Declutter your spare bedroom

Spare rooms have the terrible tendency to fill up with junk. It’s too easy to shove clutter, mess, odd-jobs and who-knows-what in there to deal with ‘later’. But later never comes and before you know it, the spare room has become the junk room…

Sorting it out can feel daunting. But actually having the clear-out is never as bad as the thought of having the clear-out (we promise!). Here are seven tips to help you declutter your spare room.

1. Keep, donate or bin?

Label boxes or bin bags with ‘Keep’, ‘Donate’ (or ‘Sell’ if you’re thrifty) and ‘Bin’. Things you want to keep go back in their proper place or in the ‘Keep’ box. Items you don’t want anymore but someone else might go in the ‘Donate’ box for charity or to give to friends. And any real rubbish goes straight in the ‘Bin’ bag.

2. Do you really need it?

How much do you need the things in your spare room? If you haven’t looked at or used something in a year or more, do you really need it hanging around? Set yourself a time period and if you haven’t used it in longer than that – get rid of it.

3. Set a timer

If your spare room’s a real bombsite, tackling the mess might feel too overwhelming. Allow yourself to sort it out in shifts. Set a timer for 15 minutes and get stuck in. You’ll be surprised how much you get through in short bursts.

4. Just start!

Maybe you’ve put off clearing out your spare room for a long, long time and starting feels like too big a task. But there’s no time like the present. Put some music on, turn it up and get stuck in!

5. Organise as you go

It’s a good idea to invest in or upcycle some storage systems before you start clearing out so you can organise the things you want to keep as you go.

6. Enlist some helpers

Don’t take on the task alone. Share the job with your friends or family. You could even turn it into a game with prizes for whoever sorts their pile of magazines, drawer of plugs and chargers first.

7. Think about your end goal

Why are you clearing out your spare room? This can be great motivation to get what can be a difficult job done. If you’re thinking about fostering a child with us, picture what a difference your beautiful, clear spare room could make to them.