Decluttering Ideas From Around the World
Home organizers share their tips on how to think and live more clearly
Longing to free up space in your closet as well as on your overstuffed to-do list? Decluttering gurus from around the world shared their tricks for getting there. It’s about editing the things you own, sticking to what you use most often and, if truly necessary, considering external storage.
Many of us dream of a perfect home, an immaculate and serene space with no fingerprints in the kitchen or dust on the shelves, a large walk-in closet and books sorted by color in the library. But in reality, many of us find ourselves with a too-small home full of old toys, excess shoes, and books and paperwork everywhere.
The number of things in our home increases as time passes, but unless we move or remodel, the space stays the same. So what to do — toss everything out without looking back, change apartments every seven years, sell everything on eBay or accept chaos with stoic ease? Should we stick to the rule of “One thing in, one thing out” or follow the more laissez-faire motto of “Life’s too short to declutter”?
Experts and Their Solutions
Professional home organizers from around the world offered their takes on common decluttering dilemmas.
Championing minimalism in Japan. Fumio Sasaki runs the blog Minimal & ism and wrote the popular book We Do Not Need Things Anymore, in which he describes how he became a minimalist. Though his version is rather extreme, with a short list of necessary items he lets into his life and home, it has struck a chord among Japanese readers now hitting their 30s.
“I think many people have learned that gathering things does not make you happy,” Sasaki says. “The older generation experienced the bubble economy, which praised material abundance, but our generation didn’t. You can feel more liberated by having fewer things around you. Japan is an earthquake-prone country, but if an earthquake hits, I can run away with all of my belongings, which can easily be piled into a small case.”
Sasaki became a minimalist in 2013. “I happened to Google the term minimalist in Japanese, and learned about Andrew Hyde, a famous minimalist blogger who lives with just 15 items. In retrospect, I was frustrated with my life and wanted to change it. It was almost a sudden enlightenment.”
Professional home organizers from around the world offered their takes on common decluttering dilemmas.
Championing minimalism in Japan. Fumio Sasaki runs the blog Minimal & ism and wrote the popular book We Do Not Need Things Anymore, in which he describes how he became a minimalist. Though his version is rather extreme, with a short list of necessary items he lets into his life and home, it has struck a chord among Japanese readers now hitting their 30s.
“I think many people have learned that gathering things does not make you happy,” Sasaki says. “The older generation experienced the bubble economy, which praised material abundance, but our generation didn’t. You can feel more liberated by having fewer things around you. Japan is an earthquake-prone country, but if an earthquake hits, I can run away with all of my belongings, which can easily be piled into a small case.”
Sasaki became a minimalist in 2013. “I happened to Google the term minimalist in Japanese, and learned about Andrew Hyde, a famous minimalist blogger who lives with just 15 items. In retrospect, I was frustrated with my life and wanted to change it. It was almost a sudden enlightenment.”
Promoting practical beauty in Sweden. Paulina Draganja is Sweden’s unchallenged queen of organization, with a popular blog, TV appearances, lectures and a new book coming out on how to declutter and stay on top of stuff in the home.
Draganja believes the Swedes are highly practical people, evident in everything from cooking to fashion to design. “We want things to look good but still be easy to maintain, to suit a lifestyle where both parties in a relationship go out to work. So no complicated, pedantic solutions, but smart and simple systems and with a pared-back look,” she says.
“The hallway seems to be a recurring challenge in Sweden,” she adds. “Clothes are the trickiest things to store, especially as we have cold winters and a lot of bulky clothes.”
Draganja believes the Swedes are highly practical people, evident in everything from cooking to fashion to design. “We want things to look good but still be easy to maintain, to suit a lifestyle where both parties in a relationship go out to work. So no complicated, pedantic solutions, but smart and simple systems and with a pared-back look,” she says.
“The hallway seems to be a recurring challenge in Sweden,” she adds. “Clothes are the trickiest things to store, especially as we have cold winters and a lot of bulky clothes.”
