fueled by emotions , go back through the “ keep ” pile . Look at each item carefully and ask yourself the decluttering questions in the section below .
6 . Remove the items you find you no longer need after asking these questions .
7 . Gather the items that you have decided to keep . If you cannot decide where in your home an item will go , reconsider keeping it . Any items that don ’ t have a “ home ” are always going to cause clutter .
8 . Finally , look at the furniture in the room . Is it in good shape ? Is it being used ? Does it have a purpose ? Do you find it beautiful ? Furniture can be a huge source of clutter . Remove any unused furniture and give it away or sell it .
9 . Take a step back and look at your fully cleaned and refreshed room . Be proud of what you have accomplished !
Once you have cleaned out a room , you can move on to the next one on your list . But keep in mind that once you finish the entire cycle of rooms , you should probably start over and go through them again . You can repeat the decluttering cycle until you are happy with the amount of possessions you have left , no matter how many cycles it takes to get to that point .
Extra Tips for Room-by-Room Decluttering
• If you don ’ t have enough space in the room you ’ re working on to place everything on the floor , designate another room in your house to be the “ decluttering zone .”
• When decluttering kids ’ rooms , get them involved . They need to learn to make decisions about what they keep in their space , and they need to learn the cost of keeping too many material possessions .
• When decluttering clothing , be careful to keep only what is actually used . Keep a few extra things for children , since they tend to play hard in their clothes . Don ’ t keep clothing for yourself that is too big or too small or that is for someday when you ... ( fill in the blank ).
• Try to limit possessions if possible . If you have one item that can do the job of two different items , get rid of the other item . ( Do you need a toaster oven and an air fryer ? Or does the toaster oven have an air fryer setting that will work instead of having to keep both items ?) Try to condense what you keep .
• Focus on what you need and what you use . Do you need four sets of bath towels ? Probably not , unless you rarely do laundry . A towel or two for each person works perfectly . Try to get out of excess thinking and think simplicity in ownership .
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