe
you're just holding on to it because it is a great product but maybe it's not
the right shade or color for you go ahead and donate those items if you
haven't used them or discard them touch every single makeup item and then really
find a space in your bathroom or for me it's this makeup bag here and decide if
this is something that you want to keep and if it is make a special space for it
now for me one of my weaknesses are lipsticks and lip glosses so I really
try to be mindful when I'm wanting to purchase a new lipstick or lip gloss so
if you have a weak area maybe it comes to eyeshadow just try to be really
mindful that when you do bring items into your home it's things that you
absolutely love maybe for some of you this is a ton of makeup but I think all
of us if we have makeup of some sort of another we can always be going through
it in deciding is this a product that we're actually gonna use and if it isn't
it's time to say bye makeup male thumbs up if the male just
seems to pile up in your home like crazy here's a system that has really worked
for our family anytime new male comes into our home I make a couple piles one
for my husband to go through one that's gonna be junk and one for me if it
pertains to bills or something for my kids school or activities I will go
ahead and take that garbage throw it right away in there my husband has his
own separate pile on his computer so I will set it there for him and he goes
through it whenever he has a chance or has the time he has his own spaces in
the house that are completely is that he can decide when and how he wants to
organize or rearrange those items and that has worked for us in our
relationship of gosh now how long has it been 15 years or more I'm not good on
dates yeah time flies so when it comes to the mail that I need to go
through I do all the budgeting and finances in our home so I'll put that
information right here on the shelf and about every week or so I will go through
those items and decide if it's a bill that needs to be paid or if it's
something for my kids school stuff I will go ahead and put it in my planner
but I like to set it right here on this shell because I walk by it every day and
it's a constant reminder and trigger for me to sort through those items and
decide and go through the things that I need I need to pay or can be thrown in
the garbage now let's talk closets this is a space that can get cluttered up
really fast I definitely love my clothes but a few
tricks that I've learned along the way that I've helped me in the decluttering
process and just to really simplify things I like to call this the hanger
trick now I have seen this several places around the internet but let me
show you exactly what it is what you want to do is every time that you have
worn a piece of clothing it's turn it around the opposite way of what you
normally would that way you can have an objective idea when you're going through
your closet and you can really see what you have actually worn I know a lot of
times we think that we're wearing a lot of the items in our closet but this is a
really nice visual aid so we can see because each item that has been turned
around shows us that it's an item that we have worn now the next thing I want
you to do is give yourself a time frame maybe a year is a good time frame I know
for me I live in the Midwest so the seasons are constantly changing so a
year is good and if I have not worn that item in one year I either need to donate
it or sell it if you're anything like me I often have the battle in my head of
I'm a they're the some time or oh I should really wear that but if you
haven't worn it in that year or six months or whatever time frame that
you've designated it's time to get rid of it another tip that has been really
helpful for me when it comes to decluttering this closet is anytime I
would bring a new item in maybe I purchased a cute shirt or a dress I
would then have to take an item out of my closet and get a rid of it and donate
it so there were no additional hangers being bought in my house when I maxed
out on my hangers that was it if I ran out of hanger space it was time to
donating in my final tip when it comes to decluttering your closet is to decide
before even purchase any items do not purchase it unless you absolutely love
that item and you're gonna wear it don't just buy items because you got a gift
card burning in your purse I know I have one right now for t.j.maxx but when I go
shopping this upcoming week I really really have to love the item before I
decide to bring it into my home because that is money and time spent on that
item so overall it's a healthy declutter is try not to bring more into your house
unless you absolutely love it and if you do decide to bring more clothes into
your closet or your dresser or your bedroom or wherever you keep those
things get it rid of something else alright are you ready for my final and
best decluttering tip this tip has to do with your everyday experiences and how
you view the items in your home what I want you to do is always be in the
decluttering process and what I mean by that is when you are in your home going
through items touching items going through laundry putting things away I
always have a dialogue going on in your head is is this an item that still
continues to bring our family use or is it just something that I'm holding on to
for whatever reason make sure that it has a specific purpose and function in
your life and if it doesn't maybe it's time to donate that item the less items
that you have in your home the more time you have to spend on the things and the
people that you truly love now that's not to say you have to have a completely
minimal lifestyle with nothing in it but be sure to fill your home with the
things that mean the most to you time is so valuable that is something that we
can never ever get back and I don't know about you but I absolutely love a clean
and decluttered home but I love spending time with my family and friends so the
less time that I can spend cleaning and better systems that I have in place to
keep me organized it's a win win in my book so take a good look around your
home and think of the items maybe you have a collection of things that maybe
don't serve the same function that they did in the past or maybe you just have
setna place because that's where it ended up staying but it doesn't really
need to be there maybe it could be put in another location that would be more
efficient for you and your family make some decisions but oftentimes we are in
our homes and we just get really accustomed to the things around us but I
want you to do is take an objective stance and look around your home and
make sure that all the items are in a place that serve a function that bring
you joy but since I've been on the whole
decluttering journey and just really simplifying our lives
anytime I'm shopping or bring something in I'm always thinking to myself okay
where is this item gonna go and is it something that's really gonna be useful
for our family and if it isn't it doesn't belong in my home maybe it
belongs in someone else's home so train yourself and continually practice to be
in that decluttering process the less you can bring into your home the more
you have time for the things that you truly love and make your home a place
that you never want to leave