There is a wonderful freedom in owning less.
The beginning of every new year brings excitement, anticipation, and opportunity. It also brings resolution.
People around the world will use January 1 as motivation to make changes in their lives. They will decide to lose weight, eat healthy, quit smoking, or declutter their home.
Some resolutions will last. Most will fade away within the first ten days.
This website reaches a large community of people from every walk of life. But we are united in our belief that life is too valuable to waste chasing possessions. Some readers have already decluttered their homes and return here for continued inspiration.
Some are in the midst of their journey toward owning less. And others will be introduced for the first time this week.
My hope is that your resolution to declutter will not fade away. But instead, that you and your family will enjoy all the benefits of owning less.
To those who are just beginning, welcome. Here are 7 helpful tips for your decluttering resolution.
1. Start easy. Your first step in the right direction does not have to be a big one. Our personal journey began by removing the clutter from our cars. Literally. The first things we minimized were ketchup packets, Happy Meal toys, old receipts, and rarely used music CDs. It wasn’t big, but it got us moving in the right direction.
Our next projects included the living room, the bedroom, and our wardrobe. Each room or closet was a little bit harder than the previous. But we found important momentum in the early steps to help carry us through the difficult ones down the road. Use this Declutter Your Home Checklist to really make it easy.
2. Choose a lived-in area to begin. When you first begin to declutter your home, choose an area that is often used. There are many benefits to owning less—clear, open spaces with fewer distractions is one of the best. As you begin to remove clutter, you will quickly experience them.
And the best way to fully understand these benefits is to begin decluttering a room that is used often. This could be a living room, a bedroom, an office, or a bathroom. Start decluttering in an easy, lived-in area. You’ll love it. And find increased motivation.
3. Touch every item. Your decluttering journey is not a race. It took years to accumulate all the clutter in your home and it will take more than an afternoon or weekend to remove it. My own family of four took 9 months. You won’t regret taking your time. And you won’t regret taking the extra effort to physically touch every item in your home.
Physically handling each thing forces our minds to make intentional decisions about them. After touching each item, place it in 1 of 3 piles: keep, relocate, or remove. From there, handle immediately. And then repeat.
4. Prefer donating over selling. You can make more money by selling your unneeded clutter. And if you legitimately need the money, go for it. There are countless websites that can help. But be aware that trying to sell your clutter is time-consuming, cumbersome, and often adds to the stress of decluttering.
If money is not an immediate concern for your family, sell your valuable items on Ebay or Craigslist, but donate everything else to a local charity. You will find joy and fulfillment in generosity—and that experience will be important going forward as you seek to overcome the trap of consumerism.
5. Read a book. The first book I read on decluttering was Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. While feng shui never became a guiding principle in my home, the thoughts in the book were helpful for our journey. It is important to be reminded that others struggle with the same problem. And it is beneficial to hear new solutions to these problems.
The book was good, I still recommend it. But I also recommend The Minimalist Home, The More of Less, The Joy of Less, and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Any one of them will be helpful and motivating.
6. Tell a friend. Joy is most fulfilling when it is shared with others. Tell your story about your resolution to declutter. You will find people are excited to try it themselves. They will cheer you on. They will motivate you by holding you accountable and ask you how things are going the next time you see them.
As an additional benefit, when you share your story, you will be reminded again of the reasons you decided to declutter in the first place.
7. Be okay with imperfection. Don’t let perfect become the enemy of better. The first time you go through your home, you won’t remove all the clutter. You’ll keep stuff that didn’t need to be kept. You’ll find it too difficult to part with some items. You may even remove a thing or two you’ll end up wishing you had kept.
But you will make progress. In just a few short weeks (or even days), you will begin to feel different about your home. You will enjoy it more—as if a burden has been lifted from your shoulders. It won’t be perfect, but it will be better. And that’s the best any of us can hope for in this life.
The journey to clutterfree can be difficult at times. But it is always worth the effort. Trust me, you’ll be happier owning less.
Mrs. Clayton says
What a great article! I’ve been toying with the idea of “purging, not reorganizing” for a few months now. We have two young girls and I swear dolls, coloring books and princess-wear have taken over our house! It’s just too much.
My first task was to get my 7yr-old on board and help her see the benefits to minimizing. Less stress when cleaning her room was the clincher!
