“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris
I have lived most of my life in a cluttered home. Closets were full, drawers wouldn’t shut, things weren’t put away, and unfinished projects could be found in most rooms. That was, unless somebody was coming over. Then, the entire family would pitch in to make sure the house was presentable. Looking back, the problem with clutter wasn’t that we didn’t notice or care. Instead, the problem was we could never get ahead of the mess or ever seem to develop a system that would keep our home clutter-free.
But that is no longer the case. Today, almost every room in our home rests in a state of order – free from the life-robbing presence of physical clutter. Over the past several years, we have found a system that works very well for our family of four. And I am perfectly confident you can do the same… no matter how far away from clutter-free your home may seem.
Consider implementing the four steps found in this Simple Guide to Keeping Your Home Clutter-Free:
1) Believe it is possible. Most of us know it is entirely possible to live in a clutter-free environment. I imagine that is what attracts you to this guide. You are just looking for some extra help to get there.
But some of you are not so sure. Your house has been cluttered for so long, you have given up all hope of ever living any other way. For you, the first step to decluttering your home is to take heart and believe it is entirely possible. Realize that you will never get there if do not resolve in your mind that you can accomplish it. So find some hope and take one small step. Then, take another… and another… and another…
2) Remove the excess. Our homes are full of things. Clutter begins to appear most prominently when we own too much stuff. Conversely, the fewer items we own, the easier it is to keep clutter at a minimum. The first (and most important) step in keeping your home clutter-free is to remove the excessive possessions that are stealing our lives, time, and energy.
In your process of removing the excess, it can be helpful to find a working definition of clutter to aid you in this step. Early in our journey, we began to define clutter as a) too much stuff in too small a space; b) anything that we no longer used or loved; or c) anything that led to a feeling of disorganization. With that as our guiding filter, we slowly moved from room to room, removing everything that fit the definition above.
In some cases, this step is easy:
- Junk drawers full of unneeded items (rubber bands, old batteries, or old keys).
- Closets full of clothes you no longer wear.
- Decorations that are no longer meaningful and/or outdated.
In other cases, this step will take more time and intentionality:
- Large projects such as the garage, basement, or attic.
- Sentimental items that have collected over the years.
- Books.
- Other family members’ clutter that have begun invading common spaces.
The most important key in completing this step is to start with the small and easy projects first. Begin there. As you do, you’ll build up small victories. Then, after the small victories have been won, you’ll find extra motivation to begin tackling the harder cases of clutter in your minimalist home.
If you still do not feel fully capable on removing the excess possessions from your home, find encouragement in an intermediate step. For example, put the items you can’t quite part with in a cardboard box out of sight with a date on it. Getting rid of unnecessary possessions is essential, but it doesn’t have to be a race.
3) Implement habits to manage your clutter. For most of my life, I thought the key to maintaining clutter was found here. Just organize, clean, and organize again. But I was wrong. Because I had not taken the time to remove the excess in full (or in part), I could never get ahead of the clutter in my home. There were just too many things in too small a space – no matter what system we tried to implement. As a result, healthy clutter-clearing habits never had opportunity to emerge. So do not skip the removal step, it is absolutely important. And the more energy you put in removing the excess, the easier it will be to find and develop habits to better manage the things you keep.
Once you have cleared the excess, you will be able to better discover which habits keep your living space free of clutter. And once you experience the freedom and stress-free life of living clutter-free, you will find these habits easier to embrace.
Some of these habits will recur daily:
- Cleaning the kitchen after each meal.
- Placing daily-use items (clothes, books, toys) back in their designated homes.
- Fully-completing projects around the house.
- Developing an evening routine.
Some of these habits will center on specific locations that serve as clutter collection sites in your home. For us, our kitchen counter typically collects items (mail, schoolwork) during the day, our living room sees a highly-volume of traffic each day, and one of the bedrooms in our home finds itself a bit messier than the others. Each of these specific locations requires extra effort and energy than the others.
Some of these habits will center of seasonal needs:
- The changing of the seasons.
- The need to remove excessive possessions after holidays and/or birthdays.
