DECLUTTERING 101

DECLUTTERING 101: You CAN declutter your whole house!

Are you currently selling your home?

Planning on downsizing soon?

Just want to simplify your life?

Decluttering is an essential first step in any of these situations.

Sorting through your entire home and all your belongings can seem like a monumental task. It’s overwhelming, making us exercise physical, mental and emotional muscles that we might not have used in years (or ever!).

Does decluttering your whole home seem like too big of a project? Are you starting to panic just thinking about it? Relax, just breathe. It doesn’t have to be that way.

First off, a Disclaimer: We didn’t invent these ideas. Instead, we did a deep dive into a lot of the advice available in books and on the internet. We discovered that most all of the different methods that experts recommend can be boiled down to two main approaches to this big task. Here we present them, along with the pros and cons of each method. We throw in those great tips and tricks from the pros, along with a dash of our own experience.

It’s up to you to adopt whichever approach suits your personality and your particular situation. Once you’ve done that, make your plan to regain control over your belongings, your space and your time.

With a great plan, you can live in a home that is:

tidy, organized and takes less time to clean and maintain
welll-aligned with the stage of life you’re in now
warm and welcoming when entertaining friends and extended family
comfortable and promotes wellness and happiness for you and your family

Ready? Let’s begin.

Let's look at two different approaches to this big job.

APPROACH #1: SORT BY CATEGORY

In decluttering methods using this approach, the idea seems to be that by gathering all the items of a single type together at once, you are motivated to get rid of a lot of items just by seeing the sheer volume of your belongings. There is some shock value involved! That said, we do tend to store similar items in different places around our homes, so bringing everything together helps you identify favourite items to Keep, as well as worn out or duplicate items (why do I own 12 black tee-shirts?), or that just don’t fit anymore – whether it’s a too snug jacket or the gear for a sport you gave up years ago, but kept “just in case” or a box of videotapes when you no longer own a working VCR.

Fair warning: this method makes a bigger mess before your space gets better, so it is recommended when you can schedule longer periods of uninterrupted work.

For more inspiration, pick up Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Joy of Tidying Up.

METHOD:

Divide everything you own into broad categories: clothing, paper, books, toys and games, kitchenware, office equipment, tools, and sentimental items, for example. Tackle one category at a time.
Gather every item you own in a particular category to sort all at once. The idea is that we often store items of the same category in different places throughout our home. You might keep tools in the basement workroom, in the garage, and also have a screwdriver, hammer and pliers in the junk drawer in the kitchen (No? Just me?)
We think it makes sense to sub-divide any really broad categories. If you are sorting clothing, for example, tackle each family member’s clothing separately. It wouldn’t be very productive to pull out all of your child’s clothing along with your spouse’s or your own. With the clothing example, pull out and sort every single item of clothing, for one person at a time, at the same time. include seasonal clothes, belts, scarves, accessories, outerwear and footwear, as well as any clothing items that might be in the laundry or at the cleaners.
In this approach, you pick up each item one by one. Hold the item until you have made a decision to put it into the Keep, Discard or Donate pile. Then pick up the next item, and do the same thing. Continue until you have sorted through everything in that category.
After each category sort, you put away the Keep items (recommendations for how you “should” store items you’re keeping are a topic for another day). Put the Discard pile in a garbage bag and immediately dispose of it wherever trash goes at your house. Bag or box up the items you’re going to Donate, and take them where they need to go. If you can’t get to the donation centre immediately, put these bags or boxes, clearly labelled, into your car, or by the doorway so you’ll see them next time you leave the house.
Work through all the categories until you’re finished. Some experts that promote this method say you should tackle the categories in a specific order. Others say it doesn’t matter, so long as you’re making progress and you get through everything. One thing everyone agrees on is to leave any sentimental items to the end.

PROS:

“Instant” results. Big transformations can be seen after completing each category and with concentrated effort, in a short number of days.
You can take advantage of offers of help from friends or family, who can make themselves available for specific and limited days. Your adult children can help sort through their childhood memorabilia that you’ve kept for decades, for instance. This can be an eye-opener; you may discover that while you’ve treasured every pasta-encrusted piece of kindergarten art, the now grown-up artist doesn’t want anything to do with this stuff.
You can meet a hard-stop deadline – for home selling, moving, or the arrival of famiy members for an extended visit.
Sense of satisfaction when whole home is decluttered at the same time.
This approach more closely mimics what an outside company will do if you hire them to declutter with or for you – they allot a specific number of worker hours to your project. Hiring an expert is often the best – or only possible – approach in a time crunch.

