Whether you’re working towards living a more minimalist lifestyle, or you’re just feeling like there’s too much ‘stuff’ and you want to declutter, creating a clutter-free home for yourself is going to make you feel better in a myriad of ways.
But the idea of taking your home from where it is now, to a more clutter-free state, can be a little overwhelming.
Where do you start?
What do you remove?
Does this mean you can’t buy anything ever again?
But what about your huge collection of books? Or candles? Or odd-shaped photo frames?
It’s okay and totally normal to feel resistance to change, especially around decluttering because we often cover our emotions with ‘stuff’. But you’re here because you want to create a clutter-free minimalist home, and doing so is not as complicated as you might think.
What Is A Clutter-Free Home?
First, we have to determine what a clutter-free home is, for you. The key part here is working out what it means specifically for you because everyone will have a different idea of what clutter0free means for them.
Does it mean having a completely empty home with nothing on the floors or walls?
Or does it mean having a minimalist approach where you only have a few select items in each room?
Maybe for you, it means getting rid of all the things that don’t ‘spark joy’ as Marie Kondo would say.
Or perhaps it’s simply that you want everything to have a place and everything stays in its place.
You might even find that it’s a combination of all four.
Remember that there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to decluttering your home, nor is there one way you have to live in order for it to be considered clutter-free.
What Do You Need For A Clutter-Free Home?
Once you’ve given some thought to what a clutter-free home means for you, it’s time to start thinking about the items you’ll need in order to make this a reality.
In most cases, it’s going to require a bit of organization and storage solutions.
Some of the essential items you’ll need include:
-Storage containers and baskets
-A filing system
-Label maker or some form of labeling system
(A labeler is a great tool to have as it allows you to easily label storage containers. You can also use it to put labels on shelves so you remember what is supposed to go where).
15 Tips For Creating A Clutter-Free Home
Now that we’ve gone over what’s required to create a clutter-free home, let’s have a look at 15 simple tips for decluttering and keeping a clutter-free home.
You don’t have to do all of these things at once and you may find that some resonate with you more than others, but this is a great place start and find some inspiration.
1 – Have A Clear Why
The first step when moving towards a clutter-free home is to know your why.
This might sound a little obvious, or maybe even a little vague, but knowing why you want to have a clutter-free home is going to help you stay motivated and keep your home free of clutter.
Be specific about your why – maybe you want to have a clutter-free home because it helps you be more productive, or because clutter is stressful for you, or perhaps you’re finally ready to be surrounded by things that make you happy.
2 – Everything Has A Place
This is a fundamental rule of clutter-free living – everything needs to have a place.
This means that when you’re finished using an item, it goes back to its designated spot. Not only does this help with avoiding piles of clutter, but it also and easy way to help keep excess stuff at bay (if you don’t have space for it, then you don’t need it).
Having a designated spot for everything will help you to be more productive and keep your home clutter-free, there’s no space for clutter when everything is where it is supposed to be.
3 – One In, One Out
This is the clutter-free version of ‘out with the old, in with the new’.
Every time you buy or receive something new, you need to get rid of something old.
It’s difficult at first but it does get easier with time. This also works very well when you’re decluttering sentimental items because rather than trying to get rid of everything at once, you’ll only be throwing out one item that is clutter-free.
4 – Use A Timer
Each day set a timer for 10 minutes and go hard at putting things away, clearing clutter from surfaces like kitchen benches and open spaces like your living room.
Using a timer helps you feel less overwhelmed as you just get moving, and it stops you from feeling like you have to spend hours cleaning and organizing.
You’ll be amazed at what you can get done in 10 minutes!
5 – Declutter Each Room
It might seem fairly obvious, but it’s much easier to keep your home clutter-free when you have less stuff to deal with.
Start with the room that is the most cluttered and work your way through each room until your home is clutter-free.
This makes the process less daunting and means that you’re more likely to stick to it.
You can even break down each room into zones to make the decluttering process easier. For example, in your bedroom, you could have one zone as a closet, the other as your bedside drawers, and then the third as the rest of the room like under your bed, etc.
6 – Declutter Again
The clutter-free life is a journey, not a destination.
This means that you need to be willing to declutter your home on a regular basis.
Set a goal to declutter your home every 6 months and stick to it. This will help keep the clutter at bay and stop it from building up over time.
It also means that you won’t have to go through as many clutter-clearing sessions as you’ll be decluttering regularly and maintaining a clutter-free life rather than just getting there and staying there.
7 – Have One Zone For ‘Stuff’ – aka The Junk Drawer
We all have a junk drawer, or some version of it… A space where everything goes that doesn’t really have a space of it’s own, doesn’t really fit into any category, and somehow, no matter how much stuff you put into the junk drawer, there’s always space for a little more.
