The Four Elements of a Clutter-Free Home
The Four Elements of a Clutter-Free Home
We have always believed that having a physically organized space fosters a sense of emotional calm.
When things are out of place, or overrun with clutter, it causes a physical reaction of stress whether we acknowledge it or not. The visual distractions subconsciously pull our attention away from the things we want to be focusing on – like quality time with your significant other, or being a really present mom for your kids. By creating systems in your home that are easy to use, everyone is able to keep their belongings organized, your house stays relatively clutter free, and as a result, you get to spend so much more of your time just being together as a family. I love helping my clients to achieve the sense of calm that comes from having an organized home.
There are four elements to making and keeping a clutter-free home: Decluttering (the process of choosing what to keep and what to let go of), Organizing (designating a home within our homes for each object), Maintenance (caring for our items, including putting things back where they belong), and Prevention (adopting habits that prevent clutter from accumulating in the first place). Below, we’re providing some insight into each of the four processes.
“An organized space is a beautiful space.”
Step One: Decluttering
The best place to start is to pare down what you own. There's absolutely no point in storing things you don't use and don't love. Instead of spending money buying bins to hold that useless stuff, go through your belongings and edit, edit, edit. You may find, after decluttering, that you actually don't have a lot left to organize. If you need extra storage, spend money buying some quality pieces made of quality materials. Try using plastic organizing materials only where deemed absolutely necessary.
Decluttering is about more than just ridding yourself of stuff. It’s about feeling good—and what I believe is the key to clarity, efficiency, even empowerment. If your physical space is something of a metaphor for your headspace, think of my suggestions as a pathway to a clearer mind. Clutter makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally. When you look at clutter objectively and examine the negatives of a cluttered home juxtaposed against the positives of a streamlined and functional space, it is clear that taking even small steps to tame clutter can have a big impact.
My work often includes helping clients let go of possessions in their home. You don’t have to be a minimalist to enjoy a clean and tidy home. But, there is a level of self-awareness that’s necessary in order to acknowledge when you own too much. Assessing everything in the space during the organizing process is so important. Editing is a crucial part of AGH’s methodology that allows us to fully access the space and the items it needs to accommodate. The first step is to remove everything from the space (and we mean everything). From there, we group items by category and pare them down to wants and needs, and purge the rest. With a pared-down supply, we can then decide on a functional system that fits the space and specific lifestyle.
I encourage clients to ask themselves these questions to help determine whether to let go of something or not:
Do I love it?
Am I going to use it/wear it? When?
Is there sentimental meaning behind this item?
Am I hanging onto this solely out of the guilt I’ll feel for letting it go?
Do I own more than one of these? Why?
Which is more important: the item or the space it takes up?
How we clear clutter is also as important as what we clear. The process of clearing often has a much greater impact on our homes and lives than what we ultimately choose to keep and to let go of. If we are judging ourselves as we clear clutter or if we focus only on the clutter and disorganization, then we bring that energy into our lives. For this reason, begin the process by clarifying your intentions: Start by imagining your ideal home and life with your family. How do you feel? Let those feelings guide your clearing.
“Seek out organizational products made of sustainable natural materials. They’re better for the planet, and you won’t have to stash them out of sight.”
Step Two: Organizing
Every organizing design AGH creates for clients is completely custom to their space, its measurements, their items and personal style, but there are plenty of useful general tips to apply when tackling your own space.
For instance, focus on simple systems that are intuitive to learn, and easy to maintain. Start by grouping all the similar categories together.
Think about the items you use every day, the items you use occasionally, and the items you almost never use. Frequently used items should be kept in easy-to-access places, and lesser used items further away. For instance, if you eat cereal every day, keep a breakfast bin in easy reach. If you only bake twice a year, keep your baking bin at the top of the pantry to free up valuable real estate on lower, easier to access shelves.
For kids, color-coded toys, books, and clothes make it easy for kids to find what they are looking for and easy to put away at the end of the day.
Be realistic with your time and lifestyle. If you’re a busy parent and/or have a time-consuming job, you’re not going to want to empty every box of pasta and cereal into jars when you get home from the grocery store. It would be better to simply have bins labeled Pasta and Cereal to make unloading groceries quick and easy.
An easy way to keep clutter under control is to create boundaries using products. Create limitations that are easy to maintain by dedicating a basket/bin/drawer/shelf for one category. Then, once the allocated space becomes full, take that as a sign to begin the review and decluttering process. This is especially helpful for kids’ stuff, as their interests, learning levels and sizes are always changing. Carefully curate what is displayed and how you style your space.
“Establish habits and routines that simplify your life.”
Step Three: Maintenance
The key to long-term success is approaching organization as a way of life, not a one-time-event.
It sounds simple, but maintenance all comes down to making organization in your home a priority. It’s unrealistic to think that your house is going to look picture-perfect at all times. Life happens, and things get messy. But, having that dedicated space for your items to go back to is what organization is all about. And making the time to keep those systems in order (aka putting your things away) in addition to having LESS is what will keep things sustainable in the long term.
Once you have cleared the excess and implemented dedicated systems for your items, 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. 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.
“Buy fewer and better things. Resist impulse and stopgap purchases. Instead, zero in on quality.”
Step Four: Prevention
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.
A stopgap purchase is something you buy for a quick fix—a bandaid, if you will. It's the opposite of a considered purchase, which is something high-quality, but not necessarily high-cost, and well-designed. It's made of natural materials (metal, wood, linen, etc.), and made to last. And it's not trendy. Stopgap products are alluring because of their price point; it's hard to resist buying, say, a pretty $5 basket (baskets are my weakness). When you find yourself at a big box store, on the verge of buying a cheap product, ask yourself: Will it last? Will you still like it in a year? And will it do the job it's intended to do well?
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. 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.
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember to relax and make yourself feel at home. Too much enforced order is uninviting for habitants and guests alike. Rooms are meant for living. Life happens. And life isn't always tidy. We're not interested in pristine, clinical interiors. What's important to A Good Home is making sure that good systems are in place (the hard part), so that we ultimately don't have to waste time locating our keys or rooting around for a certain scarf among dozens. Enforced order can be off-putting and complicated. Simplicity—less stuff, well-thought-out routines—is the kind of order we're after.