- It is easy to cuumulate so much clutter in your home due to busy schedules and limited space
- Having an organised space can improve your mood and productivity
- Here is how to declutter and maintain an organised home
Life in Nigeria can be fast-paced and stressful, with daily schedules packed with work, family, and navigating the hustle and bustle. With all these responsibilities, it’s easy for homes to become cluttered and disorganised.
However, a clutter-free home can bring a sense of calm and make your space more functional. Here are simple steps to organise and declutter your home.
1. Start small: focus on one area at a time
Tackling your entire house in one day can be overwhelming. Start with one room, or even one corner, and take it step by step. For instance, you can begin with the kitchen or a section of your living room and declutter surfaces first. When you focus on one small area at a time, it’s less stressful and more manageable.
2. Sort and separate: create categories
Decluttering is about making decisions on what stays and what goes. To make it easier, categorise items into four groups: keep, donate, sell, and discard.
Keep: These are essential items or things that have sentimental value or regular use.
Donate: Consider giving away items you haven’t used in a long time that could benefit someone else.
Sell: Some things are still valuable but no longer serve you, sell them on platforms like Jiji or declutter accounts on Instagram.
Discard: Broken items or things beyond repair should be thrown away.
For example, if you’re organising your wardrobe, keep clothes you wear often, donate those you haven’t worn in over a year, sell any still valuable pieces, and trash old or damaged clothes.
3. Use what you have
You don’t need to spend money on expensive organisers. Repurpose old baskets, plastic bins, and even shoeboxes to create storage solutions. For example, old paint buckets can be cleaned and used to store toys or household cleaning products. You can also stack unused baskets to save space and keep items organised.
In Nigerian homes, a common clutter problem is papers, old bills, school notes, and receipts. You can use simple file organisers or repurpose folders to store important documents neatly.
4. Declutter high-traffic areas: Living room and kitchen
The living room and kitchen are high-traffic areas in most homes. Start by decluttering surfaces like the table, TV stand, and kitchen countertops. Remove items that don’t belong there like old magazines, keys, or random items, and return them to the right spots. Store kitchen utensils and groceries in cabinets, and use baskets to group similar items.
For a more organised kitchen, categorise your pantry items. Use containers for foodstuffs like rice, beans, or garri, and label them. This makes it easier to find things and keeps your kitchen tidy.
5. Limit sentimental items
People tend to hold onto sentimental items, like gifts, old clothes, or even old school notes, thinking they may need them later. While it’s important to preserve memories, limit the number of sentimental items you keep. Consider setting aside one box for memorabilia. Keep only what truly holds meaning, and let go of the rest.
6. Tidy up daily
Decluttering isn’t a one-time event, it’s a lifestyle. Commit to tidying up for just 15 minutes every day. This could mean washing dishes right after meals, putting things back where they belong, or folding clothes at night. By doing a little each day, you’ll prevent clutter from building up over time.
7. Create a declutter-friendly mindset
Sometimes, we hold on to items because we feel guilty about getting rid of them, even if they no longer serve a purpose. Changing your mindset is key to staying decluttered. Ask yourself: Does this item add value to my life? Do I really need it? If not, it’s okay to let it go. This shift in thinking helps create a home that only has what you truly need and use.
8. Get your family involved
It’s important to get everyone in the household involved in keeping things organised. Make decluttering a team effort, assigning tasks to each person, including children. You can make it fun by setting a timer and seeing who can declutter the most in a short time. This way, the responsibility doesn’t fall on one person, and the home stays tidy longer.
9. Use digital alternatives
Papers tend to pile up easily in Nigerian homes, especially with children’s school work, utility bills, and receipts. Switch to digital storage where possible. Scan important documents, receipts, and certificates and store them on your phone or computer. Most service providers offer digital bills now, reducing the need to keep paper copies.
10. Have a place for everything
A key aspect of keeping a home organised is ensuring that everything has its place. Designate spots for commonly used items like keys, bags, or shoes. For example, have a small basket near the entrance for keys or hang hooks for bags and jackets. This helps prevent clutter from building up in high-traffic areas.
10 habits of people who always have clean homes
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported about the habits of people who have clean homes.
People who have clean homes have developed the habit of making their beds everyday, putting their clothes away appropriately, cleaning their kitchen every night and tackling their laundry every day.