Helping people let go in Spain. Maria Gallay is a personal organizer who has been running her company, Organización del Orden, for 15 years. She says the Spanish tend to hang on to memorabilia, old books and photos and that minimalist thinking has not yet hit the nation.
“In Spain, most of the old stuff remains in houses forever, even if people live in small apartments. Clothing is the only thing we get rid of, when closets are too full. We don’t have a wide secondhand market in Spain. There’s no culture of swapping or garage sales, although many of my clients tell me they would like to do it.”
The sense of family is strong in both Spain and Italy, and people get deeply attached to things and find it hard to get rid of them. “I know Spanish parents who keep everything, even if their children are not interested in those objects from the past. Many keep bed linen, curtains, lamps, beds and other furniture, in case ‘the children’ need them in their future own home,” Gallay says.
“In Spain, most of the old stuff remains in houses forever, even if people live in small apartments. Clothing is the only thing we get rid of, when closets are too full. We don’t have a wide secondhand market in Spain. There’s no culture of swapping or garage sales, although many of my clients tell me they would like to do it.”
The sense of family is strong in both Spain and Italy, and people get deeply attached to things and find it hard to get rid of them. “I know Spanish parents who keep everything, even if their children are not interested in those objects from the past. Many keep bed linen, curtains, lamps, beds and other furniture, in case ‘the children’ need them in their future own home,” Gallay says.
Tackling paperwork in France. Pauline Levasseur has been a home organizer for six years and trains other pros in her method. “France has a very specific issue: the incredible volume of paperwork people have. French homeowners, who are called ‘paper kings,’ receive a huge volume of administrative paperwork, a record in Europe, and they have to keep it. So paper is one of the prime sources of clutter,” she says.
She believes that clutter is more often than not linked to life issues such as illness, divorce and death. When a life-changing event happens, homeowners don’t take the time to declutter, thinking they’ll “do it later,” but then find themselves snowed under. They often call a home organizer after time has passed since the event and they decide it’s time to clean up the house and make a new start.
“French people struggle to throw things away; they are stuck in the ‘It can always be useful’ approach,” Levasseur says. “Also, the French are attached to souvenirs, and feelings are very important in the decision of whether to keep things or not.”
She believes that clutter is more often than not linked to life issues such as illness, divorce and death. When a life-changing event happens, homeowners don’t take the time to declutter, thinking they’ll “do it later,” but then find themselves snowed under. They often call a home organizer after time has passed since the event and they decide it’s time to clean up the house and make a new start.
“French people struggle to throw things away; they are stuck in the ‘It can always be useful’ approach,” Levasseur says. “Also, the French are attached to souvenirs, and feelings are very important in the decision of whether to keep things or not.”
Your Decluttering Questions Answered
1. What’s your top storage tip? “Everything in your home needs to have its own place, where it belongs,” Sweden’s Draganja says. “I try to stick to things I really like and use, and always ask myself where a new thing will be stored. If I can’t see the space in my mind, I often avoid buying the item.
“It’s best to focus on the things you already have and love, and keeping them well stored is part of that process.”
1. What’s your top storage tip? “Everything in your home needs to have its own place, where it belongs,” Sweden’s Draganja says. “I try to stick to things I really like and use, and always ask myself where a new thing will be stored. If I can’t see the space in my mind, I often avoid buying the item.
“It’s best to focus on the things you already have and love, and keeping them well stored is part of that process.”
2. Is ruthless decluttering better than trying to make room? Daniela Mosca, owner of home organization company Dani&Colf, teaches courses to help families organize household chores.
“From my point of view, it’s better to declutter ruthlessly,” she says. “That gives me the opportunity to invent new ways to combine things and play more fancifully, rather than have many things. I pay a lot of attention to functionality: It’s better to have a functional wardrobe than one that’s simply well organized with lots of boxes, containers and dividers but that’s jampacked with things.
“However, I don’t like the idea of a house run on warehousing rules — last in-first out or first in-first out,” she adds. “Rather, I think it’s important to teach children from an early age that everything has its own place and that this facilitates their autonomy.”