CONS:

Takes longer chunks of uninterrupted time and requires your concentrated effort and undivided attention.
Can be more physically taxing and requires a large space to sort through items.
Your home tends to look worse before it gets better.
This method is contrary to how new habits and confidence in our abilities are built (repeated actions and success over time), so new habits have to be learned and practiced before lasting change can occur.

APPROACH #2: SORT BY LOCATION

This is a more gradual approach to decluttering that’s more of a lifestyle than a single big event. The idea is that you are continuously editing and organizing your belongings, right in the place where you find them, so you’re sorting by location rather than category. The theory behind this approach is that decluttering is not a one-and-done task, and keeping your belongings under control is a skill that can be taught, and over time, it develops into a habit, then morphs into a lifestyle. This approach to controlling your belongings rather than letting them control you has a fair amount of behavioural science behind it, and seems to be more successful and sustainable over the long term. There are two big drawbacks: 1) it does not provide the instant gratification many of us are seeking, and 2) it is not a good method to use when you have a hard deadline to meet for the decluttering process. It could be the follow-up plan after an initial big declutter when getting your home ready to sell. It can also be a great way to declutter when your deadline is the holidays that are still months away.

Fair Warning: You will never really be finished decluttering – this method helps you build a habit, then a lifestyle, but since we humans are always acquiring new stuff, decluttering never truly ends. A side benefit is that once you start thinking about how much stuff you have, and the limited space in which to store it, you may find yourself buying less ‘”stuff” home, which slows the pace of clutter build up in your home. That clutter doesn’t grow legs and sneak into your house while you’re sleeping. You carry it home yourself!

For more inspiration, check out the YouTube channels of The Minimalist Mom, Clutterbug, or But First, Coffee.

METHOD:

In contrast with the first approach, you don’t gather everything together in one place but instead sort items wherever they currently are.
Your plan breaks down your space into rooms or areas, then breaks those down into smaller and smaller zones until an area can be tackled in a short amount of time ranging from just a few minutes to an hour or two.
As you go about your daily routine, you take advantage of small amounts of free time that might previously have been filled by scrolling through your phone. Here are a couple of practical examples of what this might look like irl: 1) Busy weeknight with only 10 minutes to spare? Sort through your sock drawer. Match up the pairs and discard any that have holes or have lost their mates. Done! Scratch it off your list and notice how much easier it is to get dressed the next day. 2) Have a few minutes of downtime while waiting for a toddler to finish breakfast? Really, it’s like watching paint dry some days, isn’t it? You can get frustrated while you wait for your adorable little munchkin to finish dropping all the food on the floor, umm, I mean, to finish their delicious and nutritious breakfast, Instead, why not make some progress towards your goal by sorting through one kitchen drawer or the pile of papers accumulating on your kitchen island? Just make sure to work at your own pace and check in with yourself and your energy levels to avoid pushing too hard and getting discouraged. This decluttering approach is more like a marathon than a sprint.
You also schedule longer decluttering sessions, but still work on very defined small areas, finishing them completely before moving to the next area, meaning you have dealt with each item in that small area by the time you’re finished.
You make progress incrementally, over time, one room or space at a time.

PROS:

