Guest Post - The Fun Way to Declutter Your Home and Reduce Stress

A clutter-free home is a stress-free home. There is something rejuvenating about cleaning out full closets and junk drawers. Fortunately, you don’t have to be an expert to get that clean and organized home you’ve been desiring, and you can even have a good time throughout the process. Below, you will find some easy and fun methods to declutter and destress.

The Plan

The goal of decluttering and cleaning the entire home is admirable, but when it comes to execution, you need a solid game plan. Before you jump right in, take the time to make a list of all the areas in your home that need attention, and then rank them by priority. Don’t forget to also include spaces like the garage, attic, basement, and shed. Then, plan for what you will need. Some cleaning supplies you might consider are:

• Bins

• Trash bags

• Labels

• Boxes

• Vacuum/broom

• Duster

• Various cleaning solutions

For each space you’re tidying, you will want to start small and then go big. The little accomplishments will give you the encouragement to tackle bigger tasks. As you go from space to space, try to keep the following six steps in mind:

1. Empty

2. Clean

3. Sort

4. Remove

5. Sort Again

6. Reload

Making It Fun

Don’t plan to clean and organize until you drop. It will take some time to accomplish all you are setting out to do, and you don’t want to rush through the sorting phases. Take some time to enjoy going through memory lane with each item. For items that are gently used but are no longer needed, donate them to organizations you are passionate about.

Plan for little rewards as you complete a task. For example:

• For the bigger spaces that will take some time, reward yourself with dinner out, a nice walk in the park, or a movie.

• Consider a sweet treat for the cleaning and tidying you’re not looking forward to.

• Get your loved ones involved.

• Clean while rocking out to your favorite songs.

• Listen to an audiobook while you tidy.

The Art of Tidying

Decluttering does not mean becoming a minimalist, having bare rooms, and throwing away all your memories. The idea of tidying is to either donate or throw away what you don’t love or use and to keep and organize what you do love and use. Most of us are guilty of buying clothes we don’t wear and for letting that junk drawer pile up. Essentially, tidying resets your home and stops the cycle of accumulating unused and unloved items.

Stopping the Mess Before It Starts

Clutter begets clutter. If you let your belongings accumulate and disorganization take hold, it will only get worse the longer it remains undealt with. Once you declutter, work to establish a routine to keep the mess at bay. Make it a habit to put your clothes away right after you take them off, sort through your mail when you have the time, and throw away unneeded paper immediately. Also, donate any books you finish to your local library, and give away any clothes that you haven’t worn in a year. Furthermore, plan to spend about 20 minutes a day cleaning up.

You don’t have to be an expert organizer to have a tidy home. Establish a plan of action to achieve it room by room. Reward yourself when you accomplish little victories, and encourage yourself to keep going. Master the art of tidying just by purging what you don’t use and love, and keep yourself on track by tidying a little here and there every day. In no time, your home will become that stress-free oasis you desire.

Author Bio: Alice Robertson recently created Tidyhome as a place to share the great cleaning and organizing advice she has developed over the years. Alice loves helping others, and she knows having a clean, organized home can do wonders for stress and mental health.

Guest Post - Simple Ways to Achieve a Super Clean, Organized and Clutter-Free Bedroom

Clutter can make anybody anxious and stressed. It throws us off balance and doesn’t let us enjoy our living space the way we’re supposed to. So, keeping your home clutter-free is very important, which especially applies to your bedroom. It’s the space that’s supposed to relax you and lull you to sleep, but if it overwhelms you, you might have trouble falling and staying asleep. Here are some suggestions for keeping your bedroom tidy, organized and free of all that horrible clutter.

Go through your closet and drawers

One good place to start is sorting out your clothes. Once you start going through them, you’re likely to come across a whole bunch of things you haven’t worn in ages, and probably never will again. Plus, some of those things might not even fit you anymore, and having too many clothes to choose from can confuse you, so you often end up wearing the same few pieces over and over again.

So, make the best of the situation and pass the things you don’t wear along to your siblings, friends, or donate them to charity. The same applies to your shoes. If you have too many of them and you’ve only put some of them on once, on a special occasion, it may just be that you don’t really need them in your bedroom. That way you’ll have more free space in your closet and your drawers, which will make the whole room seem tidier.

Organize your clothes

When you’ve removed the clothes that you don’t need anymore from the equation, you should organize the ones that are left. This will allow you to get dressed quicker, which can give you that extra minute you need to compose your thoughts in the morning, before you go to work. All it takes is some matching, so that your short-sleeved shirts are together in one place, the long-sleeved ones in another, your trousers all in one pile, etc.

Choosing an outfit for work will come down to picking the color that reflects your feelings on any given day. Also, the clothes that are out of season can be put in a vacuum bag at the back of your closet, on top of it, or even underneath your bed, and you can put them back in their place when the seasons change again.

