Practical Tips For A Simple and Clutter-Free Home

Read Time: 4 minutes

Today, I want to show you some practical things my family is doing to create and keep a clutter-free home.

Now, in no way am I implying that this is the only way to do things, but we’ve experienced great results with this exact approach.

I firmly believe that when you deploy the correct actions, you improve your chances to:

• Prioritize family time
• Enjoy your space
• Spend less time cleaning

And that’s a big win for you and your entire household.

To do this effectively, you’ll need to spend some meaningful time identifying your core values.

And once you’ve done that, creating a clutter-free home becomes much more approachable.

Here’s a quick checklist to consider.

Stop Organizing

I enjoy a well-organized space. I’ve always had, and even at the height of my cluttered life, I still managed to organize it in a way that made sense.

But despite all the folding hacks, beautiful baskets, and space-saving storage containers I made great use of, the truth is that my home was still cluttered.

Organizing is a good recipe for keeping things you don’t need just because they “fit in the container” or “stack nicely” on top of a pile already too high.

Sadly, many people fall into this trap because it visually makes your space appear less cluttered, so you think you’ve decluttered successfully.

Rather than doing this, consider decluttering first and organizing last.

You’ll be surprised with how much money you can save if you’re not buying storage to store things you’re never planning to use.

Collaborate on Clutter-Safe Zones

If you share your home with someone else (partner, kids, siblings, roommates, or in-laws) and you’re on different pages about minimizing and living in a clutter-free environment, then I’m sure you’re oozing with frustration.

But more importantly, you’re probably searching for an answer on how to make this work.

I get it, trust me!

Although my wife and I are on the same page, we currently have a toddler who thinks he runs the house. And while we enjoy his energy, we also enjoy our clutter-free home.

The great news is that with some practical creativity (and collaboration), you can define both clutter-free and clutter-safe zones throughout your home.

Here’s how we make it work in our home.

• Clutter-Safe Zone: Our son’s minimal bedroom also serves as his wildly expressive playroom. This is his zone, and the one area in our home that we all agree is a clutter-safe zone. (We’ve also deployed various strategies that make clean-up quick and allow our son to be involved – I’ll talk more about this in a future issue).
• Clutter-Free Zone: The remainder of our home falls into what we’ve agreed to be the clutter-free zone. Our Kitchen, living area, and primary bedroom are the areas we work together to keep clean, free from unnecessary items, and organized.
  
  

Remove The Dumping Ground

The dumping ground is where you dump all your stuff when you come home from a long day. It’s the area of your home where things tend to pile up quickly.

Before decluttering, I had a few dumping grounds in my home.

1. The dining table – I used to dump my backpack, keys, mail, and unopened packages on the dining table and chairs. Then, when it was time for dinner, I would neatly stack these items on the corner of the table or the floor next to the table.
2. Accent chair in the bedroom – In my first apartment, I had a small chair in my bedroom that collected all the clothes I’d worn but weren’t dirty enough to be washed. As you can imagine, this area piled up quickly.
3. Bookshelf – Again, in my first apartment, I had a bookshelf in my living room that was a magnet for clutter and every knick-knack that didn’t have a proper home.

After deciding to declutter my life, one of the first things I did was remove the dumping ground. This not only helped to create a clutter-free environment visually, but it also forced me to develop a new routine and habits.

Here’s my encouragement for you.

• Commit to a new routine: Once you identify the dumping ground(s) in your space, make a conscious effort to stop dumping items there. Start by committing to a new routine and finding a proper home for everything you used to dump in this space.
• Involve the family: Chances are, the cluttered dumping ground isn’t just your stuff. Everyone who lives with you has had a hand in creating it, so this will be a household effort to turn it around. Use regular reminders and be persistent with any new habits you implement.
• Be patient: Clutter took you a long time to accumulate. So give yourself some grace when finding new solutions for it. Eliminating the dumping ground is just one step towards conquering the clutter in your home and life.
  
  

Summary

Creating a clutter-free home takes work, and none of it is easy (what good thing is?). But it’s absolutely doable if you deploy the correct actions.

I love this approach to clutter-free living because it works, and on top of that, it’s sustainable.

With these actions in mind, get out there and start creating an environment you’ll enjoy and love coming home to.

I hope you found this helpful.

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

⇨ The Decluttering Starter Kit: Skip the overwhelm and jumpstart your decluttering journey. This comprehensive course will teach and guide you through my multi-step action plan for decluttering with less overwhelm and more progress each week. Get access here.