An organized home is a happy home, but home organization isn’t everybody’s favorite chore. Still, it’s one of those things that can really go a long way toward creating a happier and more peaceful living space for you and your family. From improving your physical health to saving you some money in your wallet, decluttering can have some serious long-term benefits for everyone.

Not sure where to start? Take a look at our room-by-room guide for some expert decluttering tips on how to organize your home.

Why you should regularly clean and declutter your home

There are a range of benefits that come with cleaning and decluttering your home. If you’re getting ready to put your house on the market, you’ll need to thoroughly clean your home from top to bottom to inspire potential buyers. But that isn’t a worry when you choose to sell to Bungalo. We’ll completely clean and renovate them and sell them to new owners in the best condition possible, taking much of the hassle off your back.

There are numerous benefits even when you’re not ready to move. Here are some of the best:

Creates a healthier living space

Decluttering can have serious health benefits. Taking the time to dust hard-to-reach areas; cleaning curtains, bedsheets, and blankets; and tossing out spoiled food from your fridge can all help limit your exposure to harmful toxins. This helps make your living space more conducive to your physical health, which can leave you feeling happier and healthier inside your own home.

Gives you greater mental peace

A messy living space can cause stress. That’s because too many pieces of paper, articles of clothing, dirty dishes, and everything else floating around can overstimulate your brain. But it’s also due to the constant visual reminder that you have stuff to sort through and get done. When you declutter your living space, you’ll automatically simplify everything around you, easing the burden on your mind and making everything feel more manageable.

Everything will be easier to find

How many times have you needed an important document and had to sort through dozens of papers scattered across your desk, only to turn up empty-handed? Maybe the most practical benefit of decluttering your home is that everything will be in its rightful place, and that means it’s easier to find when you need it. It might also mean you can save some money in the long term. Think about it: You thought you lost that item you really needed, so you went and bought a new one because you thought it was lost forever. But it turns out it was just at the bottom of your closet. No more episodes like that draining your wallet.

Where to start when organizing your home

First things first, you need to have the right mindset. There’s a reason you have so much clutter built up in your home, and it usually has something to do with having a hard time parting with old trinkets and mementos from your past. While there’s nothing wrong with hanging onto stuff that has real sentimental value, before you start organizing, it’s important to go into it with the mindset that it’s OK to toss things out that you’re not quite ready to let go of.

Learning to let go is really good for our mental health, and you might be surprised at how little you actually cared for some of the things you’ve been keeping once you’ve decided to toss them.

You also need to have a plan of action. When you tackle each room, you should plan to toss things before you start to organize everything else. This is important because tossing and organizing are two totally separate processes, and you want to make sure you’ve cleared your spaces of all the unnecessary stuff before you start reordering and putting everything else in its proper place.

According to The Spruce, every time you go to tackle a new room, it’s a great idea to start with the storage spaces. That means drawers, closets, crawl spaces, and everything in between. It’s useful to start with these areas because that helps you open up storage space where the things you intend to keep can be put once you’re ready to start organizing.

Room-by-room decluttering tips

• Bathroom: This one might be daunting at first glance, but decluttering your bathroom isn’t as hard as it seems. Start with your medicine cabinet. Take a look at each shelf and dispose of any medicines, prescriptions, ointments or creams that are either expired or you simply have no use for anymore. Open all drawers and cabinets and get rid of anything you don’t need, like old toothbrushes or broken hair dryers. Finish off by finding storage space where you can put all appliances when they aren’t in use.

• Bedrooms: You spend a great deal of time in your bedroom, so decluttering this area can go a long way to giving you greater peace of mind. You might as well start with the hardest job first — the closet. Keep an open mind about parting ways with clothing in your closet. Make your decisions based on how often you wear items. A good rule of thumb is whether you have worn something in the last year. If not, go ahead and donate it. From there, move to your nightstand, desk and bureau tops. Toss out anything that’s junk, like broken glasses or old pens, and put everything else neatly in its proper place.

• Kitchen: You’re constantly going through food items, cooking utensils and cleaning products in your kitchen, and that can leave a lot of clutter. Start by going through every storage bin and cabinet in the kitchen, throwing away anything that’s spoiled or unused. Once it’s been cleared out, you have a much better sense of how to organize everything else that remains. Designate different drawers for particular categories of cooking utensils. You can also buy a few extra bins to keep nonperishable food items.

• Family room: Probably your most used shared space, it’s very easy for small items that belong in other rooms to stray into the family room. Start by picking out these things and putting them back in the rooms where they belong. One useful tip when organizing your family room is to simply straighten things out and make them look neat and aligned. That means picture frames, chests, lampshades and chairs. This can bring more order to the room and make the rest of the job feel more manageable.

Your options for hiring a professional

If you’re certain you aren’t the right person for the job, there are plenty of professional services out there that will do it for you. Professional organizers will typically want to meet with you beforehand (or virtually, if you prefer) to get a good look at your space and understand your cleaning goals.

Hiring a professional can be really helpful if you’re in the process of moving and can’t devote the time you’d like to decluttering, need urgent organization, or you simply just require some help. Professional cleaners can be especially helpful if you’re trying to sell your house, taking much of the pressure off you. Check out Bungalo’s blog for more expert tips on the best things you can do when selling your home.

Bungalo takes the headache out of shopping for your dream home

No one said organizing your home was easy, and it’s probably the last thing you want to spend your Saturday afternoon doing. But creating an organized space can go a long way to clearing your house of bad pathogens and, better, decluttering and settling your mind. Your physical and mental health will thank you, and you’ll finish the task with that feeling of a job well done.

Bungalo is an online marketplace that helps make the home buying process smooth and straightforward. Tour your home, choose your mortgage lender and submit an offer all right on our mobile app. Visit our website to learn more about our full listing of certified homes, and get started here.

This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as financial, tax, legal, real estate, insurance, or investment advice. Bungalo always encourages you to reach out to an advisor regarding your own situation.