One of the most common questions I get is from people wondering where to start de cluttering. And it's normal to not know. When you're struggling with years or decades worth of stuff piled up in your home, it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out where to start. So in today's episode, we're going to answer this question once and for all.
Hey there, I'm Nicole from The Maximizing Momma, and I am obsessed with creating a home that gives me more peace of mind, more time to myself and more time with my kids. I teach you the tried and true secrets to clearing your clutter, getting organized, and managing your household in a realistic and sustainable way.
This show is where we talk about things like motherhood, decluttering, organizing, creating routines, mindset, energy, and everything in between. Our homes are the foundation for the rest of our lives, and it's so important to have a calm, relaxing household so you can have the time, the peace of mind, and the freedom to truly enjoy motherhood.
So sit back and get ready to take charge of your home.
For several years, I have heard many decluttering experts say that we should start decluttering in the bathroom. Because we're typically less emotionally attached to our toilet ries. But that doesn't really work because not everyone has clutter piling up in the bathroom. Now sure. You could do the work to declutter your makeup and shampoo bottles and such.
But if you're ready to take charge of your entire home, I'll bet that your bathroom is the least of your worries, right? So let's dive into what you really need to know when it comes to where to start de cluttering. To determine where you should start decluttering first, you need to determine what you're working with.
In episode one. The very first episode on this podcast, Why Your Home is Always Messy. We talked about the three different types of clutter. Everyday messes, homeless clutter and accumulated clutter. Everyday messes are the messes that happen throughout your home because you live in it. These messes make your home look cluttered, but it's important to note that they're to be expected.
Homeless clutter is the stuff that's getting left out because it doesn't have a permanent home, like a charging cord that's left on your kitchen counters because you literally don't have anywhere else to put it. And then finally there is accumulated clutter, which is the things that are accumulating in places like closets, drawers, cabinets, boxes, or even piling up on tables.
Now it's very likely that you are struggling with more than one of these types of clutter. So I have categorized four stages of our home life to give you a better idea of what you're working with. The first one is the disaster zone or ground zero, where everything is a mess, where your entire house is a mess.
The second stage is the decluttering stage. This is where you're pretty much on top of the messes for the most part, but the clutter is really what's out of control. Stage three is the organizing stage when you're ready to focus on getting organized. And finally stage four is the maintenance stage, which is where you're focused on fine tuning your and your children's habits.
So, if you're wondering where to start decluttering, you're most likely going to be in stage one or stage two, either the disaster zone or the decluttering stage. However, with all of that said, in order to truly determine where you should specifically start de cluttering in your home, you need to know exactly which stage you're in because where you should start will be drastically different depending on what stage you're in. And this is truly the key to success. Because if you're starting in the wrong area, With the wrong types of stuff, you will only end up shuffling your things from room to room over and over again, like a never ending Groundhog day. So let's unpack the first two stages a little bit more.
So stage one, the disaster zone. As I said, this is when your entire house is a wreck. You're struggling with everyday messes and homeless clutter. Things that need put back where they belong, as well as items that you just don't know what to do with. Now, the pinnacle of this stage is when you're struggling with things that you absolutely want to keep, they're getting left out and scattered everywhere.
And these items can be awfully confusing because they make our homes look visually cluttered. But they're not typically things that you want to get rid of. In this stage. It's really easy to start decluttering right off the bat because you have so much stuff. That's what it seems like you need to do.
But if you have been unsuccessful with de cluttering before now, I highly recommend overhauling the mess first and foremost before you move on to decluttering. Which is exactly why I've broken them up into two different stages. Stage one and stage two. Now overhauling is when you really focus on tackling the items that you want to keep, that you don't know what to do with.
You're tidying the everyday messes, putting things back where they belong, finding a home for the homeless clutter. And then you're also managing the messes. You're learning how to manage the messes going forward so you can prevent your home from getting out of control again. Now this step can truly be life-changing because as I'm sure, you know, when you have a lot of these messes being left out, it can be really difficult to find a home for the things that you want to keep when you also have clutter piling up behind closed doors. Like, how can you find a home for all of your board games if every closet in your house is stuffed to the max, right?
So, if you want to know more about how to do this, I will link the Home Overhaul Blueprint below. It's an entry level self study program that will teach you how to overhaul your home in less than two weeks. Now let's move on to stage two, the de cluttering stage. This stage can be broken down into two different phases.
But we're going to be getting into that in a future episode when we talk about how to declutter. Because today is all about where to start decluttering. So, as I said, in this stage, in the decluttering stage, you're struggling with stuff that you might have trouble letting go of, stuff that you know you need to get rid of, but you have so much of it that you just can't discern where to start.
This is accumulated clutter, which is the things that are piling up and accumulating in places. They could be accumulating behind closed doors, like in a closet cabinet or drawer, or they could be accumulating in boxes and piles sitting out in the open. So here's the answer that you're looking for, where to start decluttering.
You want to start anywhere in your home that has accumulated clutter. True accumulated clutter. This is so important because this is where people get tripped up. I want you to look past the everyday messes and past the homeless clutter and stop trying to rearrange your things. Instead, I want you to focus on areas that have clutter accumulating.
And this is most likely not your bathroom. It could be. But for the most part, I'll bet that you have piles of things in other rooms. So I encourage you to make a list out of all those areas where you have clutter accumulating. So you can get a complete picture of exactly what you're working with in your home.
Especially if you're more of a detail oriented person. Because when you look around your house and all you see is stuff everywhere, it can be very hard to discern what room has, what. I called this list, a declutter list. And it's genuinely one of the most impactful things that you can do. So let's say for example, that your declutter list consists of your spare room, your bedroom, all your closets, your garage and some boxes and laundry baskets that are full of stuff piling up in the living room. Well, these are all the areas that have accumulated clutter. So now you have a complete picture of exactly what areas you need to focus on to start tackling the true accumulated clutter that's in your home.