Be smart about furniture

There is a lot you can do in terms of keeping your bedroom clutter-free if you simply invest in the right furniture. For instance, you can now find quality beds for sale, with plenty of storage space underneath them. This means that you can find the perfect place for all those extra blankets and pillows you have, or you can even use that space to store your winter jackets throughout spring, summer and fall.

If there isn’t enough space in your closet for all your clothes, you can invest in a few clothes racks and some nice hangers, which you can put in one of the corners of your room. These are quite fashionable right now and can also give your bedroom a bit of an eclectic look. However, be aware that too much furniture can turn your room into a cluttered chaos as well, so only invest in the pieces you need, and make them count.

Keep your nightstand clear

A good nightstand can provide you with enough space to put away your smaller possessions, which would otherwise make your room seem messy. Choosing a nightstand with drawers means that you can put your belongings into those drawers, instead of piling them up on top of the nightstand itself. This is something that commonly happens in bedrooms with not enough furniture. Of course, there can be some things on your nightstand. After all, it’s the perfect spot for a lamp, a small jewelry box or even just a bowl for keeping your rings, earrings and watch safe, and maybe some tissues in case of nighttime sniffles. However, if your nightstand drawers haven’t got enough room for everything you want to put in them, you can install a floating shelf or two above your bed, and even put your bedside lamps up on the wall as well.

With a bit of creativity and good organizing skills, your bedroom can become an oasis of peace and calm. So, unclutter it and enjoy the clean and organized space you’re left with.

About the author: Mike Johnston is a lifestyle blogger and DIY enthusiast from Sydney. He’s a regular writer at Smooth Decorator and Divine Magazine. His articles can also be found on numerous family-friendly, real estate and green living blogs. Mike’s goal is to create and share meaningful content that helps and inspires people.

Guest Post - Tiny & Tidy: How to Make the Most of Your Small Space

We partnered with a home improvement company for this post. The opinions in the post are honest. All reviews and opinions expressed in this post are based on our personal views. We are excited because we know you will love it.

Small space living is all the rage, and why not? By confining yourself to a small square footage, you’re forced to limit your consumption, which means you save money, live an eco-friendlier life, and have a lot less cleaning to do. But, whether you live in a compact urban apartment, a tightly packed camper van, or a charming tiny house off the grid, adjusting to life in tight quarters can be a challenge if you’re used to wide open spaces. The solution is three-fold: Optimize, Organize, and Omit. Here are the specifics.

Optimize: Making Small Spaces Feel Big

• Choose Double-Duty Furniture – A coffee table or bed with built-in storage, a stool that also serves as a plant stand, a desk slash dining room table slash console table. All of these are examples of double-duty furniture that helps you make the most out of your small space. Because, let’s face it: When you’re working with a tiny footprint, there’s simply no room for luxuries like guest seating or a table to eat dinner. Addressing that head-on can improve your quality of life without overwhelming your small space.

• Make Use of “Dead” Space – Scan your environment. Are there spaces throughout the room that could be turned into storage space or otherwise usable areas? One of the best examples of transforming dead space into functional space is the loft bed. By hoisting your sleep sanctuary up high into the air—space that would otherwise sit unused and ignored—you’re opening up a whole bunch of floor area for other applications. The same goes for the space beneath your bed, the back of doors, and the underside of shelving, which could be fitted with hooks.

• Stick to Modern and Minimalist Décor – Bad news for diehard fans of Victorian and rococo furniture: Small space living is probably not for you. The reality is that ornamental or highly decorative furniture needs more room to breathe and tends to make small spaces feel crammed. On the other hand, simple, uncomplicated furniture pieces from the Scandinavian or modern movements feel like they take up less space, even if they actually don’t. When it comes to furniture, keep it simple.

Organize: Keeping Everything in Its Right Place

• Keep the Floor Clear – Having a cluttered floor doesn’t just create clutter, it also creates a hazardous environment where slipping and tripping are inevitable. Get things off the floor by bundling your cables and creating purpose-built storage for everything you own. Having well-thought-out storage throughout your space will help prevent you from being tempted to toss things on the ground when you’re done. You’ll be quite surprised to see how a clear floor space transforms the look and feel of the room. Most likely, it’ll translate into a clearer head for you and a more enjoyable living space to boot.

• Enhance Your Wall Storage – One great way to keep your main living area neat, clean, and well-organized is by moving things to the walls. Wall shelving, over-the-door hooks, and hanging organizers can help you optimize your space while making it feel extra organized. In the kitchen or office area, consider creating a fabric wall organizer with hook-and-loop tape that lets you hang all sorts of items up and out of the way without the commitment of hooks or permanent shelving. Try to take an essentialist approach: Anything you don’t need must go, or it will create stressful clutter in your space.

