Decluttering Your Home | Great Peace Living

3 Shares

As the year gets under way it’s a great time to refresh your home, and declutter all those areas that become drop zones for all the stuff that accumulates in our lives. Decluttering can be difficult for any homemaker. But, without the entire family helping to keep the home decluttered you’ll quickly find all your surfaces cluttered once again. Discover some ways to get your family on board with decluttering your home and make this year the year to create an organized home that’s both beautiful and functional to live in.

How to Get Your Family On Board with Decluttering Your Home | Renee at Great Peace #homemaking #decluttering #organization #family

The feeling of a cluttered home can become a nightmare.It caused disorganization. Any household chores system you might have in place can fall by the wayside when clutter prevalent everywhere you look.

And, winter time can be especially full of clutter around the house. That’s because with the colder temperatures everyone tends to huddle inside more than at other times of the year. But, you can take charge of the clutter in your home by getting your family acclimated to thoughtfully helping out when they see something amiss.

This post contains affiliate advertisement links.

5 Ways to Get Your Family On Board with Decluttering Your Home

Explain the Reasons Why Decluttering Your home is Necessary

Making demands is never a good idea. But, explaining to your husband and children why you need their help can go a long way in motivating them to actually help.

Teach your children the importance of hospitality. Explain that in order to truly be hospitable you need to be ready and able to open your home to others as the need arises. This may mean hosting friends or family travelers who are passing through, or inviting a widow or family home after worship on Sundays.

But, everyone will feel less willing to be hospitable if there is clutter everywhere you look.

Explain to your children that you wish to have an inviting home that they can invite their friends to more often, and that there will be more time for fun activities when everyone keeps on top of the cleaning duties. Remind them that decluttering old items leaves more room for new ones.

Also, remind them how frustrating it can be when they are looking for something and they can’t find it. Explain that by decluttering they will be more likely to find what they need when they need it. And, don’t forget, decluttering your home of the the old makes room for the new.

Break Down the Task into Manageable Parts

Who says decluttering has to happen all in one day? Instead of tackling the entire house on one Saturday, break it down into areas. Maybe tackle the main living space one Saturday, and the bedrooms on another. Save the basement and garage for days when it’s a bit warmer.

Managing to declutter each area of the home over time keeps everyone from burning out all at once. And, it will help you to develop a cycle of organization and decluttering.

The Whole Family Must Be Involved

It does no good for only one person to have a decluttering, organized, mindset. Everyone in the family can learn the importance of a place for everything. Even the youngest of children can learn to pick up their toys and place them in a basket.

Frequent, repetition teaches toddlers and teens alike the art of organizing as you go, rather than waiting until it’s too overwhelming to deal with.

Unless you have a newborn, you really can teach everyone in the family how to get on board with decluttering and staying organized.

But, if you’ve got very little ones, or even children with special needs, maybe see if a friend, or grandma can keep the youngest ones for the day while the rest of the family gets to work on your decluttering project.

Stay Positive

No one is going to want to get it done if you make the project a struggle. You set the tone. Encourage everyone with a positive attitude and perhaps even some fantastic breakfast and lunch treats to help them stay energized and motivated throughout the day.

Once the big decluttering project is done. Stay positive all year long as you remind others to put away various things, and you set the example by maintaining areas that are most-often seen.

Who Doesn’t Love a Reward?

Everyone loves a reward! And, when your family has worked hard, together, as a team you certainly can and should reward their diligence. Tell them up front if they work well you’ll reward them with a trip out to get ice cream, or with a new family board game, or maybe ordering everyone’s favorite pizza.

It doesn’t really matter what you reward them with, what matters is that you motivated them to do a good job, and you reward them when they’ve completed the job that’s well done.

Decluttering your home is a necessity from time to time in any home. At least once a year, set a goal to declutter the hidden areas of your home. Make it a monthly goal to declutter the main living areas, and perhaps quarterly you can declutter bedrooms and bathrooms. With a bit of enthusiasm and a positive attitude, you can motivate your family to get on board with decluttering throughout the year.