Less daunting than taking on a whole house declutter all at once, so there’s less resistance to getting started. You don’t have to wait until you have a significant chunk of free time to devote to decluttering. All of us can find a few spare minutes, even if it’s only once a week at first. This method fits into and becomes part of your life. It’s about forming new habits and gaining confidence.
Kids and spouses can help so the responsibility for keeping your home tidy, organized and clean doesn’t fall on just one person. Instead it’s shared among everyone who lives in the home, from the little wee kids to the adults.
Because you concentrate on one small area at a time, your home never looks worse than before you started the decluttering process. If you’re interrupted, there’s no big mess to contend with later, because you didn’t make one in the first place.
You make progress every time you declutter, no matter how much time you spend or the size of the area you take on. You get better at making decisions about items (flex those decluttering muscles!) and get inspired to declutter more areas next time. Success snowballs!
You can take the time to thoughtfully dispose of items you no longer need in a way that aligns with your values – for instance, finding ways to keep your belongings out of landfill until their usefulness is completely depleted, or passing on family heirlooms – whatever is important to you. You can sell items on an online second-hand market place, donate them in the most appropriate way, responsibly recycle through local initiatives or pass on items to family members who will cherish them.
Instead of a big reveal at the end of the process, you have a gradual sense of your home lightening and opening up. As you complete the decluttering in each room, it feels different and you enjoy being in that space more. It’s easier to complete routine or deep cleaning and you’re motivated to keep that space organized and tidy.
You and your family build better habits over time, gaining confidence that you can maintain a comfortable and organized home. Those habits will help the next generation be more intentional about their belongings.

CONS:

There’s no instant WOW factor, no big reveal.
Takes longer for the initial purge of the home to be completed.
Meeting deadlines for a whole house declutter is more difficult – in this case you try a hybrid approach by hiring a professional team to meet a deadline, but then continue on your own in areas that aren’t required to be professionally decluttered for an Open House, for instance.
Most outside companies can’t use this method – hired helpers are on a schedule and on the clock. This is strictly a DIY project or labour of love that can only be done by the people who live in the home – although you could invite a friend over when you tackle your own clothing items to get a second opinion.

SUPPLIES FOR EITHER METHOD: GARBAGE BAGS AND DONATABLE BOXES

One thing the pros agree on is to use bags and boxes that aren’t see-through – no clear plastic bins or those blue transparent recycling bags. Once an item goes into a bag or box, you don’t want to see it again. That lessens the chance of you or a family member second-guessing the decision you’ve already made to donate or dispose of that item.

You will use opaque garbage bags for both trash and donations, so have a marker and stickers on hand to label the bags.
If donation items are too heavy or fragile, use a box, but not just any box! Don’t use your pretty, decorative boxes or expensive storage bins that you previously purchased to corral your stuff, because when it comes time to drop off the donations, you won’t want to part with those containers (yet). Then you’ll be forced to handle each item again as you transfer it to a disposable bag or box, undermining your decision-making confidence. Don’t do that to yourself.
If you hire professionals to do a big decluttering job, before they arrive, use two different colours of post-it notes or removable labels (packaging will say ‘temporary’) to mark items you want to Keep or Donate. Items destined for the garbage don’t need a tag – they are everything without a tag!
As soon as a garbage bag or box is full, close and seal it right away, especially if you can’t drop it off the same day. You will probably never miss those items.
That’s it! You don’t need to buy any fancy organization systems or a set of matching containers. Aside from garbage bags, boxes, packing tape, a marker and post-it notes or removeable labels, all you need is coffee (or something stronger), your own determination, and a sense of humour (helps in every situation).

FLEXING YOUR DECISION-MAKING MUSCLES!

It’s common for people with messy homes to describe themselves as procrastinators. They think this is a character flaw that they can’t change, but human psychologists disagree. They don’t even think the tendency to procrastinate is a character trait, but instead it’s a behavioural response to feeling overwhelmed, or being afraid of making the wrong choice. Some experts define procrastination as “delayed decision-making”. If we view our clutter through that lens, it makes it easier to deal with our discomfort and get started on making decisions about our stuff.

Believe it or not, decision-making is a skill you can improve with practice. Although there is such a thing as decision fatigue, it comes into play only when we have to make novel or unique decisions all the time. Decluttering involves more routine decision-making, which is why experts advise you to start with easy, no-brainer type decisions: “Should I keep this almost empty bottle of expired sunscreen?” We build decision-making muscles the same way we build regular muscles, one exercise at a time!

