How Decluttering Your Home Can Improve Your Health
Spring cleaning time is here, so now is a good time to start thinking about more than just washing windows, walls and floors. Now is the time to consider getting rid of a lot of that stuff. And, according to our guest blogger, Cary Teller, you’ll be getting rid of a lot of stress along with it. And, imagine your home looking sleek and clean like the lovely dining room shown above by Sustainable 9 Design Build.
Decluttering or removing unwanted items from your home provides numerous emotional and physical health benefits. It can help promote stronger decision-making skills and better sleep. Clutter in every corner can lead to feelings of anxiety, embarrassment and reluctance to have anyone enter your home. The stress can lead to insomnia, depression and weight gain.
This beautiful bedroom by GreenWood Design Build (#240 from the Spring Parade of Homes) almost guarantees stress-free sleep.
A clutter-free environment allows you to live more efficiently because everything is within reach. This in turn leads to healthier habits. Other examples of the well-being brought on by a clutter-free environment is enjoying the “sanctuary space” of your bedroom and enjoying cooking when all the kitchenware and dishes are in their place (and out of sight).
Who wouldn’t love cooking in this clutter-free kitchen from our Spring Parade of Homes, #403 by Heinen Homes.
Many people gather clutter to address something in their history. We are not talking about hoarding, which is a mental condition. We are talking about clutter, the accumulation of “stuff.” We are talking about the accumulation of papers, dishes, clothing that you don’t bother to ever get rid of. This kind of clutter can cause you to lose your keys at the very least, and your mind at the worst. Remember this morning when you were late for work or an appointment? You couldn’t find your keys or the important papers you needed? They were somewhere in the clutter on your desk or kitchen counter.
How to Start
So, how is the trend reversed? Start on a weekend. Don’t make any plans to go out. This is your job. Clean the furniture, vacuum the carpets. Wash all of your clothes and hang them away. Change all furnace air filters to trap the dust particles and mites that hide in uncleaned carpets, pillows and upholstered furniture. Pollutants found in indoor air can have many harmful effects on the health of residents.
Wash all the dishes and clean the countertops. Find a place for everything. If mail or magazines are just thrown on a horizontal surface, go shopping. Buy a few dressy baskets or bins to put them in – and put them into their new homes. Buy a large group of matched hangers for your clothes and donate the old ones somewhere out of your life. Make a hook for your keys.
Open shelves can be clutter magnets, so consider adding some pretty baskets which will hold plenty of “stuff” and still look clean and neat, like this built-in nook from Spring Parade of Homes #263 by City Homes.
Some therapists say it’s like a diet. Instead of adding more to the clutter, subtract from it. Start with a small drawer and clean it out. For all the content encountered, ask, “When was the last time I used that?” “Is it broken, useless or rusty? Don’t ask yourself if you will use it again. That deep seated problem that got you into this mess will make you want to hold onto it.
Now make an “always” routine. Every day when you get up, make your bed. Put dirty clothes in the washer and remove and fold the ones from yesterday. Clear and wipe all horizontal surfaces. The whole routine will take less than 30 minutes. So get up 30 minutes earlier. Your reward will be an orderly house when you come home. you will suffer no stress or depression when you walk into a messy house. Instead, you will live longer and sleep better.
Make progress. Move forward at a recognizable pace to minimize the risk of getting bogged down and having your progress stopped. When an item finds its way into the house, “donate” a similar item. Don’t use the terms “throw away” or “put in the trash” or “toss it in the garbage.” That diminishes the clutterer who probably feels bad enough about their sloppy behavior.
Donation conveys a sense of gratitude. Realize the object has lived its life. Thank the object for providing their service. The result of decluttering is freeing the mind to make life changes for the better.
Stay positive. Find a picture of what your house used to look at when it was clean. Tell yourself that it can look that way again.