So when you're trying to figure out where to start decluttering, all you need to do is simply pick an area from that list. You can absolutely choose an area based on what you think will be the easiest for you to work through. Or you could narrow it down based on what area has the biggest negative effect on your daily life, or you can just close your eyes, point to an area on the list and truly start anywhere. The only thing that truly matters is that you're starting somewhere that has accumulated clutter. When you start with this true accumulated clutter, you're able to make extreme amounts of progress in a short period of time, compared to when you're trying to declutter an area that just has mess in it.
So for example, What you've likely been doing before now, is trying to declutter an area or a space in your home. A space in your main living areas like your kitchen counters or your dining room table, where there's a lot of stuff left out on those flat services. That are just mess. They're just things that you need to things that you want to keep, but you just don't know what to do with. So for example, right now, on my dining room table, we have this art case that needs to be put away. I have a stack of drawings from my daughter, some flashcards. Um, some crystals that need to be put on my nightstand.
A few spring decorations that I've started to pull out, as well as a pile of laundry that I need to fold . So my dining room table looks very cluttered. And the problem is we go up to it and think, okay, my dining room table is a mess. It needs to be cleaned off because we need to be able to eat here tonight. So I'm going to start with decluttering, my dining room table.
But nothing on this dining room table is anything that I'm willing to let go of. Every single item that I just named to you are things that I want to keep. And so if I were decluttering my dining room table right now, by the time I spend 30 minutes dealing with each of these items, putting everything back where they belong.
You know, I would maybe feel somewhat accomplished and, you know, thinking like, okay, I decluttered my dining room table, but I didn't really make any progress. I didn't really let go of anything. Because there wasn't true, accumulated clutter on that dining room table. And this is why it's so crucial for you to distinguish the difference between mess versus clutter, because what I just listed on my dining room table is not clutter. It looks cluttered. But it's not clutter. It's mess. And when you can distinguish mess versus clutter in your home, you will be able to easily identify where the accumulated clutter is, where the things are that are piling up, that you no longer need, use or want. And once you're able to distinguish the mess from the clutter, you'll stop wasting your time on strategies that don't work. You'll be able to cut right to the chase and focus on truly clearing and ditching and demolishing the true clutter. And once you're able to do that, you will have more breathing room for both you and your family. You'll have more space in your home. You'll start to have more peace of mind.
And you'll in turn create a calm, relaxing home that you truly love to live in. So while I'm on this subject, this reminds me. We have a three day virtual event, a challenge coming up very soon from February 28th to March 1st called the Breathing Room Challenge where we're going to be implementing all of these strategies in your home so you can ditch the mess, clean up the chaos, tackle all the things you don't know what to do with, and clear the true clutter in order to create more breathing room. So you can have more peace of mind. And I'm so excited to invite you to join us. I would love to have you join us. I will share a link below in the show notes for you to go save your spot. Or you can always go to the maximizing momma.com forward slash breathing room.
So while we're on the subject, go save your spot because we're going to have three action packed days, prizes, and a little bit of fun. Now. Let's quickly go over some action steps for you to take, to determine where you should start decluttering in your specific home. First and foremost, if your house is a total wreck, and you're dealing with items that need put away and items that you don't know what to do with, go check out the Home Overhaul Blueprint. Like I said, I will share a link for it below in the show notes. On the other hand, if you're ready to tackle the true clutter. You need to look past the homeless clutter, look past the everyday messes, and determine where you have true accumulated clutter piling up. True accumulated clutter that you need and want to let go of.
For the third step. I want you to list all those areas on a sheet of paper to create your declutter list. And then finally for step four, once you have your declutter list created, pick an area that will work for you to start in and then you can dive right in and start decluttering. And there you have it.
That's how you determine where you should start decluttering. As I said, this is so impactful because most of the advice that you'll find out there tells you to start decluttering in your bathroom. And while your bathroom is an area that you will need to tackle eventually. The truth is that when you're faced with decades worth of clutter, letting go of your toilet ries isn't going to make much of a difference in the grand scheme of your home. So go spend the rest of this week, creating your declutter list so you can have a better idea, a complete picture of exactly what areas you need to focus on decluttering in your home. And before we go, I have one more thing I want to mention to you. I have a free resource I want to share.
It's a handy guide that lays all of this out for you. A checklist, if you will, it's called the Ditch the Mess Checklist. You can grab your free copy. And of course, I don't have the link off the top of my head, but I will share a link for it in the show notes, along with the link for the Home Overhaul Blueprint and the three-day Breathing Room Challenge. So go grab your free copy of the Ditch the Mess Checklist, sign up for the three-day Breathing Room Challenge, check out the Home Overhaul Blueprint, if you'd like. And, I think that's pretty much it. Make sure you get all signed up because I know that you are ready to make 20, 23 the year that you finally take charge of your home. You're ready to demolish the true clutter. Because you're here listening to this podcast right now. And that's exactly what we're going to be doing over the next couple of months.
Now in the next episode. We're talking about the new way to declutter because the KonMari method and the Home Edit method are not the most effective ways to start clearing your clutter.
So if you're ready to make de cluttering a heck of a lot more easier and a heck of a lot more simple, make sure to subscribe to the Take Charge of Your Home Show. And I will chat with you next week. Bye.
Thank you for listening to another episode of the Take Charge of Your Home Show. Go ahead and take a few moments to celebrate yourself for being here, doing this work, and really learning how to create a calm, relaxing home. Don't forget to check out the show notes and feel free to leave a rating and a review so I can know what you want to hear more about because you and your journey are what make this show a reality. I'll see you next time.
