Most people would agree that there is too much stuff in their homes – most of which is forgotten until it is time to move or do some spring cleaning.
Even though we develop attachments to many things we keep inside our homes, too much clutter can make our lives feel more stressful and out of control.
Unsurprisingly, minimalism has become much more popular over the years. When you live a decluttering lifestyle, you try to use only the things with a meaningful purpose.
Understanding Decluttering Lifestyle
Living a decluttering lifestyle means embracing a minimalistic approach and surrounding yourself with only the essentials required to navigate through each day.
Minimalist living offers numerous advantages, including a heightened sense of connection and purpose in our daily existence.
If you find it challenging to deal with being overwhelmed and stressed by your surroundings, embracing simplicity can significantly positively influence your living spaces.
Contrary to popular belief, creating a simple space doesn’t mean you have to fill it with all-white furniture and beige tones. Thankfully, that’s not the case! It’s not so much about what you possess or don’t possess but how your belongings evoke emotions within you.
Knowing how to get started can be challenging. So, look at our tips below for help beginning your simple lifestyle journey.
13 Minimalist Tips For Decluttering Your Home
You can declutter your home and remove truckloads of stuff. Still, without changing your habits, it is only a matter of time before you accumulate a new mass of belongings that you will only eventually have to toss out.
These tips will help you make a few actionable changes to ensure your dive into minimalism isn’t short-lived.
1. Take It One Step (Or Room) at a Time
Of course, deciding where to begin is the most difficult element of minimizing your home. One thing is certain: trying to handle an entire house at once is overwhelming, so focusing on one room at a time is essential.
Spend most of your time and energy on the easiest room first, then use that as the inspiration for other rooms as you work through the remainder of your home.
2. Tackle What You Can See
Once you’ve decided on a room to focus on, a wise strategy is to begin with the most obvious parts, such as shelves, furniture, and items on the floor, before going on to the room’s hidden regions, such as organizing your drawers, cabinets, and closet. This way, you can track your progress in real time.
3. Prioritize Your Essentials
When it’s time to start decluttering, keep only the essential and significant objects you have. Move from the easiest to the most difficult items in your home, touching each one and assessing whether or not it adds value to your life. Ask yourself:
- Is there anything that will assist me in creating the home I desire?
- Does this distract me?
- Do I need it?
- Is this something that I use?
- Why do I keep this in my space?
- What would I do if I didn’t have it?
4. Decorate With Meaningful Pieces
It’s tempting to beautify your home with various attractive pieces you found on sale or spotted at a local store, but if you want to commit to a minimalist home, you should limit your decorations to those with unique worth or purpose.
Minimalism encourages people to own fewer decorations, keeping only the most meaningful ones—such as family portraits, rare heirlooms, and antiques. This allows you to share your story with your family and visitors to your home.
5. Minimize Your Paper
Think about all the mail left on your desk or the 20 unread books collecting dust on your shelves. These things take up valuable space in your home and mind! Opting for digital statements, receipts, and even media subscription services is more convenient and doesn’t clutter your desks, countertops, and shelves.
6. Focus On Experiences
Buying less does not mean you must forgo everything that brings value and pleasure to your life. When the urge to engage in retail therapy emerges, consider investing in an experience instead.
Rather than junking up your home with various things that will eventually become meaningless to you, consider how you can fill your life with activities and experiences that fill your mind and heart with precious memories!
7. Prioritize Quality
Today’s trends change almost weekly, paving the way for fast fashion and other cheap but lower-quality goods.
Cultivating a decluttering lifestyle requires you to determine what you want outside of the trends created today.
Investing in high-quality pieces and furniture is often a hard change for people to make because it usually requires a more significant initial investment. However, it is important to remember that high-quality items tend to last longer.
8. Go Greener
Many of the things we use today are disposable—water bottles, sandwich bags, shopping bags, etc. Not only is all of that plastic bad for the environment, but it also takes up a lot of space in your home. Consider swapping all of those disposable items for one or two reusable counterparts.
9. Regular Tidying
Because your home is an area that is constantly occupied, things will inevitably become cluttered over time. That is why developing excellent cleaning practices before and during your quest for a more decluttering lifestyle is critical.
Developing a routine approach to tidying your home is helpful as you declutter your spaces.
10. Buy Less
In an age of constant and persuasive advertising, buying fewer things can be extremely difficult, which is why declining adverts are crucial.
It’s all about establishing an environment free of continual reminders to buy more, whether that means unsubscribing from emails, watching less television, or tossing away junk mail.
This might also imply rejecting consumerism in favor of focusing on the truly meaningful things to you. The best way to practice this is by using the same approach you take with your decluttering—ask yourself whether an item serves your purpose and your goals.
11. Focus On Your “Why”
It is safe to say that most people don’t approach a decluttering lifestyle overhaul with the thought, “Meh—I’ll give it a try.” Instead, there is likely a deeper reason or purpose for exploring a new way of living.
Determining this purpose is essential to staying on track and achieving your minimalist goals without a purpose or your “why,” it will be much easier to give up when things become challenging or you start to lose motivation.
12. Take Time To Enjoy Your Space
When life gets hectic, it can be challenging to appreciate the harmony you have created within your own spaces.
Remembering to spend some reflective time in your new minimalist home helps you appreciate not only your hard and dedicated work but also reminds you of why you started this journey in the first place.
With fewer distractions, messes, and general clutter, you can see your home and spaces for what they are – a haven from all the noise and stress our lives inevitably bring.
13. The Big Declutter
Now is the time to remove all those things simply taking up space in your home. Think of this as your refresh! With a complete overhaul of your space and those minimalist habits in the list above, you will be much closer to achieving your goal of a decluttering lifestyle.
Maintaining Your New Decluttering Lifestyle
Preparing new habits and decluttering your entire home is a fantastic start to your new decluttering lifestyle. However, like with many other things, true work comes with the maintenance phase of your new change.
Without a commitment to maintaining your new lifestyle choice, it is only a matter of time before the clutter and chaos creep back into your home. Use the tips above to help you keep your home minimal and harmonious!
Final Thoughts
One of the most influential aspects of minimalist living is purpose. If you are ready to start living more simply in your home, think about why you’re doing it.
Do you want to save more money, spend more time with family, or even retire early and enjoy more of your older years?
Determining the answers to these significant questions is vital because minimalist living is ultimately about a more focused and purposeful life.