A little spring cleaning is always in season. Decluttering can be a wonderful way to give yourself a clean slate and a fresh start anytime of year. As the amount of clutter in your life dwindles, the benefits start to pile up. You'll find more room in your living space. You may even rediscover some old favorite items you can put to good use that were hiding behind all that built-up stuff. And you might just start to get some fresh ideas about what kinds of things will truly support the life you want to live in your home.
The key is to get into the right mindset, set yourself up for success with a solid strategy and then find the tricks and tactics that work best for each area of your life. Let's jump in and start creating some space to breathe, live and dream!
1. Warmup: Take Out the Trash
Decluttering can be tough when it's hard to see where to start. To create momentum without getting lost in the nostalgia of old photos and keepsakes, start by "de-trashing." Removing obvious trash from your spaces—think dried-up markers, empty shampoo bottles and stacks of newspapers and magazines—can create a motivating sense of accomplishment and also let you see the bigger tasks more clearly. Pro tip: Start in the junk drawer.
2. Mindset: Think Joy
It's been 10 years since Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" left Japan and swept through the English-speaking world. Since then, countless people have used her KonMari Method™ to discover the joy that comes from living surrounded primarily by things you've intentionally chosen.
If Kondo's instructive books are on your shelf and gathering dust themselves, here's a refresher: The KonMari Method is centered on physically touching each item and asking yourself honestly how you feel about it. If it doesn't spark joy or serve a useful purpose in your life, you thank the item and bid it farewell. Then, you can focus on arranging and storing your chosen items for easy access to maximize the joy they bring.
3. Strategy: There's a Box for That
Set yourself up for success by designating four options for each piece of former clutter. This handy sorting method works by creating a destination for everything, so you don't get slowed down by wondering what to do with each item as you process it. Start with four labeled boxes or bins:
- Keep
- Toss
- Donate/Sell
- Store
Everything goes into one of the four boxes. The “keep" items get put away properly, and everything else finds a new home. Now, how do we figure out what goes into these helpful boxes?
4. Tactics: Numbers Games
There's no shortage of catchy numerical tricks for making headway against clutter around the house. Choose one that fits the area and type of clutter you're working on. If it's not working, try another one!
- The 90/90 rule can help you process an overflowing closet quickly. This is one to try if you're having trouble finding your sparks of joy. If you haven't worn an item in the last 90 days and don't anticipate wearing it in the next 90, simply send it to the toss or donate/sell boxes. This technique reduces emotional calculations to a simple yes or no answer.
- The 12:12:12 challenge creates a bit of a game. You hunt down 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate and 12 items that need to be returned to their proper place. Thirty-six items later, you might be surprised at how tidy things are looking. Repeat until you can't come up with 12 in each category. Joshua Becker suggests this and other challenges in Becoming Minimalist.
- The 20/20 rule is a trick for feeling more decisive when you hit a stumbling block in your decluttering journey. The 20/20 rule—reportedly first introduced by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists and made newly popular on TikTok—says that if an item you're unsure of could be replaced in less than 20 minutes or for less than $20, let it go. That way, you can reduce the chance of regretting a ruthless purge.
5. Bonus Step: Digital Decluttering
If you need a break from hauling heavy bags and inhaling dust, consider spending some time decluttering your desk and digital world. Start with your piles of paper and then move on to your devices.
- If you have a few years' worth of bills and paperwork, chances are you no longer need them all. With the exception of tax documents, most can be shredded after a year. Double-check how long to keep paperwork, and when in doubt, scan and save digital copies.
- On your mobile devices, remove apps you don't use to free up storage and reduce visual clutter on your screen.
- Delete repetitive or blurry photos and videos, and remove downloaded podcasts or audiobooks you've finished listening to.
- In your contacts, delete duplicates and landline numbers that no longer exist.
- Take a spin through your digital documents and put your files into logically organized folders, creating new ones as necessary.
- In your email inboxes, delete and unsubscribe from recurring emails you no longer want.
- Go virtual: So many albums, movies, TV shows and video games are available as streams or downloads. Do you even have a working DVD or VHS player? Consider letting go of physical media that has a good digital version.
- Empty your digital trash bins—no bulky bags involved!
A Fresh Start
Your final step is one that actually never ends: continuous evaluation. Going through all your belongings, did patterns emerge in how you feel about certain elements of your space? Maybe it's a certain color combination, type of material or design aesthetic, or perhaps there's something about the history of an item that gives it meaning. Lean into the things that make your home uniquely yours by displaying them with pride. For the clothing and accessories that create your signature style, invest in organizers for your drawers and closets.
After clearing out what's faded, outdated or outgrown, you may find yourself inspired to refresh your space with intentional new pieces. Now that you have a deeper understanding of what that "it factor" is for you, use it as a guide as you continue to build the home—and life—of your dreams.
READ MORE: Creative and Affordable Ways to Organize Your Home