Reclaim yourself: Get rid of clutter in your home

Rochelle Sudfelt of Reclaim You helps people declutter their minds and their homes. Photo / Warren Buckland

Is you garage a clutter grave site? Is that where you store stuff that you 'might need one day'? Do you have a box city in one of your rooms with unopened boxes from the last time you moved houses?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions or clutter is playing havoc with your mental and physical wellbeing, it might just be time to reclaim yourself.

However, you don't have to do it alone. Rochelle Sudfelt has been running her decluttering and organising business Reclaim You, in Hawke's Bay, for seven years.

She is a Home Life coach, a member of the Institute of Professional Organisers and a graduate of International Hoarding Home Solutions.

She says there are five types of clutter - mental, emotional, digital, life and physical.

"I always start with mental and emotional clutter. You have to be in the right head space to deal with everything else," Rochelle said.

"Resolve things that are keeping you up at night so you don't get enough sleep, which in turn makes it hard to get through the following day.

"Getting your digital clutter under control helps as well. Sort out your inbox, prioritise what is important and what can wait or be deleted. That also helps to organise your life. Everyone is so busy these days and our phones are full of apps for this and that.

"Once that is sorted it is much easier for you to cope with the physical clutter in your life."

She says the top five things that people tend to have too much of are plastic containers ("please cool it on that"), clothes, books, paper (junk mail, receipts, invoices) and toys.

"Clothes are a big one because people keep them because they might fit them or need them one day.

"One day has no beginning and no end, it simply goes on forever."

She said another thing that stops people getting rid of stuff is obligation.

"Perhaps something was given to them by a family member or a friend so they feel obliged to keep it. My job is to get them to understand that the giver hasn't gifted you something to burden you with it.

"Of course you don't have to get rid of everything. If you really love it store it or better still put it on show.

"I'm there to help people let their clutter go. I don't throw anything out, it's their call.

"Money is another biggie when it comes to getting rid of clutter. If you have paid 'good money for it' it can be hard to give it away. That's understandable. List it on Trade Me with a time limit. If it doesn't sell donate it. Your last resort should be to throw it away."

Rochelle says it's a good idea to have a donation and a borrowed container in your home.

"It's easy to pop items you no longer need or use into the donation box and take it along to a secondhand store when it's full. If you have borrowed items put these in a box and make a time to return them. These are just a couple of things that will help you. There are lots of things we can put in place to prevent clutter."

She says the main reason she started Reclaim You was safety.

"I wanted to make sure people could get in and out of their homes safely. I wanted to ensure they didn't have hordes of newspaper stacked up near heaters.

"There was nothing in Hawke's Bay at the time and so I just developed it from there. I have learnt to just listen. The clutter might be similar for everyone but the stories are all different.

"Most people simply don't know where to start. Clutter can and does cause chaos if it's left unchecked. It can threaten relationships when people can't agree on what to keep and what not to."

Rochelle says she loves what she does.

"It's so satisfying. I love seeing the transformation and the joy people feel when they have completed the process.

"There are always lots of big smiles and my job is to work with the client so they get that sense of accomplishment."

For more info go to reclaimyou.net.nz.