If you’ve lived in your house for several years, the attic has probably accumulated a lot of boxes, holiday decorations and other odds and ends. It may be so cluttered and disorganized that you don’t even know what’s up there anymore.
Clearing out the clutter and getting rid of belongings you don’t need can make it easier to find things when you want them. Once all the clutter is gone, you may have enough free space to create a hobby room or a home office.
Be Realistic
When it comes to cleaning out your attic, it’s important to set realistic expectations so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Sorting through all the clutter in your attic will be a time-consuming process. Expect to get it done over a period of several days, or even weeks, but not in a single day.
Spending a lot of time decluttering on any given day can make you feel burnt out, so don’t try to tackle too much at once. Devoting 15, 30 or 60 minutes per day to decluttering can help you make significant progress without feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
Take Things Out of the Attic
If your attic has a low or sloped ceiling that makes it difficult to stand up, or if it’s completely packed with boxes and other stuff, it may be difficult or impossible to organize your belongings in the attic. It may also be unbearably hot up there.
In that case, it will be better to carry things down to another part of your house where you will have more space to sort through them and where the temperature will be more comfortable. If you can remove everything from the attic all at once, that will give you an opportunity to thoroughly clean the space before you put things back.
Create a Strategy to Declutter and Organize
Figure out what to keep and what you can sell, donate or throw away. If you’re on the fence about whether to keep something or get rid of it, try to remember the last time you used it. If it’s been more than a year and you could get rid of it without facing any negative consequences, it can go.
While you’re going through the attic, you’ll probably come across some photo albums and other items that have sentimental value. Resist the urge to take a walk down memory lane. It will only distract you from the task of decluttering and organizing. Set aside sentimental items so you can look at them later.
Sort the things you decide to keep into categories and put items in boxes or plastic storage bins. When labeling containers, be specific so you won’t have to go through several boxes trying to find the exact item you need.
Arrange boxes and containers based on how often you’ll use the things inside them. Put holiday decorations and other items that you use infrequently in a place where they will be out of the way, but still accessible.
