A recent study showed that 82% of Americans are overwhelmed by hobby clutter alone. So, it’s no wonder some of us are feeling stressed out at the very thought of straightening up our apartment.
If you’re too busy, too creative, or just too overwhelmed for tidying up, decluttering your apartment can seem like an impossible task. But if you take an organized approach and know what you’re doing, it can be an easy and oh-so-rewarding thing to do.
This guide dives into 5 secrets from the pros on how to de-clutter your apartment in just two weeks.
We’ll also reveal how SelfStorage.com can help you use self-storage to reduce your expenses and declutter your home.
Identify What is Actually Clutter
Before you start organizing any room, you have to ask yourself a key question. Is my apartment full of clutter, or are things just out of place?
To know the answer to this question, you first have to answer the question of what clutter is.
What is clutter?
Dictionary.com defines clutter as “a disorderly heap or assemblage; litter.”
For example, is your junk drawer just an unorganized assemblage of things you use? Maybe it just needs a little organizational spring refresh. But if the contents of your junk drawer are a combination of things you never use and actual trash, you need more than just a little bit of spring cleaning.
Now that we know what clutter is, it’s time to ask ourselves…
What is decluttering?
Decluttering means going through your belongings and using the Core 4 Method. Everything you own gets put into one of these categories: sell/donate, throw away, keep it where it is, or relocate into dedicated spaces.
To start the decluttering process, take a picture of a messy area and analyze it.
Is that a pile of old magazines, or are those books that you can organize on a bookshelf? Is that a stack of old, expired coupons, or are those important papers that you need to file away? That notebook on your coffee table…are you ever going to use it?
Once you’ve analyzed your stuff, go room by room, pile by pile. Determine what you can organize, what you can trash, and what you can donate. Reuse and recycle as much as possible, but don’t let things pile up simply because you don’t know what to do with them.
Let Things Go
If you want to live clutter-free, you’re going to have to learn how to get rid of things. “Things” can easily take over your life and your space if you don’t know how to part with them.
The laundry basket is full of clothes that no longer fit you. The birthday cards your friends gave you last year. The random papers that have been collected in a pile on your coffee table. Do you need those things? The answer is probably no.
Don’t allow yourself to get attached to meaningless things. Chances are, your elderly aunt isn’t going to stop by to make sure you kept the card she gave you last Christmas.
Keep things that are sentimental, but don’t be afraid to trash what’s not. Grab a trash bag or two and work on one pile at a time. Create a trash bag and a “keep” bag. You can worry about organizing your “keep” bag later.
Get Rid of Things Before You Hit the Container Store
Don’t stock up on storage containers until you know how much stuff you have to contain. There’s no need to buy storage boxes to organize books that you don’t plan on keeping, for example.
If you know what you need to organize, you’ll know how many storage bins you need to buy. Otherwise, you’ll end up with extra storage bins that will become more unnecessary clutter!
Figure out an apartment organization system that works for your specific apartment. Do you have lots of papers that need filing? Magazine file boxes that stand upright on a bookshelf may be your solution.
Do you have bulky items or an excessive amount of shoes that you’re not ready to get rid of? An under-bed storage box might be the thing you need. Think about what you need to organize and where you can put it before you ever go shopping for a storage bin.
Focus On One Room at a Time
It’s natural to want to clean your entire apartment in one afternoon. But if you have lots to organize, you’re only setting yourself up for disappointment.
Make a plan and focus on completing one room at a time. When you tackle one room at a time, you’ll get to enjoy real results.
Rate the priority of which room you should organize first. We often recommend starting with the living room, as it’s usually the easiest room to de-clutter.
When you’re done in the dining room, step back, take a good look, and enjoy the work you’ve done! This should only inspire you to move on to the next room.
Here are some organization tips for a room-by-room declutter plan:
- Living Room: Clear coffee tables of visual clutter, use storage ottomans for extra blankets, and organize remote controls in designated spots with storage containers or hanging organizers.
- Bedrooms: Apply the Three Containers method (keep, donate, trash), use bed risers to maximize the storage space under your bed, and install wall-mounted shelves or hanging closets to maximize closet space.
- Closet Organization: Use clothes racks, shoe racks, and shoe holders to maximize vertical space, replace bulky hangers with slim ones, and consider installing storage systems for professional organizer-level results.
- Bathroom: Check your medicine cabinet for expired items, use storage bins under sinks for cleaning supplies and toilet paper, and install hanging organizers on closet doors for small space organization.
- Kitchen Organization: Eliminate junk drawer chaos, use stackable shelves and storage boxes for pantry items, and create a vertical storage system for paper towels and cleaning supplies in designated spots.
- Dining Room: Keep surfaces clear to reduce their effects on your mental weight, and give away some of your indoor plants.
- Home Office: Implement digital organization with automation tools, cloud storage, and smartphone apps to reduce paper clutter and use ad blockers to save digital space and lessen your mental load. Use file folders and labeling for papers.
