Human beings are hoarders by nature and over the course of a lifetime it’s easy to acquire more things than your home can accommodate.

It would be nice to actually have space to park your car in the garage. How pleasant it would be if you were able to use the spare bedroom as a home office or living space instead of as a dumping ground for all the goods that have nowhere else to go.

Decluttering a home can be a big job. Trying to declutter a whole house and garage at once is nearly impossible so give yourself time. Tackle one room at a time and work in a systematic way. Here are some ideas to help.

When considering items ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I need this?
• Do I love it?
• Are two or more of these necessary?
• When did I use it last?
• Does it have value, either monetary or sentimental?
  

Once you have answered these questions it’s time to divide items into boxes or label them. These should be marked as follows:

• Junk – this is everything that should be thrown into your household bin.
• Charity – charity shops need donations. Have a look at the shops in your area and see what goods they take.
• Recycle – glass, cans, paper and old clothes can be brought to recycling centres. This saves on household waste and is better for the environment.
• Freecycle – nobody likes to throw away perfectly good items so consider finding a local freecycling group on the internet. If you no longer have use for a baby’s crib or a chest freezer chances are somebody will give it a home.
• Self-storage – this is a clever and cost-effect way to store all the things you need especially seasonal items such as sports gear or camping equipment.

Decluttering ideas to consider:

 Clothes:

Modern houses never seem to have enough wardrobe space. This means it can be difficult to locate items or that clothes get damaged. Many of us have a tendency to stockpile clothes particularly if they are still in good condition. Clean out your wardrobes and drawers of all the items you no longer wear. Charity shops accept old clothes and there are clothes recycling centres in most towns. However, here are some other ideas you could try:

• Have a swap party with friends. This is particularly good for items that no longer fit and for occasion dresses and outfits that you are unlikely to wear again.
• Sell your old clothes to second-hand boutiques or on a bidding site such as eBay.
• Heavy winter coats, ski suits and hatboxes take up a lot of space. These are generally expensive but are items we only use seasonally or infrequently. Consider a small self-storage unit for these clothes. When you need them they are easily accessible but not taking up valuable cupboard space.

Gifts and Memorabilia:

No-one wants to throw away a present from a friend or items of sentimentalal value. However, these items can take up a lot of space in your home. Consider these ideas:

• Go through boxes of old photos. Chose your favourites and put them into a photo album or frames.
  
• Create scrapbooks for memorabilia such as letters and children’s drawings.
  
• Gifts that have been stored in a spare room or in the attic are not likely to be missed by whoever gave you an item. Give them away or send them to a charity shop.
  
• Consider self-storage for items that you can’t bear to throw away.
  

Appliances and Furniture:

There is no point in keeping broken appliances. If you’ve been promising yourself to fix your old toaster but haven’t got around to it a year later then the chances are you never will. The same goes for old furniture that needs to be fixed or re-upholstered. Generally these items end up in the garage, gathering dust. Fix them or get rid of them. However, if you have perfectly good furniture and appliances that you don’t use, consider these tips:

• Working appliances can be swapped or given away over the internet.  
• Smaller electrical and electronic items can be sold on bidding sites such as eBay.
• Young couples moving into a first home often need furniture. Try placing an ad on the internet or in a magazine such as Buy and Sell or try eBay.
•  Furniture that you are keeping for children or items that no longer fit in the home, such as a piano, should be put into self-storage.

Collectors’ Items:

Books, CDs, DVDs, china figures, antiques, paintings, dolls and vintage clothing are just some of the items people collect. However, if your home no longer has room for your collection, here are some ideas to try:

• Furniture, such as coffee tables or beds that have drawers increase the available storage in your home.
  
• Put your most treasured items on display in a display cases or shelves. Don’t try and cram too many items into display cases as this looks untidy.
  
• Swap or sell items that do not fit into your overall collection. If you have an item you would never consider putting on display it’s time to get rid of it.
  
• Rotate your display and put extraneous items into self-storage. When you wish to change the display, swap your current collection for the items in storage.

Other Decluttering Ideas:

• Stackable containers are particularly handy as they take up less space.
• Choose see-through containers to help you locate things easily.
• Papers, records and documents should be correctly filed. Should your home or home office not have enough space for a suitable filing cabinet, consider putting a filing cabinet with all these papers into a small self-storage unit.
• Use baskets or boxes to keep small items together.
• Recycle regularly. If you make a point of going to the recycle centre once a week, recyclable goods won’t clog up your home.
• Remember the old maxim – a place for everything, and everything in its place.
• If you ca't make a decision put it in self storage and see how you mange without it.