My husband works so much that he will celebrate the fact that I simply purged the visual clutter that was a point of stress for BOTH of us.
Thank you for this wonderful post. It has given me renewed focus to keep going! Happy, clutter-free 2015 everyone!
Slackerjo says
I find that once children understand the concept of de-cluttering, they are totally on board and are way better at it than their parents!
Tera says
Your situation sounds similar to mine. Two young girls that love stuffies, crafts and little toys. The visual clutter stresses hubby and I out, and don’t even get me started on my 6 year old’s bedroom! I have been taking stuff and putting it in boxes to store in the garage to see if they miss anything (so far only one or two stuffies were noticed so I brought them back out). For Christmas we told them in advance we were giving them experience gifts and could pick out a gift from the gift shops after (more stuffies!!) I was quite pleased with how little came into our home from the holidays; however, I had been purging a great deal leading up to the big event!
Rebecca says
I am working on building my 2015 book list and goals. Thanks for the book suggestions! I donate almost everything. I need it to be gone as fast as possible once I make the decision. Otherwise it gets added to my mental to-do-list and stresses me out.
HappinessSavouredHot says
Wonderful advice! I love what you say about donating vs selling. I got that comment on my blog, after I mentioned donating often: someone asked why I don’t sell instead. Well, first, it is usually not worth the time and effort, but mostly, it’s one of my ways of sharing with the world.
Happy New Year!
Heather says
I’d like to add a book to your suggestions in #5. Kathi Lipp has written a book called Clutter Free and it has been so helpful in not only decluttering, but getting to root of why I have so much stuff.
In fact, she is offering a 21 Day challenge starting next week – I’m participating and have already started removing things from my house. My most recent blog post is about my humble beginnings. I would love for you to come check it out.
Thanks for this great list! Happy New Year!
Mary Lou Caskey says
Thanks for these wonderful tips! Kathi Lipp just wrote a great book “Clutter Free” and there’s a Free 21 Day Challenge at http://www.kathilipp.com/clutter-free-21-day-challenge
Virginia says
I enjoyed your tips! My friend, Kathi Lipp, has written a book on this topic and has started a 21-Day Challenge. I think you would like it. You can check out the particulars on her website, http://www.kathilipp.com.
(This isn’t spam, her book is entitled Clutter Free and is preparing to launch.)
Hanna says
Have an inspiring 2015 as you continue to inspire others to live a satisfied life with less. I’m one of those “collector” type but I’m learning.
Andrea ( aka rokinrev) Stoeckel says
Hey, bug infestations FORCE decluttering
Mrs. Clayton says
Oh my! I suppose it would!
Gina says
I packed my life in a Mini Cooper and a Prius with my husband, and youngest daughter, three dogs and two cats and moved back from Maine to Cali. sold a lot of my nice big things ( dinning room, living room, china, lawn mower, one car, table saw, etc. )
And donated lots and I mean LOTS of stuff to good will, later I discovered that habitat for humanity will come and take everything you want to part with. So not hauling things!
So look into places like habitat for humanity and also some animal shelters will come and get your towels, blankets and sheets.
( this process of selling, donating and deciding what to keep took 9 months, yes just like a pregnancy! I couldn’t sell my house, but I fixed just how I wanted and rented it all with the money from my sales)
I do not want to collect more stuff instead I will collect knowledge, memories, hugs and love! :)
Sandra says
Great post and spot on. I lost my 3k sf home in the recession, had to declutter and move into a 700 sf cottage, very traumatic at the time. But once I was done, I realized my chest didn’t hurt and I was literally breathing better. After 3 years in my cottage, I still find ways to streamline and simplify. It is my new mantra. I know focus on the things that truly matter to me.
Thank you for the inspiration in your writings.
Mrs. Clayton says
We may be approaching a similar move. This is the first step in preparing for living with HALF of our current square footage. Thanks for the encouragement!
maria says
fabulous!
Green Girl says
Books on minimalism have become my favorite reading topic these days. I personally think minimalism is the real ‘green’ lifestyle. I would recommend a couple more good reads for motivation: “Story of Stuff”, Annie Leonard; “No Impact Man”, Colin Beavan; “Affluenza” John DeGraf and David Wann.
maria says
but then again if you buy books it will add more clutter.
Gayle says
That’s why I love my Kindle & eBooks are much cheaper but the library is cheaper too.