6 things I do to stop clutter from entering my home

Jun 29

If you stop clutter from entering your home, then you don’t have to spend your time getting rid of it. Whether I am shopping or being offered free items from someone, I really stop and think about whether or not it will make it through my doors. With lots of thought and intention, I work really hard to stop the clutter before it starts.

As a professional organizer, I help lots of clients who are overwhelmed with clutter in their homes. Often times, they have lots of items that they took but didn’t know what to do with them. I have a big rule in my house about getting rid of things. The moment that we know we are ready to get rid of something, we immediately bring it to the garage. It’s on the way out as fast as possible which really helps clutter from accumulating.

You can declutter these things if you have them in your home. If you play close attention, you can also prevent them from being in your home as well!

✅ Shoe boxes
🛑 When we buy shoes, I ask if we can leave the shoe boxes with the store. They’ve never said no. You won’t find any shoe boxes in our home. If they come in the mail, the boxes go straight to our recycling bin.

✅ Papers & Packets
🛑 I’ve unsubscribed from all paper mail so most of those items don’t come our way. If someone hands me a hard copy of something, I check to see if it’s online or I take a screenshot of it. I know that I won’t save most papers so I try not to take them if I can.

✅ Freebies
🛑 Free things are great, but we often don’t need them. I have a rule that I never take anything that a client offers me. I don’t take freebies because I have what I need. We have plenty of pencils, pens, water bottles, candles, bags, etc. If I know that it will not last in my home, I don’t take it from the start.

✅ Hand me downs
🛑 Family and friends love to give away their items to someone that they know. But when they turn to me, I often say no thanks. This is a hard one especially with sentimental items. I don’t want to carry the guilt of giving it away so I’ve found it much easier to say I’ll pass from the start.

✅ Unwanted food
🛑 Do you ever take food because someone insists but you know that you’ll never eat it? Not me. I used to feel bad so I accepted it. I felt worse when it went bad and I threw it away. Now, I only take food that I know that my family will eat.

✅ Returns
🛑Hear me out. These come in but they go right back out. As soon as I know that something needs to be returned, it goes in an assigned spot on a shelf in my garage. This way, I’m more likely to return it quickly and it’s not adding clutter inside my home.

Follow @sidebysidedesigntexas for more tips on having an organized home.

Xo,
Side By Side Design Texas
Houston home organizer