Your backyard should be spacious and tidy, especially if you want to spend time there. Unfortunately, many struggle with unkempt, disorganized, and cluttered spaces. Often, outdoor furniture and poorly organized storage are the main culprits responsible for creating an unrelaxing mess in most backyards. Bringing order, organization, and space to your backyard and home’s exterior shouldn’t be difficult. The following decluttering tips can help you.
- Recycle or throw away old furniture
The only furniture permitted in your backyard is your outdoor furniture. This space isn’t (and should not) be a dumping site for old furniture you no longer use. The same applies to patio and outdoor chairs you no longer want. Rusty, broken, dirty, and mold-riddled furniture is unsightly and can harbor harmful pests and parasites. Consider recycling or repurposing old furniture where possible. If not, throw it away. Do the same for old and chunky backyard decorations and other outdated items.
- Divide your backyard into functional zones
Bringing a good organizational structure to your backyard can help create a lot of space while making it look tidy. Establish seating and relaxing areas, recreation and gardening, and outdoor storage. Doing this will bring some order to your space and make it easier to maintain. It would help if you also had a separate area for waste, away from your sitting areas. Garbage bins should be neatly tucked away and covered. Also, use weather-resistant outdoor storage solutions for items you want to store in your backyard.
- Clean, clean, clean
Regular cleaning is paramount for your backyard to remain clean, organized, and clutter-free. How often you should clean depends on how often you use your backyard and for what purposes. However, experts recommend a weekly cleanup schedule. Pick one of the week (ideally, a weekend) and spruce up your backyard. Cut the grass, check on your backyard garden, remove fallen leaves and branches, and put away anything that does not belong in that space. Also, look out for animal poop if you own a pet. If cleaning pet poop isn’t your forte, you can hire experts from websites like Swoopscoop.com to do it for you.
- Store oversized items under your deck or porch
Sometimes, you must get creative when storing large items in your backyard, as not everything will fit into your shed. If you have a porch or patio with enough space under it, consider turning it into a makeshift storage area for large items. Things like outdoor sports gear, ladders, pool poles, parasols, kayaks, and foldable benches can slide right under your elevated platform and away from view. The smaller items can hang in your shed, leaving you with enough space.
- Declutter gradually
Decluttering a backyard can be very demanding, especially if you’re dealing with a lot of stuff in a large space. Make it a gradual process to ease the stress and do a more thorough job. Consider removing items in manageable chunks over time, but be careful not to add more stuff to your backyard while decluttering. Also, complete one area of your backyard before moving to another area.