- Significant life changes (birth of a child, new employment) will also require refocusing and adjustment.
Over the years, we have found clutter attracts clutter. Once it begins to collect, it requires intentional action to clear it away. Develop for your family healthy habits today to manage the daily use of the things in your home. Once identified, you’ll find them much easier to implement.
4) Slow the accumulation of possessions. To live is to consume. It cannot be avoided – especially in our society and culture. But if the influx of possessions into our homes can be slowed, clutter can be managed efficiently.
To slow the accumulation of things in our homes, we need to change our mindset and begin evaluating our purchases differently. Realize that your purchases cost far more than the price on the sticker. Each one will also require time, energy, and effort once they enter your home. Before making a purchase, begin asking yourself these questions:
- Is this item really needed?
- Do I have a place to store this when I get it home?
- How much extra work will this possession add to my life?
- Am I buying it for the right reasons?
This thought-process isn’t designed to keep you from making purchases ever again – at least, it’s not supposed to. Again, to live is to consume. But these questions are designed to bring intentionality into your life. They raise in your mind the awareness that some purchases take more from our life than they offer. They help you know the difference. And slow the accumulation of clutter-causing items into your home and life.
Again, it is completely and entirely possible to live in a clutter-free home. With this simple guide, you’ll be well on your way. From somebody who has lived both, I can quickly attest that once you begin to enjoy the physical and mental freedom that accompanies clutter-free living, you’ll make extra effort to ensure your home does not slip back into the home it used to be.
If you’d like to know more about the most important principles we learned during our journey into living with less, you’ll find great value in our book, Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life.
I agree. I find less is more. Every time I clean out a closet or donate/sell some household items I feel like I just went through a cleansing. It’s also made my house cleaning chore a breeze. Thank you for your posts and inspiration.
That’s my Motto : LESS IS MORE !!!!
I am really liking the part about when you ae out shopping, the important questions to ask yourself about the item. If I start doing this each time I stand in Home Goods or Marshall’s, it may sink in that its not really necessary after all!
why so hard for us to go to store and leave d store wdout purchasing?lol.that’s how add clutter in ourhouse
I am working on becoming a minimalist by decluttering, donating,and ruthlessly pitching stuff. The more I do, the more I feel like tackling. 3 big events in a short time (retirement, death of my spouse, and remodeling) left my house more disorganized than usual. I realized one day how relaxed I felt visiting a friend’s home because it was tidy and uncluttered. It is lived in, but it’s peaceful.
I wrote myself a note and taped it to my fridge door to read everyday: “clean is serene”. That is my goal.
That is a GREAT note!! I too have lost a spouse and have retained all the spouse’s possessions since I was loathe to get rid of the things – it’s like betrayal and a reminder of one’s loss. “CLEAN IS SERENE” is a calm reminder. Thank you.
I love living in a fairly clutter free home. I have never been one to store things up anyways, but I do declutter every 6-8 months and always find SOMETHING! haha. The only things I am not happy with is I have some unfinished projects in a box which I am dying to finish and some stuff stored in my wardrobe that needs to be sold. My house may not be tidy and clean all the time (Pretty impossible with 3 young kids) but it doesn’t take long for me to catch up if I ever get behind, or have a couple of days off ;) And this is with a pretty big house too!
My hubby however, ughhhhh. He is getting better (He isn’t too bad, but he still keeps too much crap) but he likes to keep everything “Just incase” I often secretly throw things out hahaha.
The change of season is always a fantastic time to clean out the wardrobe. You can have a look at the clothes that just never got worn and bag them up for charity, put away those things that won’t be worn again until next year and work out exactly what (if anything) you will need for the new season.
It seems so easy doesn’t it? Don’t allow clutter to take over your home; but, when you come in from work or have some time on the weekend, you just don’t feel like tidying everything up. Well, I am speaking for myself here. I admit that I have been lazy. I too, had almost given up. My number goal, at the moment, is to become a neat freak. I know I have it in me to do this. My house, my car and my desk at work all need special attention. LOL I have bought storage bins to help organize my things. First, I know I need to rid myself of the items that can be thrown out or given to someone else. Then after I find a designated spot for every single item, never allow things to get out of control again.
