
Sometimes the stresses of life seem to all pile up at work. The kids’ activities have you feeling like a taxi service, you can never figure out what to cook for dinner. That project at work is nowhere near finished, and, to top it all off, your house is crowded and disorganized with an over-abundance of stuff. What you need is a guide on how to purge your house to start feeling back in the driver’s seat of your life.
Once your house is decluttered, give TLC Cleaning a call and treat yourself to a deep cleaning of your home. After our team deep cleans your newly organized space, you’ll feel ready to tackle whatever life throws at you.
How to purge your house
We have all had the horror moment: the house is a tip, you are trying to relax in a mess, and the doorbell goes with an unexpected guest! Or you have already let them through in, only to enter the room after making a coffee, and watching with a weird paralyzed horror as they start to approach your cupboard of junk. All of this while fully knowing that a single knock of the doorknob will send your secret stash tumbling down…
Now imagine a life where this isn’t a concern. A place where you can greet guests at a moment’s notice with no internal stress or panic. A life where there is a place for everything and everything is in its place, and even your mother in law couldn’t find a corner to criticize…
Sound like the dream? Read on for our insider tips on how to purge your house of clutter.
Ditch the clutter

The first stage in completing a full purge of your house is to try and ditch the clutter, which can be far harder than it initially sounds. Getting rid of items may sound simple. Still, often we will find ourselves attaching sentimental value and memories to seemingly insignificant items, and it can be difficult to let things go. It helps to break down items into categories to make the challenge more manageable.
Divide into categories
Many of the great cleaning gurus will advocate splitting your clutter into categories, and this helps to reduce what can be an intimidating task. It also means that you can easily see if there are any duplicate items and assess the scale of the job with one glance. This is a great place to begin, and also helps to keep the clutter contained to a single area.
Do I have more than one?
Splitting your items by function makes this stage fast and easy; you can quickly see if you have two of something, and put one aside to donate to a charity or thrift store. In some cases, you will find unexpected doubles, and this can cause you to consider whether you need either item. After all, if you forgot about it for long enough to buy a replacement, how much could you really love it?
Does it work?

The first consideration and easiest way to make a dent in clutter is to get rid of anything that isn’t working. Be sensible here; if it is clearly broken or damaged, throw it out. Some items will also be heavily soiled or clearly worn, and these should also be in the ‘to go’ pile.
When did I last use it?
The time test is a perfect second later for filtering out items. It can really help you when it comes to assessing the value of a particular piece. As a general rule, if you haven’t used or worn it in a year, it can go. Let’s be realistic, nice as it would be to squeeze back into an extra small leather miniskirt, chances of it happening are fairly slim! At this stage, you will probably also uncover items and wonder what the heck they are – don’t talk yourself into loving them, just get rid.
Am I likely to use it?
Once you have eliminated all the items you absolutely won’t use, it is time to determine whether you will use what is left. Let’s return to the leather miniskirt. Maybe you convinced yourself that the simple act of purchasing a gym membership would see you snap back to size zero in no time, and it stayed firmly in the keep pile.
Return to it with a critical eye – are you ever going to wear it on the school run? If you are feeling bold, then, by all means, crack on and be your very best self. If the thought makes you want to run and hide, toss it in a charity bag.
This is also an excellent chance to establish the items you actually need. Equipment for hobbies or work spares for existing objects such as batteries, or other must-haves which you need for your everyday life.
Do I really love it?

Once you have decided which items you need, it is time to go over what is left to see which items you love. Much of this is instinctive; likely, you will automatically pick up certain items as a ‘no brainer’ to keep, and the trick is to recognize and harness this feeling. If there are items you ignore or forget about until the very end, the chances are high that it is not too high on your ‘love’ list.
There is nothing wrong with a full house of items, as long as you can genuinely say that you love each and every one of them. This means that you will really enjoy their company, and won’t resent then clogging up your home.
Find a home
Once you have decided what you want to keep, the final step is to make sure everything has a home. By establishing this in advance, you will find it easier to keep tidy. This will offer you your calm, organized, and low maintenance home, full of things you know you really love.
Get things clean and tidy!

Once you have figured out how to purge your house, it is far easier to spruce up and refresh the house with a thorough spring clean! TLC is the perfect port of call, and offer the perfect final stage following a complete purge.
Make the most of your fresh and clutter-free new space by enjoying a complete deep clean from the experts; you’ve earned the right to let someone else do the heavy lifting for a bit!