“From my point of view, it’s better to declutter ruthlessly,” she says. “That gives me the opportunity to invent new ways to combine things and play more fancifully, rather than have many things. I pay a lot of attention to functionality: It’s better to have a functional wardrobe than one that’s simply well organized with lots of boxes, containers and dividers but that’s jampacked with things.
“However, I don’t like the idea of a house run on warehousing rules — last in-first out or first in-first out,” she adds. “Rather, I think it’s important to teach children from an early age that everything has its own place and that this facilitates their autonomy.”
3. How is order connected with our happiness? “Happiness is not dependent on order,” says Australian organizing guru MaryAnne Bennie, author of From Stuffed to Sorted and Paper Flow: Your Ultimate Guide to Making Paperwork Easy. “However, order brings with it a sense of calm and control and gives people more time to do things that make them happy.
“Order also brings with it freedom to be, have and do whatever you like, and you are more likely to be in the moment. By contrast, disorder, if perceived as a problem, keeps people stuck and unable to move forward — they put their present and future on hold while trying to sort out their past. Minimalism certainly lends itself to happiness potential.”
U.K. expert Helen Winter of Coral Interiors says: “The old adage ‘Tidy desk, tidy mind’ is completely correct. Not knowing where things are, or living in a dirty or chaotic environment, has a detrimental impact on our lives. We waste valuable mental energy when we live in a mess.”
“Order also brings with it freedom to be, have and do whatever you like, and you are more likely to be in the moment. By contrast, disorder, if perceived as a problem, keeps people stuck and unable to move forward — they put their present and future on hold while trying to sort out their past. Minimalism certainly lends itself to happiness potential.”
U.K. expert Helen Winter of Coral Interiors says: “The old adage ‘Tidy desk, tidy mind’ is completely correct. Not knowing where things are, or living in a dirty or chaotic environment, has a detrimental impact on our lives. We waste valuable mental energy when we live in a mess.”
4. How do we decide what to keep? U.S. writer Mindy Starns Clark, author of The House That Cleans Itself, says: “My technique for clearing clutter is based on the understanding that every possession you own, from the tiniest button to the biggest couch, consumes a piece of your time — time to clean it, store it, move it, fix it, lose it, find it, wash it, wipe it and on and on. The more things we own, the more time we sacrifice to that ownership. Thus, when decluttering, ask yourself, ‘Is this item worth the total time investment that owning it requires?’ If it is, then keep it. If it isn’t, then get rid of it. It’s that simple — unless the item also carries an emotional component.”
5. Should the rule be: One thing in, one thing out? “Sounds great if you’re the type of person who can remember to do it and force yourself to be timely about it,” Starns Clark says. “I think for more housekeeping-impaired types like me, it’s a habit that’s not likely to take hold. Better to schedule regular decluttering appointments with yourself — such as on the first day of each new season for a total of four times per year — and consistently declutter on those specified days.”
5. Should the rule be: One thing in, one thing out? “Sounds great if you’re the type of person who can remember to do it and force yourself to be timely about it,” Starns Clark says. “I think for more housekeeping-impaired types like me, it’s a habit that’s not likely to take hold. Better to schedule regular decluttering appointments with yourself — such as on the first day of each new season for a total of four times per year — and consistently declutter on those specified days.”
6. How do we get out of the chaos? Bennie says we need to apply the true test to all our objects. “Attachment is a very subjective thing, and when people claim to have a strong attachment to something they don’t use, the true test is whether they place it in a position of honor in their home. If it’s relegated to storage, often a photo of the item will suffice as a memory prompt and the item can be released to others,” she says.
“If the item is something to be passed on to the next generation, then suitable storage needs to be found. There’s been a huge increase in external storage rental and environmental removal services in Australia,” she notes.
German decluttering expert Denise Colquhoun, also known as Fräulein Ordnung, wrote Seven Days for a Tidy Life (German title: Sieben Tage für ein aufgeräumtes Leben: Das kreative Mitmach-Heft) and gives this tip: “Keep the floor tidy and put away everything lying on the ground at least once a day. Ask yourself: Laundry? Waste? Into the closet? Into another room? The box with decluttered clothes sitting in your corridor for months? Forget it! Donate it instead, and be happy about losing this burden.”
