How to declutter your home
Spring is just around the corner, and there’s no better time to declutter your home. Winter is thawing and giving way to spring’s new buds, and we’re shaking off the cozy winter evenings for warmer days filled with energy.
When you declutter your home, you not only clear out the things that no longer serve you, but also make space for what will—that, or leaving space, period! You’re also giving yourself the gift of less stress, more time, and a sense of inner peace, among other things.
Staying on top of clutter is always challenging, and feels like a never-ending task—one many of us would like to do away with entirely! If you use the following tips to declutter your home, the process will be quick and painless. You may even look forward to decluttering the next time things start to pile up.
Ready to declutter your home? Read these 20 tips to get started.
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1. Start small
The number one thing that will stop you before you even start is taking on too much all at once. In order to declutter your home right from the start—and to keep you going right until the end—is to do a little bit at a time.
2. Ask for help
If it feels daunting to declutter your home on your own, consider asking a friend or family member to help you. This has the added bonus of providing a new pair of eyes—one that will be more impartial to what stays and what goes.
3. Give yourself a time limit
Although this one isn’t necessary, it can be helpful if you’re having a hard time starting the process. If this is the case, set a timer for anywhere from ten to sixty minutes. If, after the time goes, you feel like you’d like to keep going, do it! The faster you go, the faster your home will be clutter free.
4. One room at a time
Connecting to the first tip, start decluttering only one room at a time. That way, when you make a mess (and you will!) the task of sorting and cleaning up feels less daunting. Plus, only one room of your house will be in disarray at any given time.
5. Utilize a pile system
If you’re having trouble keeping track of everything, stick to a distinct pile system, sorting items into keep, recycle, donate, or trash. A note: try to keep the trash pile as small as possible, saving it only for items that are broken beyond repair. Most everything else should fit into the first three piles.
6. Touch your items
Something I’ve found to help when I declutter my home is to pull every single item out and actually touch it. It’s so easy for us to look at something in our closet or in a drawer and then leave it there; it’s more effective to pull everything out and really think about whether you want or need it anymore.
7. Use the five second rule
And when you’re touching your items, use the five second rule: if you’re holding an item and can’t think of the last time you used it within five seconds of picking it up, it’s likely that you haven’t used it in a long time (and don’t need to keep it).
8. Notice multiples
Are you one of those people who has way more mugs, notebooks, pens, and clothes than they actually need? Yeah, me too. When decluttering specific categories, take note of how many of any given thing you have. Sure, it’s great to have enough mugs for when you have company, but do you really need thirty of them overflowing in your cupboard? (No, you don’t.)
9. Turn hangers around
Speaking of multiples, I don’t think there’s anyone among us that doesn’t have multiples hanging in their closet right now—I personally have a collection of similar striped shirts I need to sort through. One tip that helps here is to turn your hangers so they’re all facing the same way. When you wear an item, you turn the hanger back and leave it there. At the end of six months (or a season) you’ll see just how many items of your clothing you actually wear.
10. Keep a box in your closet
And once you’ve realized just how many of your clothes you don’t wear, you can start getting rid of them! I’d suggest keeping a box in your closet with the specific purpose of tossing in clothes that no longer fit, don’t spark joy the way they used to, or you just don’t wear. When the box is full, take it to your nearest donation center.
11. Don’t think about money spent
One of the biggest mistakes made when you declutter your home is thinking about how much was spent on an item—this will keep you from ever throwing something out, simply because money was spent on it. This is called the sunk cost effect, a phenomenon where we hold onto something we no longer need because we put time, effort, or money into it.
12. Consider sentimental value
It’s challenging to get rid of items when they hold sentimental value, but when you declutter your home is the perfect time to revisit all your old items: something that may have been sentimental a few years ago may not give rise to any feelings now. But if the feelings are still there, consider whether it’s the item that holds the value, or the memory associated with the item. You may also find this blog post on declutter sentimental items valuable.
13. Think about purposes served
When we fill our homes with items, it’s important to consider whether an item serves a purpose—and how many purposes it serves. Take a good look at the items you own: do you have single-purpose items whose purpose can be accomplished with another multi-purpose item (ex. A mango cutter that can be replaced with a knife, or a popcorn machine that can be replaced with an everyday pan with a lid)? If so, it may be time to rehome them.
14. Would you buy it now?
Another good question to ask yourself when decluttering is, if the item in question suddenly broke or disappeared, would you buy it again? If the answer is no—and you’re not using the item much anyway—it’s time for it to go.
15. Ask whether the item sparks joy
Marie Kondo’s now-famous question of asking whether an item sparks joy is one of my favorite methods of deciding whether an item will stay or go. If something no longer sparks joy for us—regardless of whether it serves a purpose or not—it’s time to say goodbye. Even if it no longer sparks joy for you, it’s likely to spark joy for someone else.
16. Give everything a home
When you do start putting items back after sorting through them, make sure you give everything a home. No more junk drawers or piling items on counters—everything needs to have a dedicated place. This helps keep clutter down, with the added bonus of knowing exactly where an item is when you’re looking for it.
17. Try the 90/90 rule
If you’re feeling especially ruthless, you can try the 90/90 rule, a technique created by The Minimalists. With this, you choose an item and determine whether you’ve used it in the last 90 days, or whether you’ll use it in the 90 days to come. If the answer is no, out it goes!
18. Gift to those who need it
If you’re struggling with letting go of items that are still good—but you no longer want—think about it this way: when you donate or re-gift items you no longer love or use, you’re providing the opportunity for someone else to love it and give it a good home. This is a two-pronged benefit: you’re providing value for someone else, while making more space in your own home.
19. Pause and consider
If you’re still struggling with whether an item should stay or go, take a day or two to think about it. Sometimes, all we need is a bit of space from something before the answer becomes clear to us. If after a couple of days you still don’t know whether to keep it or not, set it aside for later, but try to limit this to one or two items—not everything in your closet.
20. Think of what you’ll gain
When you declutter your home, the benefits are endless: less clutter in your home and mind. More space to do what you want with. An improved mood from reduced stress. Think of it this way: when you reduce the clutter in your home and mind, you make room for the things you want, need, and love to make their way into your life.
xoxo
Catherine
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