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Do you want to declutter and simplify your home but feel a bit stuck? You could probably do with hearing a few clutter truths.
It can be hard getting rid of things.
We associate so many emotions with physical belongings and tell ourselves many excuses about why we can’t deal with it. We feel guilty, wasteful, stressed and overwhelmed.
It’s not an overnight process, but you can make progress. And a lot of it starts with changing your mindset more than the actual physical act of doing.
Here are 10 truths about clutter that will change the way you think about your stuff.
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Clutter doesn’t just impact the appearance and usability of our homes, but it can have a massive impact on our mental wellbeing too.
Clutter can make you feel overwhelmed and suffocated. Have you ever felt ashamed of the state of your home? Too embarrassed to invite a friend around? Would you feel comfortable with a guest turning up unannounced?
If any of these points resonate with you then perhaps it’s time to start thinking about decluttering.
Your home should be the antidote to stress, not the cause of it.
It should be a place that you can relax in and unwind. Somewhere where you escape the stresses of outside life.
But if you’re coming home to a messy, disorderly space then it’s going to do the opposite.
Decluttering can help you to feel better about yourself and to take pride in your home.
Allowing you to come home and relax without feeling guilty about the mess surrounding you that needs to be dealt with.
Here’s the thing, if you’re thinking about purchasing more storage, ask yourself ‘why?’.
Are you storing things that you don’t actually use? Are you putting things out of sight and out of mind, instead of dealing with them?
Decluttering frees up space – if you get rid of the items you don’t use and love, you’ll have more space for the things you do and therefore you may not need to purchase new storage.
Following on from the above point, if you clear out a space you don’t immediately need to fill it with something else.
If you have an empty drawer, shelf or unit, instead of thinking about what you can put in it, consider getting rid of the entire thing and reclaiming the space.
I’ve been so guilty of holding onto things over the years because they’re ‘useful’.
Spoiler: if you’re not using it, it’s not useful! Consider donating it to a family member, a friend or a charity who might actually get some use out of it.
Think hard about those things you’re keeping just in case.
Those shoelaces ‘might come in handy’, but if the situation arose where you needed new shoelaces would you know that you have some in the house or would your instinct be to go out and buy some? (This an actual real life example from a discussion I had the other day haha).
Decluttering can begin with the best intentions but it can often end with stuff being loaded into boxes and shuffled around the place, instead of actually being dealt with.
When you are decluttering, ask yourself why you are keeping this particular item and if you seriously do see yourself using it.
Or will it just be gathering dust in the attic for the foreseeable future?
Get rid of stuff, stop bringing more stuff in and enjoy the tranquillity that comes with having less.
That once cluttered counter top in the kitchen? Now it takes seconds to spritz and clean, instead of all the time wasted moving knick-knacks off the surfaces to clean the crumbs, dirt and grime that collects around them.
Instead of having multiple bottles of partially used product in the bathroom that go nice and slimy and leave marks on the bath side, install a shower rack and keep out only the products you need until they are empty. This will cut bathroom cleaning time drastically.
The huge pile of bed sheets and towels in the airing cupboard that falls out every time you remove something? Go through it and pare it back.
How many towels does a couple truly need? By having less, you’ll notice less of these daily inconveniences and spend less time on chores and cleaning and tidying.
You’ll have less on your to do list and more time to spend on things you truly enjoy.
One of the biggest obstacles when it comes to decluttering is the guilt of wasted money.
The thing is, that money’s gone and was wasted the second you spent it on an item you never use.
Keeping it because of this guilt doesn’t make that money any less wasted.
If it really bothers you, try and sell the item to recoup some of the expense, but stop harnessing that guilt and accept that it is a sunk cost and really doesn’t matter anymore.
Sometimes society can make us feel like we need to have and own certain things to have a certain social status.
Having less ‘stuff’ doesn’t make you any less of a person. For the longest time I followed home accounts on Instagram feeling inadequate and like I needed to buy certain things and make my home look a certain way.
Buying those things wouldn’t have made me happy – they’re not my style and owning them has no bearing on how much I matter as a person.
The second I stopped putting so much importance on having the ‘right things’ I became instantly happier in myself.
And finally, less really is the new more.
More and more people are embracing simplifying their life and their homes and the benefits really are infinite.
That’s not to say you need to give up all your belongings and go off the grid to live in a shack with no running water.
But simplify to a level that you’re comfortable with and makes you feel pride in yourself and your home.
A level that brings you peace and creates the calming environment that you deserve. You got this.
