At the office, everyone comments on how clean my home must be. As Good Housekeeping's household advice editor, I’m regularly testing out decluttering methods and trying out the latest cleaning gadgets. Despite this, my response is always: ‘You should see my mum’s house.’
Everything has a purpose in my mum’s home, and there’s not a speck of clutter in sight; you could say she has a black belt in decluttering. Here are the five ground rules she never breaks to maintain such standards.
1. Do regular sweeps
It’s an obvious point, but it needs to be said. Keeping an organised and clutter-free home involves monitoring what comes in by doing regular sweeps. So, decluttering shouldn’t be reserved for just as and when it’s required. It should be a habit, practiced as often as throwing away your daily rubbish.
‘I’m constantly on the lookout for clutter. I make my rounds every morning and evening, looking for empty boxes and packaging in the cupboards, as well as things that have spontaneously appeared where they shouldn’t. When deciding what to declutter, I ask myself: “Does it ever get used by me or anyone in the house? Do I get joy from it? Would it be missed? Did I know it was here in the first place? Could it go up in value?” If not, it’s time to let it go. I have to be strict with myself or else things quickly accumulate.’
By decluttering on a regular basis, making decisions on things becomes less of an uphill struggle and so it’s less of a chore. The above questions do work for everyday clutter, but if you’re dealing with sentimental items, you need to take time to come to terms with your feelings. In doing this, you can avoid the biggest decluttering regrets.
2. Get to know your charity shop
Decluttering efficiently involves more than running back and forth to the charity shop. My mum highlights the benefits of getting to know your charity shop.
What to Read Next
‘When I decluttered my dad’s home after he passed away, we had a lot of items to work through, and talking to the people who volunteered at the charity shop really helped. For items they couldn’t accept, such as vinyl records or reading glasses, they pointed us in the right direction. For specialist items, like walking sticks, they advised us to take them to the hospital. They give you a lot of local information that isn’t available online. Plus, they can tell you the kinds of items they’re looking for specifically to make sure things won’t get turned away in the future.’
Some charity shops may offer collections depending on how bulky and in-demand the item is – this is often the case for unwanted furniture and electrical goods. If your charity shop isn’t accepting donations at present, there’s always the option to donate via clothes banks or textile banks if the item is damaged (it can still be recycled).
3. Consider what’s not obvious clutter
My mum’s scope for clutter goes beyond the norm. She’s not just looking for things you’d obviously label as clutter, she’s considering what could contribute to the excess without meaning to. It might be something you’ve enjoyed owning, and you might even feel defensive about letting it go.
‘I adore gardening, but it’s easy to build up an excess of what you adore. For me, there’s countless seedlings growing in my greenhouse in the spring as well as an array of cuttings. I just can’t let perfectly good plants go to waste, but I don’t have the space for so many. So I offer them out to friends and family, often potting them up with one of the plastic pots I’ve acquired from the garden centre. Two birds (or plants), one stone.’
For myself, I have no end of finished cross stitches cluttering up the drawers. I enjoy making them but don’t really want them on every wall. I offer them out to friends and family first (someone may appreciate a home-made piece of wall art!), and if it’s still unclaimed, it can go to the charity shop (ideally framed), or it can be sold on Etsy.
4. Trade rather than buy
Buying things and bringing them home is one of the biggest contributions to clutter. Unless you make a conscious effort to remove as much as you add, you’re always going to have more stored. That’s why my mum makes a conscious effort to trade rather than buy and house things temporarily instead. That way, she gets to enjoy the item without having to declutter it later.
‘I use the library rather than buy new books. That way, I don’t need to find new homes for them once I’m finished, and I have a deadline to return them by, so they won’t just sit on the bookshelf. I also enjoy jigsaw puzzles, but rather than buy new ones, my neighbour and I trade them so we can complete twice as many! I find charity shops often have puzzles on sale, too, so when the time comes to replenish, I can effectively trade while donating here as well!’
There are all sorts of things you can hire or trade rather than purchase and store, and inevitably declutter later. Garden tools are widely available to rent (a neighbour might even have what you need), as is ski equipment and formalwear. Plus, small things you enjoy short-term, such as board games and CDs, can always be traded between friends, too!
5. Always think before you declutter
While you might be raring to go and have your bin bags at the ready, my mum stresses that you should stop and think if the item really has served its purpose before you declutter it. While this sounds a little counterproductive, and encourages the ‘but, what if’ niggling voice, it can save you from kicking yourself later and makes you feel better about what goes out.
‘I use old newspapers in the greenhouse when I’m potting up and sowing seeds to stop the compost from going everywhere. It’s also good for covering and insulating tender plants on cold nights. I never throw out an old toothbrush either – they’re brilliant for scrubbing small spaces when I clean. And the trimmings from my wool carpets are reserved for the top of the compost heap; it keeps the soil warm, especially in the wintertime, and encourages bacterial growth. You can’t do this with synthetic carpets though.’
Here at GH, we’ve gone to town on finding ways to repurpose those items that have stacked up over the years. For instance, old bedsheets can be used as drop cloths (my mum endorses this, too), old tote bags can be used as a travel laundry bag and you can reuse silica gel packets to protect your photo albums.
As the Household Advice Editor, Katie looks after all things cleaning and decluttering. She started out as a Junior Tester in the Good Housekeeping Institute 10 years ago, so she’s tested plenty of appliances in her time too, including dishwashers and washing machines. Nowadays, she focuses on keeping our cleaning content up to date and accurate, testing relevant products and learning about the latest methods and trends along the way.