Once you commit to decluttering your space, if you find yourself hesitating over an item, you have two choices:

Acknowledge you don’t feel capable of making the decision right now, then consciously decide to revisit the item at a better time. Use the “maybe” method in this situation. Designate an out of the way area in your home where items ‘live’ while you’re undecided about their future. You can label a plastic tote to keep in your laundry room or storage area for this purpose. A good rule of thumb is to go through your “maybe” bin every 3 months on a schedule. If you haven’t gone to retrieve an item in that time, that tells you a lot about whether you really need to keep it.
Try to get clarity about the item by asking yourself a series of questions:
- If I don’t decide about this today, when will I be in a better position to decide? Is this item worth giving my time and attention to both today and on a future decision day? Am I willing to put the decision day on my calendar?
- Where will this item ‘live’ while I’m not deciding about it? Will it be in the way if I leave it where it currently is?
- If I decide to donate this item, could I easily replace it if necessary? Do I have a similar item that I could use for the same purpose? Is there a logical place to store it where I will know to look for it?
- Will my future self thank me for my action or inaction today?

Often you will have a much clearer answer after asking one or two of these questions. Really, just the fact that you’re questioning this item in the first place means it’s not a clear Keep! item.

To be able to make harder decisions, practice making easier ones first.

“Hmm, my daughter has 300 hair barrettes and scrunchies. Perhaps we only need to keep 10!”

comes before,

“These needlepoint throw cushions my grandmother left me are frayed and don’t suit my style, but I know she went half-blind stitching them by the light of an oil lamp – after working on the farm all day. What will my cousin say when she comes for Thanksgiving and sees I’ve replaced them? I’m afraid I’ll feel guilty about getting rid of them.”

Just listen to your own self-talk. If the answer isn’t obvious, ask yourself what advice you’d give your best friend in the same circumstances. Is there another way to honour your grandmother’s gift?

START SMALL, BUT START WITH A PLAN

Maybe by now you’ve chosen the method that will work in your circumstances, depending on your available time frame to finish or on the approach that best suits your lifestyle, but you’re still feeling overwhelmed at the thought of decluttering your entire home. You’re definitely not alone!

No need to panic. What you need is a PLAN – and we’ve got your back!

If you are selling or moving, have hired a professional company to help, or you have a burning desire to get the decluttering , are hiring a professional company to help, or have more time to devote to the process yourself, the Category Method might be for you. Grab our printable Declutter by Category Checklist that starts you off with basic categories of belongings that many people own. Everyone’s list will be different and specific to them (maybe you collect glass frogs???) so add categories that reflect you and your belongings.

If the idea of a more gradual but long-lasting result appeals to you, you might choose the Location Method, get our printable Declutter by Location Checklist for this approach, and again, we’ve left space to customize it to your home, so if antique teacups are your thing, add them to the checklist under the room where you keep it.

The best approach might be some combination of the two methods. I found the category method best for clothing items, but the location method best for the rest of my home. There are no rules – do whatever works for you. If you try one method and aren’t satisfied, don’t give up! Try the other approach!

No matter which approach suits you best, experts agree on this: START SMALL

This could mean beginning in a smaller room in terms of square footage, or with a smaller category in terms of the number of items to sort through. Go small in terms of emotional weight, too. Leave those glass frogs or antique teacups, along with any other sentimental items, to the end of your process. By that time, repeated practice will have developed some impressive decision-making muscles!

PRO TIP: USE THE CONTAINER CONCEPT

Whichever approach you choose, we highly recommend employing the container method to reduce your belongings count to a manageable level. It’s the way to go if your Keep pile is bigger than what will fit in your space.

When you think about it, your home is not only where you and your family live, it’s also a big “container” for all your belongings. The inside of your home is made up of increasingly smaller containers – floors, rooms, closets, shelves, racks, storage boxes, etc. – you get the picture.

It’s logical that the amount of your belongings that you can keep is limited by the size of the container you have to keep them in. There’s nothing to say you must fill every “container” in your home, but if you try to keep more clothes than what will comfortably fit in your closet, you’re going to have a problem.

DID YOU KNOW?

Real estate professionals and staging experts say your built-in closets, walk-in closets and kitchen cabinets should be only about 75% full when you’re selling your home. Buyers will open doors and cabinets to inspect the storage capacity. You want the insides of your closets and cabinets to feel uncluttered (there’s that word again!) and like there is room for plenty more belongings.

Here’s how you do it: once you’ve made your first pass through your items – let’s use cookbooks as an example – you decide where you’re going to store your cookbooks. This brings us to two important organizing concepts: Store like with like (keep similar items together in the same place, close to where they will be needed), and A place for everything, and everything in it’s place (anything that can’t be put away will just be in the way).

