Housing News

How to Declutter Your Home and Why it Matters

I love to get rid of things. Every time I purge my possessions, I feel lighter, more focused, and better aligned with my goals.

As a writer who loves physical books, has a passion for style, and loves to try new creative outlets, I’ve had to learn to be mindful about what I own to not overcrowd the small apartments I’ve always lived in. Being a minimalist, this has meant I’ve had to learn how to balance my love of simplicity with my enjoyment of being surrounded by things.

Through trial and error, I’ve learned how to keep my space decluttered and be mindful of what I buy. I use a combination of how objects make me feel, my value system, and my personal goals to figure out what to hold onto—and what to give or throw away.

Organizer Marie Kondo became a sensation for asking folks to consider whether an item “sparks joy” before deciding its fate.  

This works well for certain things, like old clothes. But it’s not so easy to make decisions for most of my other belongings.

So, how do I choose what to get rid of? I use several different criteria when I declutter my space.

Decluttering your home

When I’m debating if it’s time to put something in the donation bin, I consider three things:

My feelings

Like Kondo, I do ask myself how I feel when I look at different objects.

I try to cultivate feelings of peace, security, and satisfaction in my space. So, I pay attention to whether objects elicit these feelings when determining what stays and goes.

A hammer does not spark joy. But my tools do give me a sense of security that I can put together my own furniture.

My values

My values have changed over time and will likely change again. But there are several that are core to who I am. They are sustainability, aesthetics, community, and creativity.

You will rarely see me get rid of any art. Most of my art was made or gifted to me by someone I care about. The more values an object aligns with, the less likely it is to wind up in the Goodwill pile.  

My goals

I also consider my goals when I’m decluttering.

For example, I’m a writer, have been for more than a decade, and probably will be one for the rest of my life. That’s why you will almost never see me get rid of any books.

The top 5 things I like to get rid of

Clothes

I love clothes. I grew up thrifting with my single mom and learned to appreciate the value of objects with stories. Trying different styles is important to my creativity. However, that often results in my having more clothes than I’m regularly wearing.

My favorite way to get rid of them is to pass them along to friends. I routinely go through my wardrobe and see what I haven’t worn in a while, what I might have a newer favorite of (like the 5 olive green jackets that I own all in slightly different styles), and what I think someone else might appreciate more.

Kitchenware/gadgets

The kitchen is one of my favorite spaces to practice minimalism. I like to cook a lot of one-pot recipes. Since I don’t keep a lot of extra cookware, it’s easy to see quickly what I use and what I don’t—and clean out my cabinets accordingly.

Old hobbies

I want to do everything all the time. When I get excited about a new hobby, I will purchase a bunch of stuff for the thing. Then six months later, I’ll realize I have not touched any of it.

Getting rid of anything in this category is hard. It’s often easier to give it away to someone who would enjoy these things.

Bonus points if we are close enough friends that we can share tools and supplies.

Furniture

Furniture can be an easy thing to keep—even if certain pieces eventually become surfaces to hold the clothes that I don’t want to put away.

Sometimes it’s better to relocate a piece of furniture rather than get rid of it. I recently rearranged my study and now sit in a chair every day that I had barely used for the previous year.

Once I’ve tried a few locations and it’s still not being used, it must go.  

Gifts/memorabilia

Over the years, I have collected various gifts, holiday cards, and other sentimental items that I keep in trunks around my place.

I no longer keep things only because I think I should. For instance, when my parents moved, they sent me shoe boxes full of old photos. A lot of these are duplicates or 20 or 30 photos from the same family event.

For things like this, I choose my favorites and move them to more intentional spaces, like journals. Then I get rid of the rest without any guilt.

Why I declutter so often

Less clutter in my home translates into more space in my head. In a world where everything demands my attention, limiting the physical things that can have it makes me feel calmer and helps keep me focused on what’s actually important.