You don’t have to get rid of your junk drawer (or whatever your version of this space is). In fact, having one can actually help you stay clutter-free.
Having one zone where you can just dump random things that don’t really have a place but you still need, or might need, at some point, means that these things do have a place, are out of sight, and you can find all kinds of treasures in there.
The key is to make sure you go through your junk drawer on a regular basis and remove anything that is more trash than junk you might use.
8 – Buy Only What You Love
This tip is particularly important for clutter-free living, because it’s often the impulse buys that end up cluttering our home.
Instead of making impulse purchases in the first place or buying things on a whim, ask yourself if you really love what it is you want to buy.
If the answer is yes, then go for it! If it’s not an impulse buy or something you’ll only use once in a while, try to resist making the purchase and wait a week or two to see if you really need it or want it, or if it was more of an ‘in the moment’ item.
Changing your shopping habits can be difficult, but it is a great way to ensure you don’t undo all of your hard work and derail your clutter-free lifestyle.
9 – Focus On Quality Over Quantity
When it comes to the things we own, quality is more important than quantity.
This means that you should invest in pieces that will last rather than buying a lot of things that won’t last and will just clutter your home.
This also goes for clothes – buy less but buy better quality so you can wear them for longer.
It also means you’ll appreciate what you have more.
For example, rather than buy 5 cheap candles from Target, get yourself a beautiful large candle that makes you smile and looks great in your space.
10 – Use Mindful Organization Tools
There are a number of different mindful organization tools that you can use to help declutter your home.
These storage systems can help when you’re wanting to store something like a seasonal item (think winter coats, Christmas decorations, etc) and can help create more space in a small area like a hall closet, and can help you make the most of your storage space.
Some of these include things like:
These tools can help you stay clutter-free by providing storage for everything and keeping it organized in a way that makes sense.
For example, if you have a lot of jewelry, buy a storage system that allows you to store it all – without tangles! – to cut down on the clutter and keep your space clutter-free.
The key with mindful organization tools is to use whatever works for you and whatever helps you create a clutter-free house.
11 – Go Digital
Do you still have a drawer full of DVD’s or CD’s? And what about *gasp* your book collection?
With just about every movie/TV show being available on the number of streaming services, and almost every song being available too, is there any reason to keep your DVD and CD collection? Or is it just adding to the clutter (plus they take up a bunch of space).
If you have a large collection of books, you can go digital by purchasing a Kindle, downloading the Kindle app or Audible and listen to your books that way (and you get a free book with an Audible trial, so that’s a win!).
Another way to go digital is to store your paperwork in a cloud or on your computer (with backups of course). Rather than keeping piles of paper around, use apps like Google Drive to keep it safe, stored, and searchable!
12 – Create Beautiful Spaces
Creating beautiful spaces in your home, that make you smile, make you feel good, and make you happy, means you’re more likely to want to keep that space looking good and clutter-free.
Simple things like having a made bed, displaying items that are of sentimental value, and simply having a favorite room of your house can lead to less stress and help you to enjoy your home more.
Giving yourself the freedom to be creative and create Pinterest-worthy spaces is super motivating and also makes you feel good in your home – which is exactly how you should feel.
13 – Create Clutter Busting Habits
If you want to keep your home clutter-free, it’s important to create clutter-busting habits.
This means things like tidying up as soon as you’re done with something, putting things back in their place immediately, tidying the kitchen before going to bed, and taking a few minutes each day to declutter.
Be sure to create these habits around what works best for you. You might find that tidying up at the end of the day is the best method for you, or making tidying up part of your evening routine helps you create and stick to your new daily habit.
Creating these new habits will help keep the clutter from building up over time and will help keep your home clutter-free.
14 – Create A Home Management Binder
Keeping track of everything can be hard, and knowing where to find all the important information can be difficult too, especially if you don’t have a system.
Creating your own Home Management Binder can help with this because you’ll be able to store all the important details – like medical information, and contact lists – in one place AND you can use it to keep track of things like home maintenance tasks, budgets, and even grocery lists.
This Home Management Binder has just about everything in it you could need – you just print it out, fill it in, and add it to a binder with any relevant documents to keep together. So easy, so much time saved, and makes maintaining a clutter-free home that much easier.
15 – Keep Flat Surfaces Clear
One of the best ways to help keep your home clutter-free is to keep flat surfaces clear.
This means no more piles of mail, no more random toys, and no more clutter on your kitchen counter.
The best way to do this is by creating organizational zones in your home – like a ‘mail zone’ (avoiding junk mail) and a ‘toys zone’ – and make sure clutter-free zones are clutter-free by keeping flat surfaces clear. If you need to keep something on a table or counter, make it easy to put back where it goes.
Your home should be clutter-free – both in your mind, and physically. If you take these simple tips into consideration when decluttering and organizing your home, you’ll be well on your way to having a clutter-free home for life!