- Entryway: Use wall-mounted shelves and hanging organizers, keep seasonal gear in storage containers, and move mail to a designated spot for processing
- Storage Areas: Break large decluttering processes into smaller segments, use the Core 4 Method (donate/sell, trash, relocate, or keep) for systematic organization, consider furniture options like storage ottomans that serve a dual purpose.
Pro tip: Sell quality items on Facebook Marketplace, thrift stores, at flea markets, or consignment stores.
Tackling one room at a time can help relieve some of the stress of a full apartment cleanout. It also makes it easy to enjoy the progress you’ve made so far.
Maintain a Routine
The easiest way to keep your apartment clutter-free is to create a cleaning schedule and stick to it. To avoid having to do a major de-clutter again, put things away and throw things out on a regular basis. Once everything is in its place, keep it in its place, and you’ll live a less stressful life!
To make a routine, set aside 30 minutes every Saturday or Sunday to throw out junk mail and dust your cabinets.
Make a point to put away your laundry and trash those uneaten leftovers in the fridge. Look for things that are in spaces where they don’t belong. Decide right then and there if you’re going to dispose of them or organize them in a way that makes sense. Before you know it, tidying up your apartment every weekend will become more of a habit and less of a chore.
Everyone has to deal with clutter at some point, but no one ever wants to spend an entire weekend doing so. Do yourself a favor by de-cluttering on a weekly basis.
Don’t be afraid to throw things out. Have a place for everything and keep everything organized in its place. Set aside a specific time every week to organize your apartment until it becomes part of your regular routine.
Here are some clutter maintenance strategies you can follow on a regular basis:
- Two-minute task rule. If something takes less than two minutes to complete, tackle it right away instead of letting it pile up. Put your jacket in the closet instead of tossing it on a chair, make your bed each morning, and immediately sort through mail to throw out what you don’t need.
- Place frequently used items at eye level. Position the things you reach for most often where you can easily see and grab them. Keep your keys in a visible spot near the door, hang everyday jackets at eye level, and store commonly used items in accessible locations.
- Use smart storage strategies. Put seasonal or rarely used items in clearly labeled storage containers and bins. Move the seasonal bins to your storage unit and take them from your apartment. Group together similar items such as holiday decorations, extra linens, or sports equipment, and make sure your labels are easy to read so you can find what you need quickly.
- Follow the one in, one out rule. When you bring something new into your apartment, get rid of the item it’s replacing. Bought a new winter jacket? Sell or donate one of your old winter jackets right away instead of letting it take up storage space.
- Get everyone involved in declutter maintenance. Once you’ve established your cleaning routine, make sure all household members understand the system. Assign specific tasks to each person and create a simple schedule that keeps everyone accountable for maintaining your newly organized space.
- Keep the KonMari method in mind. Marie Kondo created the KonMari method, which encourages keeping items that spark joy. Only purchase and add items to your home that you’ll feel appreciative, grateful, and joyful about using often.
- Utilize off-site storage units. If you’ve gotten rid of everything you no longer use and the apartment still feels like a small and cramped living space, an extra storage unit can help you spread out without losing track of the things you love. You can utilize short-term storage for seasonal items and long-term storage for collectibles, hunting gear, tools, sports equipment, and anything else you don’t need every day but still want close by.
How SelfStorage.com Can Help Declutter Your Apartment
Now you know how to declutter your apartment in no time, using the room-by-room method, the Three Containers Method, and the Core 4 Method.
With these professional organizer tips in hand, you can declutter your apartment in a low-stress, manageable process.
Adding a self-storage solution to the mix allows you to rotate through seasonal clothing, decorations, and sports gear like ski, rock climbing, or hiking and camping gear while keeping your apartment clutter-free.
Here are a few ways to make a storage unit work for you:
- Pack away off-season clothes, decorations, or sports gear. Bring them back when they’re in season, keeping your apartment free for what you need now.
- Got a few pieces of furniture or keepsakes that just don’t fit right now? Store them safely and bring them out when you’ve got more space to play with.
- Store items in stackable bins and label each one so you can grab what you need without turning everything upside down.
That said, not all storage units are created equal. You’ll probably want climate control, for example, so your winter clothes don’t sit in humidity until it’s time for your seasonal wardrobe change.
We also suggest looking for a storage unit size that offers enough space, so you’re not paying for the extra square footage you won’t use.
But how do you find a storage unit that has exactly what you need and is also close to your house?
Don’t fret, we’re here to help. Just punch your zip code into our Signature SelfStorage.com Search Tool to search for storage units in your area based on parameters you set using our special amenity filter.
And guess what? Our SelfStorage.com storage unit locator service is totally free– no credit card required!
Decluttering your apartment can be stressful, but finding extra space doesn’t have to be. Whether you need temporary storage between moves or just a little more room to organize your belongings, Self Storage makes it easy to compare units and find the perfect fit at the best price.
Don’t let an unorganized room stress you out, take over your apartment, or take over your life. Take these tips from the pros to heart and you’ll be on your way to enjoying a life that’s clutter-free!