“If the item is something to be passed on to the next generation, then suitable storage needs to be found. There’s been a huge increase in external storage rental and environmental removal services in Australia,” she notes.
German decluttering expert Denise Colquhoun, also known as Fräulein Ordnung, wrote Seven Days for a Tidy Life (German title: Sieben Tage für ein aufgeräumtes Leben: Das kreative Mitmach-Heft) and gives this tip: “Keep the floor tidy and put away everything lying on the ground at least once a day. Ask yourself: Laundry? Waste? Into the closet? Into another room? The box with decluttered clothes sitting in your corridor for months? Forget it! Donate it instead, and be happy about losing this burden.”
7. How much is too much? Having clear and workable rules when it comes to how many things you should bring into your home seems to be a popular line of thought among both experts and Houzzers.
“I suggest implementing space-limit rules,” Starns Clark says. “For example, tell yourself you can hang on to as many mementos as you like, but only up to the storage capacity of one curio cabinet. You can keep old letters and papers and kids’ artwork, but only up to the storage capacity of two large sealable bins. You can keep all the books you love, but only up to the storage capacity of three bookshelves.
“If you decide on a reasonable storage limit — don’t be unrealistically stingy, especially at first — and stick to that limit, then you’re only forced to purge when your quantity of items exceeds the designated space,” she says.
“Why keep the sweatshirt I had when I was 15 or the pants from my first pregnancy?” says Italy’s Mosca. “I understand that some items have an emotional bond and that you might want to pass some things on to the children, but then I suggest you choose carefully, and set a numerical limit: a maximum of five pieces that you don’t wear anymore and that you care about only for sentimental reasons.”
“I suggest implementing space-limit rules,” Starns Clark says. “For example, tell yourself you can hang on to as many mementos as you like, but only up to the storage capacity of one curio cabinet. You can keep old letters and papers and kids’ artwork, but only up to the storage capacity of two large sealable bins. You can keep all the books you love, but only up to the storage capacity of three bookshelves.
“If you decide on a reasonable storage limit — don’t be unrealistically stingy, especially at first — and stick to that limit, then you’re only forced to purge when your quantity of items exceeds the designated space,” she says.
“Why keep the sweatshirt I had when I was 15 or the pants from my first pregnancy?” says Italy’s Mosca. “I understand that some items have an emotional bond and that you might want to pass some things on to the children, but then I suggest you choose carefully, and set a numerical limit: a maximum of five pieces that you don’t wear anymore and that you care about only for sentimental reasons.”
When it comes to storage and what we need, there are no rules set in stone. “Each person or family needs to set their own limits on what’s right for them,” Bennie says. “They can limit by number [three towels per person plus two spares for guests] or by space available [one shelf is allocated to recipe books and once it’s filled, it’s one in, one out]. Or they can limit by age [latest 12 months of a favorite magazine]. As long as limits are set in every category, quantity issues cease to exist,” she says.
Japanese minimalist Sasaki has taken a tougher stance on what’s allowed in his home. His list is a wonder of restraint.
More
Your Clutter-Clearing Plan for the New Year
‘Tidying Up’ Author Marie Kondo Tells How to ‘Spark Joy’ at Home
Japanese minimalist Sasaki has taken a tougher stance on what’s allowed in his home. His list is a wonder of restraint.
- Shoes: Five pairs (sandals, white sneakers, rain boots, slip-on shoes and black leather dress shoes)
- Books: “I don’t keep books at home,” Sasaki says. “Well, I have only one paper book at a time, and I get rid of it as soon as I finish reading it. I enjoy using a Kindle. Before I became a minimalist, I had a lot of books I hadn’t read, and it made me feel guilty and unhappy. I don’t feel that way anymore.
- Kitchen: About 20 items
- T-shirts: 20
- Underwear and socks: Four sets
- Shirts: Four
More
Your Clutter-Clearing Plan for the New Year
‘Tidying Up’ Author Marie Kondo Tells How to ‘Spark Joy’ at Home