For cookbook storage, for practical reasons, they should probably be kept in or near the kitchen. Maybe you only have a single shelf available for the cookbooks. If your Keep cookbooks fit on that one shelf, fine – you’re finished with this category or location. If not, you need to keep editing the Keep pile until they fit, or you need to find a different “container” for the overflow.

For more on how the container concept fits in (get it?) check out Dana K. White on her YouTube channel, A Slob Comes Clean.

SENTIMENTAL ITEMS

Sentimental items – the things that tug at your heart-strings or instantly bring a loved one’s memory to mind – are different for everyone. For some people, it might be old family photos, while for others, it’s pasta kindergarten artwork made by your grown up kids, or the licence plate from the first car you ever owned. It could be jewelry left to you by a loved one – not quite your style, but you feel you can’t part with it.

Whatever items are the ones that get you in the “feels”, make sure you leave these to the very end of your decluttering process, or at least until you’re really well-practiced at making decisions. If you’re still struggling over old tee-shirts, you’re not ready for this yet!

If you like displaying a sentimental item, go ahead and keep it if it brings you happiness to see it. If it’s been packed away in a box for a long time, perhaps it’s time to let it go.
For “family heirloom” type items, ask other family members if they’d like to have an item before you discard it. If they say yes, give them a hard deadline by which to collect the item, otherwise you risk letting their procrastinating affect your goal of decluttering your home. Don’t be pressured by anyone who says an item “should stay in the family”, especially if that person isn’t willing to make space in their home and life for it.
For a younger child’s artwork, here are a couple of ideas:
- choose one or two of your favourite pieces and frame them for display
- choose one representative item from each grade, and make a scrapbook that can be given to the child when they are grown up. This will protect the items you select, and will be a more manageable keepsake than a box crammed to the brim with random paper
- some people find it’s sufficient to take photos of childhood artwork or collections of stuffed animals, then recycle or donate the actual item – I used to do this with my kids’ Lego creations so they’d be able to let the bricks be used in the next project, but it works while decluttering too. Snap a pic, then let it all go!
Are you one of those who saves greeting cards? Keepsakes don’t do anyone any good stuffed in a box, so if they are good enough to keep, are they good enough to frame and display? Are there some with special hand-written notes that you would like to keep? Consider taking photos to create an online album, then recycle the cards themselves.
Ask the most logical person if you need a second opinion. For instance, if you’ve kept every report card, project and grade school art masterpiece that your now adult son or daughter ever created, have you asked them if they want those items? Depending on their answer, box them up and send to them or put the paper in the recycling bin.
Going through a loved one’s belongings after they’ve passed away is one of the toughest decluttering jobs. Valuable items are usually dealt with in the Will, so what’s left is often outdated furniture, everyday household items and clothing. If this duty has fallen to you, why not try the method my cousin used to clear out our aunt and uncle’s apartment? She made a list and took photographs to send out by email to cousins across the country. The cousins each made requests for one or two keepsakes, and the remainder went up for sale or to charity. There were no complaints later, which is really what you want to avoid.
Sometimes the hardest things to let go of are the gifts that were given to us by a loved one who is no longer with us. The emotions, and let’s face it – guilt – of letting go of these things can be overwhelming. Remind yourself that this is just an object – it is not your loved one. Holding onto the physical item won’t bring them back, just as letting go can’t take away your memories of what they meant to you.

Finally, be gentle with yourself. If you are still actively grieving and can’t look at your loved ones things without becoming very emotional, it may be too soon to sort through their things. Acknowledge your emotions and decide on the date when you will try again. Trust that you’ll know when the time is right.

Coming Soon:

This is the first in a series of related blog posts about decluttering your whole house, organizing methods to keep your home decluttered, and deep cleaning your home. If these topics interests you, check back here soon. We’ll link the next blogs in the series as soon as they are posted.

In the meantime, tell us your decluttering story – what worked for you, what didn’t, and whether you were able to keep your home organized and clutter-free after the first big push to get it done. We love to hear your stories!

DECLUTTERING 101: You CAN declutter your whole house!