How to Reduce Your Belongings and Declutter Your Home
Clear plastic storage bins like these are helpful throughout the purging process, and can be used afterwards for storage.
Alright folks, let’s cut to the chase: minimizing and organizing your belongings is foundational to good design. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or expensive your home is if it’s always a chaotic mess, and on the flip side, you can spend NO money and still achieve amazing results simply by purging, cleaning, and rearranging your space!
This is true for all homes, especially for small spaces. When working with limited square footage, no amount of design or decorating can help if the problem is simply that you have too much stuff. Performing big cleanouts is a daunting task, but it CAN be done methodically and successfully! Here are some tips and tricks on how to purge your belongings — the fundamental first step to improving your interior design.
RELATED: The One True Secret to Keeping an Organized Home
Mentally Prepare to Declutter
START SMALL
Like any big task, purging can be daunting and overwhelming. Don’t worry! These feelings can be managed with good preparation and a systematic approach. Don’t plan on tackling your whole house in a weekend. Start with one room, or even a corner of a room (e.g. just the TV console, or just your night table), until you get your sea legs.
EYE ON THE PRIZE
The purging process can be frustrating, sentimental, and even emotional, so it’s helpful to keep your goals in mind. Maybe you’re hoping to sell things for extra cash, clear the slate for a new look, or maybe you just want to feel lighter and more in control of your space. Whatever your reasons, keep them close and stay determined!
Physically Prepare to Declutter
TIME
Don’t underestimate how long purging can take. Even just clearing out one big closet could take an entire day if it’s full of stuff you haven’t looked at in years!
For example, plan to dedicate 30 minutes per evening during a dark winter month, or maybe you have a few free weekends you can take advantage of. Either way, set aside an adequate amount of time and commit to a plan.
SUPPLIES
Depending on the area(s) you’re purging, you’ll need some basic supplies like garbage bags, recycling bins, storage bins, and cleaning supplies. Think of anything else you might need and have it all on hand before you begin.
PROVISIONS
Depending on the location and scope of your purge, consider prepping some food ahead of time, or plan to go out for a quick bite (Teen Burger anybody!?). This may sound like overkill, but if you’ve only got one weekend to work with (or if the space you’re cleaning out is your kitchen!), the last thing you want is to create extra mess and spend valuable time cooking meals. You also want to minimize disruptions to your work flow.
That said, beware of forgetting to eat/drink because you’re so absorbed in your task! It’s a good idea to keep water and snacks on hand.
The Purging Process
SET UP
In addition to your garbage bags, have several bins ready and labelled for the different streams of recycling in your city. For example, you might have bins for mixed containers, glass, cardboard, paper, metals, soft plastics, etc.
Also, dedicate a bin, box, or area for:
items to be kept,
items to be sold,
items to be donated, and
items to be revisited.
THE FIRST PASS
The goal of the first pass is to discard any junk, and familiarize yourself with the items you’re dealing with.
Throw all garbage into your big trash bags.
Sort all recyclables into their appropriate bins.
Place the items you want to keep, sell, or donate into their designated bin/box/area.
Set aside the items you’re unsure about.
This first pass may take hours or days depending on the size and condition of the space, and that’s okay! Take your time. Once completed, you may need to flop on the couch and binge some Cheetos do a dump/recycling/donation run. Now you’re ready for the next step: the second pass!
THE SECOND PASS
The goal of the second pass is to revisit all the items you were unsure about (and even some of the items you initially decided to keep) and part with as many as you can. As you consider each item, ask yourself:
Do I use this item regularly? (Or at least, seasonally?)
Have I used/worn/needed this item in the last year?
Did I even remember I had this item until rediscovering it during this cleanout?
Will I deeply regret parting with this item for sentimental reasons?
If you’re answering “no,” to these questions, off it goes.
It’s okay to let things sit in your piles for a few days before disposing, donating, or selling them — sometimes letting things go takes some getting used to. But I PROMISE you’ll feel empowered by this process; it’s hugely rewarding to shed the weight of all that clutter from your shoulders!
Addressing the 3 bad reasons we hang onto stuff…
(Expand to read!)
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If you haven’t needed something up to this point, it’s unlikely you ever will! Keeping things “just in case” is a recipe for hoarding. We don’t live our lives, work our jobs, or set our goals based on unlikely “what ifs”, so why should we run our homes that way?
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FALSE! This apparent observation is just garden variety selective recall at work. You don’t remember alllllll the things you’ve parted with over the years — just the things you ended up needing after the fact.
While this does happen sometimes, the minor inconvenience of occasionally having to replace something is a small price to pay for having a beautiful, organized home that you feel GOOD in all of the time!
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The thing is, “keepsake” is oftennn a euphemism for “junk-I-don’t-need-and-never-look-at-yet-continue-to-haul-through-life”!
If you ACTUALLY have interesting, beautiful, or decorative sentimental items that you love, display them. If you have unattractive, yet deeply meaningful items that truly bring you joy, keep them accessible and go through them regularly!
But upon honest consideration, you’ll often find that these things you’ve been holding onto aren’t really that meaningful, and you can definitely go on without them. Capturing them in a photo or short video will do the trick!
Purging is a big task, but I promise IT’S WORTH IT! Imagine walking into your office, workshop, kitchen, or closet and knowing that everything serves a purpose, and everything has a place? Imagine knowing that YOU are in control of your space and your belongings, not the other way around? Brilliant!
To quote my dad (somewhat out of context 😅), “When the goin’ get tough, the tough get goin.” So buckle up, grab some bins, envision the goal, and purge the way!
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