Tips to maintain a better home during lockdown

Declutter your home in a heartbeat! Tips to maintain a better home during lockdown

A clean home is a happy home, they say. Cluttered spaces can cause undue stress and anxiety. Living in such places can be stressful, especially if you were to stay in for the entire duration of the lockdown. Keeping your living spaces clutter-free is no difficult task. You need not be a cleanliness ninja or have an OCD to clean your house. We give you simple tips to declutter your home and make it more friendly.

Keep everything in their place

This is a start. Every item has a place of its own in your house. The keys belong on the key stand, the mugs belong in the kitchen closet, your clothes in the wardrobe, and your sneakers in the shoe-rack and so on. Start by ensuring that everything is kept in its designated place. This not only helps declutter your home, but it can also make it easy for you to find things when you need them.

Keep things that go together, together

You need to keep the objects that need to be used together near or with each other. For example, your ties, cuffs and clothes should be in the same or adjacent wardrobes. Dedicate a compartment for hardware and tools, and one for office supplies and stationery. Make a place for your toiletries, cosmetics and hygiene products in the same cupboard. You can also make separate sections for casual wear and formals in your wardrobe. You can also pair your dresses or your shirts and pants or a T-shirt and jeans. This will not only make things easier when you want to rush out in a hurry, but it also looks organised and pleasing.

Do not hoard

The Japanese art of Decluttering and Organising calls for discarding things which are not in use. We have this habit of not letting go of things even when they are way past their prime. We hoard used clothes, shoes, daily-use objects and other household items. People also keep cardboard boxes and packing foam for later use. However, to make space for new things and to ensure that our house stays clean, neat and tidy, we need to let go of things. This means not keeping things which are not in use and throwing them away, to make more space for items that are being used. We know that it is difficult to let go, so decide to throw two things that you are not using every day. Once your home is free from all the accumulated junk, it will automatically look decluttered and organised.

Start slowly

Decluttering does not mean that you empty all the closets, wardrobes, racks at once. Doing so will only create more confusion, and you definitely will not like the result. Instead, start slowly. Take one drawer or closet or rack at a time. Cleaning things slowly will also make you feel good about yourself and keep you motivated to declutter your house.

Make optimum use of storage spaces

More than half of the storage spaces in our homes are utilised inefficiently. Be it haphazardly stowing away the suitcases under the bed or in the loft above, or shoving boxes, paper and other used stationary in a closet, or putting clothes in your wardrobe without folding. As you start your decluttering journey, open up the wardrobes and the cabinets, check the lofts and the storage rooms or the attics for space. Make a note of the empty spaces and attend to them before decluttering, so that you can find space for any item that might be of use to you in the future.

Keep a pen and paper handy to note down observations, jot down to-do lists and keep track of your progress as well. Take a before-after picture of your house to reflect on the excellent work that you did. You can also upload it on your social media feed to brag about it. Who knows you could start a viral trend!