Comments on: Ask the readers: Best tips for decluttering?

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Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:56:27 +0000

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By: Ms. Home Organization

Ms. Home Organization — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:50:40 +0000

I actually enjoy de-cluttering my home, well most of the time:) I usually get a few boxes (my favorite tunes are blasting) and start tossing things I haven’t used or worn, in so many years, into it. I then donate the boxes which is so rewarding.

By: 15 Great Decluttering Tips For The Home

15 Great Decluttering Tips For The Home — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:23:27 +0000

[...] I asked you guys for your best decluttering tips … and I pulled some of the best of those (there are many more good ones I wasn’t able to use). [...]

By: daisy

daisy — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:35:22 +0000

See it as “stuff”, all of it. Remove the sentimental feelings, the emotions, the memories, the value our mind places on things, and see it all just as collections of molecules arranged in different ways, but still just molecules. People and feelings are more than molecules, yet so often we allocate less time and value to them, than we do to our “stuff”. This concept was the greatest help to me in getting rid of things I saw as lovely, but that served no purpose except to clutter my house.
Also I read somewhere, You can admire and enjoy a waterfall without having to own it and display it in your lounge room, and it’s the same with “stuff”. That really set me on the road to living simple and uncluttered home.

By: crafty momma

crafty momma — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:17:07 +0000

Sell it on EBAY!! Sell your items and make cash. It works. When ever I declutter I have a Put away hamper. Toss hamper and a sell hamper and a thrift store box. The sell pile is my favorite. Once the hamper is full it gets filled again and once I have enough to fill a large tote the fun begins. I then create my listings in my spare time and once they are all made upload them to ebay using auctiva. Anything that I don’t wish to sell thats in great condition goes to the local thrift store. Selling on ebay can get you more cash for your unwanted items or hard to part with items than a garage sale could. Think about it. If you have one item thats unused why sell it in a garage sale for 2.00 when you could sell it for more?

By: Danielle Batog » Spring Cleaning as Therapy

Danielle Batog » Spring Cleaning as Therapy — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:22:52 +0000

[...] Zen Habits: Best Tips for Decluttering [...]

By: The Bipolar Diaries » Dust Bunnies Are Hazardous To The Bipolar Personality

The Bipolar Diaries » Dust Bunnies Are Hazardous To The Bipolar Personality — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:19:39 +0000

[...] Best Tips for Decluttering [...]

By: Holly

Holly — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:41:57 +0000

Clutterbugs tend to live with minimalists — it’s a fact of life. Here’s what I do to minimize clutter that can’t be eliminated:

1. Find your deal breaker and focus your attention there. If the whole house can’t be a Pottery Barn display? Then at least the kitchen has to be clutter-free. If you keep your favorite spots clean, you’ll feel better and won’t drive everyone else crazy.

2. Gift everything. Books I’ve read immediately get recycled among friends, family or local libraries. When I bought a new gaming system, my old one –and all the games — was donated to the Children’s wing at the local hospital. They were thrilled.

3. Follow the “handful” principle. Grab a handful of magazines and take them to the recycling center. Take a couple of boxes. I used to create a national holiday over recycling, filling my car Beverly Hillbillies style. It became such a bear of a job it seldom got done. Now, when I’m heading in that direction I grab 2 Amazon boxes and 6″ of catalogs/magazines from the coffee table and make a quick side trip. Amazingly, this works better.

4. No schedule. I love schedules and tried many of the “room a day” ideas presented here. They work great when you live alone. When you live with others you just begin to feel like the maid. It can be discouraging. Keeping the house clean is nice — not my life’s work. But it could be if I let it. I stopped spending time trying to plot more effective de-cluttering and instead took a handful of stuff to the recycling center.

5. Vacuum. Any room looks 37% better once it’s been vacuumed. Clutter got you down? Vacuuming burns calories and makes even the most cluttered room look better.

By: Ann M.

Ann M. — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:04:04 +0000

I find one of the best ways to declutter is have someone else (who you trust!) help you go through things. They don’t have the (sometime’s irrational) emotional attachment that you might have, but can still recognize if something should be kept.

A relative of mine was helping me move out of my apartment last spring, and I was trying to see up to the far back corner of a closet shelf to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything. My relative said, “If it’s that far back and you don’t know it’s there then you won’t miss it.” I said “good point” and that was that.

By: grace

grace — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:42:10 +0000

I agree that the first step is to stop buying , or accepting “stuff”.
The second step is to internalize that your value is not in your “stuff”. It is just “stuff”.
The third is to realize that your value grows when you share your “stuff”. Hoarding is a selfish act.
Now you can start culling and making good use of your “stuff” by donating.
It can be liberating.