Perhaps you’re starting to watch the Winnetka real estate market as you get ready to move, and you don’t want to bring extra stuff with you when you do. Or maybe you’ve recently purchased one of the Highland Park homes for sale, and you’re not sure where to put all of your belongings. Here are nine tips to help you get rid of any extra clutter and live a more organized life.
Consider what you don’t need
Do you really need that box of old phone cords? What about that stack of old takeout menus? Nowadays, most people go on Yelp to look up reviews or go to the restaurant’s website to decide what to order. When considering what you no longer need, be honest with yourself. We all have things that take up space in our homes that we could almost surely live without, so take the time to sort through your belongings and remove the items that no longer serve you or meet your needs.
Figure out who can help you
Decluttering can feel overwhelming — especially for those who bought Winnetka real estate twenty years ago and have lived in the same space ever since. Things begin to pile up, and that’s natural. What isn’t, however, is feeling crowded in your own home. The good news is that you can rely on outside ideas and expertise. Consult the help of family and friends to sort through your belongings and get rid of what you don’t need. If it’s too much working with family, consider hiring outside help to offer a fresh perspective on your clutter and help motivate you to get moving!
Ask one simple question about everything in your home
Marie Kondo fans already know where this is going. “Does it bring you joy?” For those who aren’t aware of Marie Kondo, she is also a professional organizer that can help you declutter your home effectively and efficiently. She authored the best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and stars in the Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” Kondo helps home organizers make difficult decisions about what to keep and throw out with one simple question: does it spark joy? If something doesn’t bring you joy, this can indicate that it’s not something worth hanging onto. Learn more about Marie Kondo and the KonMari method here.
Give away one item each day
You can either do this for one room at a time or throughout your entire house. And while it may not sound like much, one item a day adds up quickly. Not only will you slowly start to clear out all of your junk in your Winnetka home, but you’ll also see first-hand the value of decluttering daily.
Keep all of your essential documents in one place
Where is your birth certificate right now? What about your passport? Can you find your pay stubs and tax returns without checking seven locations? You’ll need them once you start shopping for Highland Park homes for sale to get pre-qualified for a loan. These questions are why it’s so important to have all of your important documents in the same place. If you don’t have them all together, make it a priority to do so. It will help you remember where they are whenever you need to find them and allow you to consolidate your documents and discard anything that isn’t important or relevant anymore
Purge your closet
Most people have a stash of clothes in their closet they haven’t worn in months, if not years. We keep these things around either because it’s easier to do so or because we think there’s a chance we might want to wear them one day. But there’s a high likelihood the shirt you bought for a special occasion one year ago never sees the light of day again, so why keep it around? Take an hour or two to go through your closet and ditch anything you haven’t put on in the past six months, and once you do this, resist the urge to immediately go out and buy new clothes to fill the space. Relish the emptiness instead.
Find a space for everything
If you designate a space for everything in your Highland Park home, you eliminate the need for that spare room, closet, or drawer to accumulate junk items that you’re not sure you should keep. If it’s not significant enough to warrant its own designated space in the house, it’s probably not something you need to save. By the same token, if everything has a designated place, you know exactly where to find things when you need them and where to put them away when you’re done with them.
Clean out your pantry
When was the last time you went through your pantry? If it’s been a while, you’ve probably got a decent amount of expired food. Or maybe you have duplicate items because you can’t remember if you’re out or not when you go grocery shopping, so you buy some just in case. Sorting through your pantry will give you a chance to throw out anything expired or stale and pave the way to reorganize your favorite foods.
Create a clutter-free space
Homes will get dirty and cluttered over time — that’s just how life goes when you have a spouse, job, kids, pets, and extracurricular activities to juggle. While you may not be able to prevent your entire home from the occasional clutter accumulating, perhaps there’s one space you want to designate as special or sacred. Maybe it’s a corner of your bedroom or an area in the living room that always stays in pristine condition, allowing you to feel at ease when the rest of the house is in disarray.
Once you’ve got your things organized and ready to get serious about shopping for Highland Park homes for sale, reach out to Karen Stroble to start your homebuying journey. Karen knows the area intimately and the market for Winnetka homes for sale. Her experience and expertise will be invaluable as you go through buying your next home. Whenever you’re ready to start, Karen Stroble is here to help.
