5 Reasons Why You Should Give Your Home A Declutter

When less is more …

Now that I am trapped at home, with three kids, (four if you count my husband), one dog and an anxiety-induced chest infection, I am going to have to find things to do on the Kettle List that are home-based.

One of those things is to declutter my house so that I can finally have a home I am happy in.

We have already braved the “under stairs” cupboard. Well, I say I braved, in fact, I made my husband pull stuff out and check for spiders.  And I then got him to vanquish said spiders. Let’s just call it a joint effort, shall we?  

5 reasons to declutter

During this epic quest of arachnid dodging and mouldy clothes-bagging, we learned a lot about why decluttering is such a good idea. Even if my kitchen currently looks even messier than when we started.

I, therefore, thought I would share with you 5 good reasons why you should start your decluttering journey.

1 – Decluttering will save you money

We discovered about 20 loo rolls during our declutter!

I had obviously bought a pack, used one or two, placed it somewhere, lost it and bought a replacement.  If you sell the things you are decluttering, then yes, you can MAKE money. I am sure I will do a post on that at some point.

But if you are properly organised then you can SAVE money, by not having to re-buy items you have already purchased.

Those items that you have misplaced in the house… somewhere.  Having a place to put things means you will always know where it is. You also know where to check if you want to know if you have run out and need to get some new ones (still thinking of loo rolls here.)

2 – Decluttering will reduce your stress

Being surrounded by mess is officially stressful – as in it has been scientifically proven.   Researchers have discovered that there is a link between how stressed you are and how tidy your house is; a cluttered home can make some people feel like they have failed at creating a good environment for their families.

I can certainly attest to being stressed by an untidy house. Generally, because of not being able to find things (see 1), things falling on me or getting broke by others (see 3), or just the time it takes to find stuff (see 4!)

3 -Decluttering makes your house safer

Amusing as watching my Mum trip over her cat bowls is, accidents at home are a real concern.  Cluttered walkways are listed as one of the common causes of trips and falls in the home.

The London Fire Brigade devotes a whole page of their website to the perils of clutter and the impacts it can have in the event of a house fire.  

The page also contains a link to the International OCD Foundations Hoarding centre. Its ‘levels of hoarding’ pdf make for sobering viewing. I’m probably hovering on a 3.

Potential death aside, it is just easier to clean a house that has less clutter.

And a cleaner house means less dust, fewer germs and a reduction in conditions that may attract unwanted furry visitors (I’m talking rats and mice, not Wombles… although they might be helpful if you have a bit of rubbish lying about, what with their penchant for recycling and such).

4 – Decluttering will give you more time

Not sure what your house is like on Monday mornings, but before I got a bit more organised they used to be a nightmare here! One of the boys always misplaced a tie. Or their shoes. Or forgot they had homework and the ensuing shouting and grabbing inevitably set everyone up for a bad day.

If every item has its place, then tidying becomes quicker and easier. This frees up your time for more important things. I dread to think how much time I have spent looking for my bag or shoes.

There have even been occasions where I had to cancel bank cards, believing them to be lost forever, only to find them later, under a pile of papers (and all the fun that ensues from not having access to your bank account for a couple of days…)

5 -Decluttering means more room for fun and friends

If you have less stuff, you will appreciate what you DO have, more – in theory.

This, in turn, will lead to you being a bit more discerning when it comes to selecting new things for your home – or indeed NOT selecting.

Perhaps you will realise you don’t actually need another candle/cushion/ornament and that you don’t really want to waste money on it. Not when you could use that money towards a day out with the family, or towards paying off debts (or towards saving up to go travel the world!).

Best of all, the new less-stressed and decluttered you will also be able to develop better relationships with your family – especially when you are not shouting at them about losing things, or worrying about money… and the best benefit is that you will be able to have friends over more often, or in my case, be able to have friends over…that’s it, just over to visit.  

As it is, I don’t let people in because I worry about the judging! I know real friends don’t judge, but I would prefer to invite them into a tidy and welcoming home, and for there to be somewhere for them to sit without me having to move things.  And that day is coming as my declutter continues!

If you want some ideas to get you started on your declutter check out my post here 

Wondering what you should do with your clutter once you have it bagged up? Check out this post.

Want to know what charity shops definitely don’t want? Check here!

If you are ready to take your minimalism to the extreme, perhaps you would enjoy the book Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki, which I discuss here.