Clutter is the everyday things we live with that we do not use, do not like which take up space in our cupboards and our life.  Here are a few examples of things we pile up but never use – ring any bells?

• magazines, even though we might only be saving them for one recipe
• Free CDs and DVDs from newspapers
• Spares ‘just in case’ – remote controls, old TVs, mobile phones, plugs cut off old unwanted electrical equipment
• Instruction books for equipment we now longer have
• Old bills we just stuff away into files and keep for years
• Children’s toys that they no longer play with but because a special person has bought them, it feels unkind to give them away
• Clothes we no longer fit into – nor probably ever will
• ‘Useful’ gifts/impulse buys like sandwich toasters, glasses, yogurt makers that we don’t use but think we ‘might’ one day so hang onto
• Ornaments that are dreadful but gifts from family
• Photographs – how many angles of that pier do you really need to keep … if any?
• Old bedding and towels  (you buy new ones but keep the old ones for dust-sheets)
• Books – you might keep your favourites, but what about all those you have read once and will never read again?
•  Kids artwork… do you need to keep EVERYTHING they bring home with pieces of pasta stuck on it
• Food you bought BOGOF and now linger in the back of your cupboard a year out of date
•  Old medicines
• Old out of date make up (it collects bacteria after 6 months)
• Exercise equipment that you only use as a wardrobe extension.

Things you have but never use literally collect dust and cause you to have to clean more.

Clothes hanging in your wardrobe that you don’t fit into remind you that you’re a diet failure.  Far better to fill your wardrobes with things that DO fit you – keep one or two pieces if you must to keep trying on and measure your dieting success – but come on, three quarters of your wardrobe?  All those lovely clothes and YOU CAN’T FIT IT ANY??  More likely to make you feel full of despair than to encourage you.

If clutter is everywhere, it’s depressing and overwhelming and a danger if you’re likely to trip over it.  You are more likely to welcome people into your house if it is clutter-free.

It also wastes your energy as you have to hunt for things amongst your clutter.

It is depressing and oppressive to have your space filled with things you don’t really want.

The physical act of clutter clearing revitalizes, gets the heart pumping and – let’s face it – there’s nothing more satisfying that seeing a house get clean and organized.

Expense -  in cluttered homes, people often can’t locate what they are looking for or forget they had it and buy a duplicate.

One small project at a time – aim to clear out a drawer or a cupboard rather than a whole room.

Have a house full of things that you use and like to look at ONLY.  If you don’t use it or appreciate it – get shut.

Strip out the recipes from those magazines and stick them straight into a book – don’t keep the whole mag.  But ask yourself – do you really want that recipe anyway?  Will you ever cook it or were you just hungry when you saw it?

Bag stuff up and give it to charity.  Or sell it on a car boot sale

Places like hospices are always looking for books and bric-a-brac to sell

Look at Freecycle.  Advertise the stuff you don’t want and let someone else use it.

If it’s valuable and you don’t want to give it away – sell it on ebay (trust me - I do it, and if I can do it, it's easy!)

You don’t need to be minimalist.  If you have collections, for instance, have a devoted space for it, just don’t let it sprawl all over the house

Bereavement – ‘things’ are emotional props and the bereaved often don’t want to move on.  They feel disloyal getting rid of things which belonged to loved people.   It is far better to go through the stuff early and deal with the memories than it is to do years later.  Emotions really bind possessions to us.

Empty nesters – is your bedroom a shrine to your 10 year son (who is now 35) though you are struggling for space?  Let your house serve the purpose you need it for NOW not 25 years ago.

Try to handle paperwork no more than once.  Open it, deal with it then get rid of it or file it away.  Make a point of going through your paperwork every few months to get rid of outdated bills.

If you haven’t time to read magazines you subscribe to – stop them.  Read newspapers on the day you get them and then chuck them.

If you buy a table to put your keys ONLY on so you don’t lose them, remember to use that table for the purpose for which you bought it. 

If you are a bit scared, put your ‘clutter’ in a bag and label it for 6 months time (or a year for seasonal stuff)   Then have a look at it on that date.  If you haven’t used it – get rid.

If you are clearing out a whole room.  Get a few boxes – label them, bathroom, bedroom etc.  Then put your clutter in the relevant boxes if it needs moving to those rooms.

Have a SAFE PLACE box – then when you have to put something in a SAFE PLACE – it can only be in one location

Keep things near to where they are needed.  Keep relevant things together and labeled – especially if you have a tangle of different mobile phone plugs.