Omit: Simplifying Life, Simplifying Your Space

• Purge Like There’s No Tomorrow – Whether your approach is gentle, loving, and KonMari through and through or more rifle through everything you own and violently purge things you no longer use, there’s no wrong way to get rid of excess stuff. An easy way to shake up your purging protocol is to get into the mindset of constant elimination. Don’t just get rid of stuff once or twice a year during spring cleaning. Instead, think of the getting-rid-of process as an ongoing one that needs perpetual maintenance for success.

• Work on Depersonalizing What You Own – If you’re a person who tends to have emotional connections to physical objects or who gets sentimental from time to time when getting rid of things, try to learn how to depersonalize objects and let go of the guilt you may have around letting it go. For example, you probably have several items in your home that you’re hanging onto purely because someone gave them to you, not necessarily because you like them. Get through this guilt by donating the items so you know that someone else will get plenty of love and enjoyment from them.

• Go for a “Capsule” Wardrobe – Adjusting to small space life takes some reconditioning. Sure, you have to be constantly purging, but you also have to reframe the way you think about consumption. When you’re space-limited, of course, less is more. One of the best examples of minimalism as it pertains to stuff is the capsule wardrobe. These small, cleverly considered wardrobes contain only a few versatile essentials that you can mix and match to create a multitude of different looks, all while lessening clutter and consumption.

Enjoying the Small Space Way of Life

Knowing these handy tips will help you create a space that you enjoy, no matter how compact, challenging, or limited it may be. Those who live in tidy spaces are known to make healthier choices, have better relationships, and even demonstrate lower levels of stress and depression. In the end, all spaces are enjoyable when they make you feel happy, proud, or relaxed, so keep those goals in mind as you’re coming up with your small space strategy.

Author Bio: Halle Summers is a Marketing Coordinator for FASTENation Inc., a premier global manufacturer, technical converter, distributor, and designer of adhesive based fasteners and tapes. She has extensive knowledge of adhesives and fastener solutions, vendors, industry trends, and how they are used across various verticals. When she isn’t writing articles, she enjoys spending time in downtown Charleston, South Carolina and all the amazing food her hometown has to offer.

Guest Post - 4 Ways to Increase Indoor Storage Space on Your Property

Storage space is always a key factor to consider when you're in the process of organizing your home. However, most people have their belongings scattered about in an inefficient manner and aren't fully utilizing the storage capabilities of their property. When you consider the overall acreage that you have with the interior and exterior space combined, there are usually plenty of ways to further optimize your storage configuration. With that said, here are four ways to increase the indoor storage space on your property:

Construct an External Storage Building

If you have a significant amount of stuff that needs to be stowed away, it may be best to free up some of your indoor storage capacity by moving some items to an external structure. If you don't already have a shed, you could construct a steel building using one of the kits from Armstrong Steel. Their kits make it easy to assemble a large storage building in the same way you'd put together a piece of the furniture, with all the parts and instructions included.

Add a Storage Compartment Under the Stairs

If you have a staircase in your home, you could consider building an under stairs storage compartment to hold some items. There are plenty of DIY tutorials that will show you how to convert the space under your stairs into a storage closet. This also provides the additional benefit of increasing the amount of closely accessible storage within your home, as the stairs are probably frequently used and centrally located.

Organize and Compartmentalize Your Garage

If you have a garage, you're already one step ahead in the battle to free up more storage space inside your home. Assess the available square footage and consider building wall-mounted cabinets or closets in your garage to add organized storage space without sacrificing the space where your vehicle would normally be parked. If you're like most homeowners, chances are your garage may already be packed with stuff, so organizing the existing clutter might be your first challenge in making room for other items while practicing optimal space-efficiency.

Use Stackable Storage Containers

Just like cities are having to build upwards to accommodate population growth, you may also have to do some vertical stacking to get a better grip on your indoor storage situation. If you're struggling to find spots in your cabinets and closets, it might be time to get some stackable containers. This will not only keep everything neatly contained, it will also help you find what you're looking for faster because each stacked drawer can be labelled to indicate its contents.  

Consider the Use of Packing Cubes

Finally, as an extra tip, if you have an abundance of clothing and small items that can be compressed, you might want to look into compression packing cubes for stowing away some of your out-of-season clothes. For example, if it’s summer time you could compress all of your winter clothes into packing cubes so they're not taking up rack space in your closet. Ultimately, with the simple techniques in this guide, you should be able to get a handle on your indoor storage predicament within the course of a single weekend.

Author Bio: Emily Roberts is a young aspirational writer who spends as much of her free time as possible on the web. When she's not writing, she's reading. She's always trying to learn and digest new information so that she can stay on top of whatever stories she wishes to write about.