How To Declutter Duplicates
Our homes are overflowing with duplicate items. It’s all fueled by the thought that if one is good, then more must be great. But in reality, it’s not. Select any number of items, multiply them by two, and you’ve got twice the amount of stuff. While duplicates of one item may seem harmless, consider for a moment what multiple duplicates will do for a single filing cabinet, closet, or room. That’s a lot of extra stuff to deal with daily, isn’t it?
To start decluttering duplicates, the first thing to do is be as realistic as possible about your needs. How many spatulas do you use at a time? One. And how many pairs of black socks can one actually need? Probably not as many as you currently have. But of course, some duplicates serve a purpose, and the size of your family will determine the right amount of each item to keep. The idea here is to open your mind to thinking about places where you collect too much. Here’s how you can start decluttering those:
Locate your useless duplicates
Think about areas in your home that may be overrun with duplicates. Good candidates for eliminating duplicates include sheets, towels, cleaning supplies, gardening tools, home office supplies, toys, books, and kitchen accessories. Here’s a list that will help you pinpoint duplicates more easily:
- Kitchen Utensils: spatulas, whisks, spoons, rolling pins, mugs, peelers, measuring cups, storage containers
- Kitchen Accessories: items that do the same thing, such as rice cookers, slow cookers, and instapots
- Drawers: pens, pencils, notepads, bag clips, take-out menus, rubber bands, scissors
- Closets: purses, shoes, jackets, t-shirts, scarves, hats, sandals, flip-flops, heels, boots, sneakers
- Linens: sheets, blankets, bath and hand towels, beach towels, washcloths
- Children’s Toys: puzzles, balls, sets of blocks, books, dolls, puppets, stuffed toys
- Hobby Materials: tools, paints, sticks, brushes, fabrics
- Sports Equipment: boards, skates, shoes, boots, balls, sticks, bats
Be honest about whether or not one is enough
Many factors play into how many items you should keep, especially those related to your family’s needs and dynamics. Some people keep only one set of sheets per bed. They wash and dry and return to the bed on laundry day. While that’s feasible for some families, it is absolutely impossible for others.
So, as we already mentioned, it is extremely important that you understand your reality before decluttering. To make things easier, you can begin by decluttering more personal items, such as clothes and accessories, and then slowly start dealing with areas/objects that concern the whole family. Just keep in mind that, the less stuff you own, the easier it is to keep things in order.
Do you feel like you’re living under the burden of clutter? Do you trip over things, can’t find what you need, and end up wasting money all because you have too much clutter in your home? One of the easiest things you can do to make quick progress is to think about duplicates. However, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or can’t find the time to begin the process, it’s probably better to hire a professional service to assist you. At CluttlerBGone, we offer you a free telephone consultation so that you can tell us all about your goals for a clean and comfortable environment. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today!