Life is sometimes messy, busy, and stressful. The last thing anyone wants to do, after a long day at work, or looking after their wildly energetic children is to think about cleaning. Your home should be a place where you can relax and enjoy your surroundings because it’s full of items and decorations, chosen by you that you love. But sometimes we neglect the fact that, much like children, your home needs care and attention too. When your home is cluttered and messy, it can add to your stress levels, a clean uncluttered home will be a more relaxing and peaceful location you will want to actually be in. If you spend a little bit of time decluttering yourself on the weekend or a free day when the kids are at school, or daycare, your house will become that peaceful and enjoyable place you will want to be.

Clean and sort

First things first, you’ll need to clean and sort out items in your house. Buy some bin bags, storage boxes and label them into categories. Consider some of the following:

Rubbish: This one’s easy. Place your junk useless items, items you hate, broken items and anything that can’t be recycled into bin bags to be sent to the tip. There will probably be a lot of items here, so make sure you have a stock of bin bags.

Recycling bin: Label a cardboard box with “recycling bin” for paper rubbish and products that can be recycled. You’ll want to be mindful of the environment when cleaning.

Donations: Do you have a bunch of old clothing that doesn’t fit or you don’t really like anymore. Consider donating it to charity so the less fortunate can have some better living.

Put away: Any items that have been left around on tables and desks you haven’t used in a few days, it’s likely you won’t use them in another few days. If you have multiple people and children in your house, you may need to make this into some sub-categories and put names on them. Give them the boxes and get them to put the items away, this will remove some of the labour off your shoulders and encourage them to do their part.

Sell: Do you have some collector’s items, old toys or unused game consoles? Consider if you need them in your life and put them on eBay. You might get more for them than you think.

If you have a larger house with multiple rooms, or if your home is very messy, consider just cleaning one area or room at a time. Pop a movie, pod-cast or music on, and spend half an hour each day cleaning everything, and sorting items into bags and boxes around your house into categories. Prioritise locations that you spend the most time in, such as the bedroom and living room. Even if you get a little bit cleaned, you’re going to feel better about it.

Add storage cabinets

Sometimes you might find you don’t have enough locations for items to be sorted. Cabinets with room for smaller baskets and boxes are perfect. You can neatly store them away and get them out easily. A beautiful minimalist choice, that goes perfectly with an uncluttered look is the mustard lockers available in full-sized storage cabinets, bedside tables, to waist high counters.Seasonal decorations

Decorations are a fun and great way to personalise your space to how you want it, but sometimes we can get carried away and over decorate our homes. Give your home more of a minimalist look by packing a lot of your decorative items into boxes. A great way to still display the items you love is to change them around with each season, or every second month if you so wish. Not only does it create less clutter, but it will also keep your home looking fresh and exciting.

Keep office space clear

If you work at your computer, or study try keep that space clear. If you need a little personalisation, keep one plant, or sentimental item on the desk so it won’t drown you in boredom. Throw out or store any loose papers into a binder categorising everything, banknotes, receipts, assignment papers, etc. A place that needs a lot of concentration should be clutter-free, our brains tend to wonder and feel more stress when we’re in a cramp and cluttered place.

Store regularly used items in baskets and containers

If you have some regularly used items, such as headphones, kid’s favourite toys, tv remotes, etc, place them in open baskets on a cabinet for easy access. Mustard made baskets are another beautiful choice, in an array of colours and in a pleasing design. Baskets create spots for these items, so they won’t get, left around or misplaced.

Clean weekly

Keeping a regular cleaning schedule will ensure that your home will stay clutter-free, and stress-free. Place any loose items back to where they belong, dust surfaces, and vacuum your home. Try getting family members to participate in the weekly clean, this will unburden the load from your shoulders.

Time to relax

Now that you’ve de-cluttered and sorted your home, you can relax and take a breather. Keeping on top of regular cleaning and decluttering schedules, means you can spend more time in a place that makes you feel happy and more relaxed. Remember to get the whole family involved in your decluttering, it can be a fun activity for everyone.