Regular readers will know we live in a flat. But what you might not know is that it’s a two bedroom flat. And there’s now five of us.

It’s fair to say things are getting a little bijou on the space front – the toy mountain is getting bigger, our living space is getting smaller and after five years at the property it’s time for a major clear out.

The thing is where do you start? After three children we now have so much stuff it’s almost overwhelming, and it’s hard to see the woods for the trees.

I’ve started an eBay pile because I’m determined we can make some money out of some of it (eBaying needn’t be a hassle, especially if you’ve got big things like cots and furniture to get rid of – courier service Shiply has a dedicated eBay courier service and they’ll collect right from your front door) and we’re also doing a car boot sale to try and turn some of our clutter into cash.

But how else can we declutter and make sure we don’t end up back where we started? I asked some fellow bloggers for their advice and here’s what they said.

10 easy ways to declutter your home

1. Be brutal. “If you haven’t used it in a year you probably don’t need it. I try and take a bag of ‘stuff’ out of the house a week, either toys or clothes to the charity shop or just stuff we don’t need to the bin!” Lauren at Scrapbook Blog.

2. Go through your clothes. “Sort through your wardrobe and if it doesn’t fit or make you feel good donate it. After that put all the hangers back facing the wrong way and if you haven’t worn something and consequently fixed the hanger after six months then it has to go too.” Hannah at Hi Baby

3. Think clever. “Use charity bags that come through your door as motivation to declutter. We get at least one a week and will fill a bag with things we don’t need. It’s an easy way to declutter, as they pick it up for you. It also feels like a good deed, as it helps charities out too.” Sophia at Tattooed Tealady

4. Start selling. “We do two systematic clear outs a year and sell whatever we no longer need. What doesn’t sell gets donated to Safe Families or a local charity shop. We then put all the money in a pot and use it to travel. Our last big clear out paid for a huge chunk of our road trip around Northern Europe.” Emma at Our Fairytale Adventure

5. Police the toys. “Get all the toys in a big pile and sell or chuck anything that isn’t played with or with missing pieces.” Fran at Whinge Whinge Wine

6. Watch what comes into the house. “Otherwise you are back to square one. So, only buying things you need; encouraging relatives to buy children more thoughtful gifts rather than just a load of plastic toys just for the sake of it that then add to the toy mountain. I have been quite brutal with family and friends and told them we are drowning in stuff and trying to declutter and simplify things, and it seems to be helping.” Cathryn at Cardiff Mummy

7. Rotate toys and games. “We rotate toys so they don’t get bored and our family area isn’t cluttered with them.” Sarah at Surrey Mama.

8. Stop creating piles. “We have recently bought a tray which we call our ‘inbox’ and any papers go straight in there rather than being left in random places. Letters, mail, receipts etc. We try and sort it at the weekend.” Lauren at Sophie’s Nursery

9. Invest in storage. “Go to IKEA. Buy hundreds of baskets or storage units and hide it all in there!” Beth at Twinderelmo

Or failing that Jade at Raising the Rings says:

10. Move! “Move house. You’ll soon know what you want to pack and what you to throw away!”

Do you need to declutter your house? Have you managed to raise any money by having a good clear out?

This post was written in collaboration with Shiply.

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