Clearing out the clutter can have a multitude of benefits for yourself and your family and is well worth taking some time over.  Aside from the obvious ones such as making a few pennies selling items off, or having a clearer, potentially more relaxing space to live in, there are other less immediately obvious options which open up to you by decluttering.  

1. House swapping – when I started this blog I signed up to a house swapping website as I really like the idea of being able to go away at peak times of year (i.e. school holidays) and not having to pay a penny for accommodation.  Having a clutter free home makes your home more attractive to other house swappers and gives you comfort that things are in good working order and are easy to reach and find in your cupboards when you are not there.  This may help to reduce the likelihood of potential breakages / injuries.

2. Rent out your garage – depending upon the location of your garage you may find that you could make a bit of money renting it out.  If your garage is full of stuff though, that isn’t really an option.  Our garage is full of stuff, but I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head what most of the things are which are in it.  This tells me pretty quickly that I never use it and if I never use it, why am I storing it?  There are a few items in there which are used regularly, but it would be cheaper to build a garden shed to store those things and I could potentially make an income renting out my garage.

3. Get in a lodger – if you have a room that is full up of junk or even a room that isn’t, but is only used rarely, by decluttering those spaces you could free up room for a lodger!  In this instance the clutter may not be entirely obvious, for example a dining room which is only used twice a year may not seem like it is full of clutter, but actually clutter is something taking up space which you don’t really need and the dining room furniture is not really needed if you only use it twice a year!

4. Stay in your home – you may feel that you don’t have enough room in your current home and need to move house purely to accommodate all the stuff you have accumulated.  By going through your stuff and getting rid of everything that you haven’t used in the last year, you may find that actually you don’t need to move house at all!  If you are really set on moving house though, decluttering will help to sell your home as others may feel the place isn’t big enough if they see excess stuff everywhere.

5.  Set up a business from home – instead of getting a lodger in after clearing out a room not usually used much, you could use a spare room in your house to run a business.  This could be anything from providing hairdressing services to selling items online.

6. Make your home a safer place – I have gradually been going down the route of chemical free living and  so far have decluttered my cleaning cupboard and my bathroom cupboard, swapping harsh chemical laden products for more natural, safer alternatives.  Great for everyone, especially if you have children.

7. Keep up to date – now I’m not fussed about having the latest phone or tv or fridge freezer, however the fact is that things change all the time, not just in relation to technology, but also in relation to fashion, our interests and increased knowledge about the risks and benefits of things we would never have considered in the past.  Sometimes it is just time for a change and hanging on to too many things or things that are totally out of date can sometimes be a false economy and can keep you stuck in the past.  My mother kept lots of things from when I was a baby (I’m now 33).  Some of those things were useful when I had my children, but some of those things really should never be used again (e.g. a decrepid plastic beaker and a sick stained quilt!).

What experiences have you had of decluttering and what effect did it have on your life?  I would love to hear your stories!

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