If you’ve heard of Western Minimalism or Japanese KonMari, you know that these are principles that promote happiness through eliminating clutter, allowing only items that make you happy and are useful to live in your home. By removing things that don’t bring you joy, you’ll experience less stress and have more time and money to spend.
The “less is more” approach to home ownership and home selling are obvious. Less clutter means your home will be easier to navigate and keep straight, show better to homebuyers, and easier to pack up when you sell.
The most disorganized areas in your home are typically closets, drawers and cabinets. Here are some tips to make decluttering easier:
1. Start small, one closet or drawer at a time.
2. Assign a permanent home for every item.
3. Organize so you can see at a glance what’s in every storage area.
4. Fold sweaters and socks so you can see them readily.
5. Use marked containers for small or miscellaneous items.
6. Keep only beautiful, favorite or currently useful items.
7. Don’t let guilt force you to keep anything you don’t want.
8. Take donations and dispose discards from the house the same day.