Clutter can be a real headache; it can even cause stress in your life. Dealing with clutter is important – here are some key factors to master the art of decluttering.

Identifying what is clutter can be a long and difficult process. What may be clutter to you may be an antique or sentimental item to someone else.

1. Clutter and value

Many items that are clutter can be easily identified by their cost or value. If the item can easily be replaced by a quick visit to the local store, it is likely clutter. If there is no immediate use for it, and no long-term plans to use it, it is not worth keeping!

The easiest items to identify as clutter are broken items. Even if they are sentimental or important to you, damaged goods take time and care to bring back to their former glory. If this is something you never see yourself accomplishing, it is time to let those items go.

Even the most expensive items can be clutter if they have been replaced by a newer model, or stops being useful.

The hardest items to see as clutter are antiques and family heirlooms. These items will hold a lot of sentimental value or may still be valuable. Unfortunately, these items which were provided with love in mind may be causing your home to be full of clutter.

2. Different colour, different item?

Many people have this problem, they fall in love with a style of clothing and end up buying two or three pairs of them! Sure, the blue stripe is for the casual look, and the red is for when you feel flashy. Ask yourself the question: Am I ever going to wear them all, or am I just going to wear my favourite?

Collections must be considered carefully; they may cause too much stress because of the large space they occupy. It is important to be critical of any collections you do have, and do some serious soul searching to determine if these items are truly worthwhile to keep. Do not let them collect; either re-organize them into your life again, or it may be time to declutter.

Any large selection of items can be clutter and should be considered carefully. It does not mean that all of the items are clutter, but it is a good place to start.

3. Old hobbies, old clutter

Sometimes even useful items become clutter because they are no longer used. Everyone has dreams of picking up that old paint brush and creating a masterpiece. As hard as those dreams are to give up, it may be time. Do not remove everything, but GET RID OF any item that can be easily replaced later! Going through all those old items may even give you a spark of inspiration and kick-start your creative side! Once you start creating, it is no longer clutter!