I can’t even have company. I am so ashamed to admit that. It is so over-whelming. I hate this feeling and I’ve finally decided to do something about it until my friends turn me into the producers of that “hording” show.
I’m so with you Rochelle. With all the other “mind and soul” clutter in our lives that suck the energy out of us, I find I have little motivation to tackle the piles (and at least one entire ROOM) of “stuff.” But I’m working on both as we speak. I work in smaller time bytes, set small goals, and try not to get discouraged that I can’t just fly through and get it all done at once. It took years to get this way, it could take a while to dig out. I am doing this as I prepare to move into a new and cozy (I envision) home. If it doesn’t have a place there, it’s NOT coming with. Concentrate on keeping the things that are truly useful or bring you joy; cull the rest. God bless and good luck.
Rochelle, take Wendy’s advice and try very small projects or time frames. For example, set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and see what you can tidy up in that time frame. Or pick one drawer and sort and organize it. You’ll be surprised at what happens. Don’t ever give up, eventually you will find that any effort pays off.
I have been a minimalist for quite some time now. Every time I cleaned up my house (throwing stuff away, selling on internet) I thought I was done, there was noting left to get rid off. But every month I found something new which I did not need. This week I got rid of something I thought was impossible: my old childhood toys. They had been stuffed in my closet for years. I had been very attached to them (the happy memories) but I realized that not using them (I am 34, I don’t need toys) means I have no reason to keep them. So I sold them to a guy who was happy to get them. I feel relieved I took the step, how silly it might even sound. Now that I was able to get rid of this stuff, I know for sure that material belongings by themselves do not bring happiness.
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I’ve looked up and read well over 10 different articles trying to help me get rid of a overwhelming amount of clutter from my family of 5! THIS ONE IS BY FAR TBE BEST ONE! IT’S NOT ONLY HELPFUL, SENSIBLE AND REALISTIC BUT ACTUALLY FEASIBLE WHILE LIVING IN A 3 BEDROOM APARTMENT WITH NO EXTRA STORAGE! Both my older kids 7&8 hate getting rid of used straws let alone any of their toys/art work/school work heck they want to save a piece of paper that they wrote a single letter on! Not to mention my husband is one of those types that brings home random stuff and puts them in the most ridiculous places. Or will make a complete mess, throwing everything around, when looking for something! Then I have my 2yr old daughter that collects the most random, off the wall things that she refuses to give up so I’ll find a pile of oranges or magnets hidden all over. The clutter has seriously gotten out of control and seems impossible to fix and organize but this article not only gave me great tips but gave me hope and made me realize a huge part of why I can’t seem to ever keep the clutter at bay is because I never believed it was fully possible! I know it’ll take time but convincing myself that it is possible and taking it one step at a time, I will eventually acheive .y goal of having a clutter free/ organized home! Thank you so much!
All the best-little by little:)Take photos of your 2yr olds treasures & then toss most of them(as a child & living in the moment,she most probably forgets what she’s collected)
For the older 2,make a craft area/container available to keep their straws & similar
items
Have you spoke with your husband about how you feel & the need,in limited space,to have organisation for effective running of the home?
Anyway,again all the best:)
I have a rule now, which I think I saw on a TV show. If I something new, I have to get rid of something. New shoes, out goes a pair (I have bought a shoe cupboard which just holds enough, so I have to do this or where do I put the new ones?); new piece of furniture or equipment – a gift for Vinnies or the Salvos
I got rid of a lot of furniture & things before we moved a couple of years ago, we then rented while our house was built & we made a conscious effort to not buy more stuff. We only unpacked the necessities while we rented even though that time frame ended up being 20 months, I didn’t miss the things & so when we moved into our new home & unpacked everything I was left wondering why he still had so much stuff. So a year on I’m ready to pare down again but I felt a little anxious when I dropped the first couple of boxes to the charity shop, this is due to the fact that we’re getting rid of things I never thought I would want to. I’m finding if I pack up a box & put it in the garage I tend not to give it further thought & find the secret is to just take it to the charity shop & to not look inside the box again, it works for me.