If it’s in good shape, but you can’t answer “yes” to one of the questions, then put it in the DONATE/SELL box. If it belongs in another room, put it in the box marked RETURN. If you can’t answer yes to at least THREE of the preceding questions, then the item goes in one of your three boxes. If it’s sentimental, does holding it bring more happy memories than a photo of it would?.

As you work item-by-item deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, ask yourself: Start with the least cluttered area, so you keep your momentum and go through its contents with three boxes marked RETURN, DONATE/SELL and TRASH nearby. Rather than zooming all around the room, mentally divide the space into sections: this corner, that entertainment center, this closet, etc. Don’t bother opening cupboards or drawers yet, just throw out what’s sitting right there but needs to go.Ģ. As you go, toss crumpled paper, old magazines, broken items, etc. Grab a trash bag and, starting at the door of the room, work your way to the left. Do a surface purge first. You will build momentum and see instant results by getting rid of visible trash and clutter right away. Underscoring this approach is the Swedish word, döstädning, which means “death cleaning.” As Magnusson explains, the idea is to “remove unnecessary things and make your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet.”īut what if you just want to get rid of some of the junk in your house without having an existential crisis? Read on for the reality-based, five-step approach that I use in my home. Margareta Magnusson’s book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, is a surprisingly pleasant read. WHAT IF YOU AREN’T READY FOR “DEATH CLEANING”? Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. So, if you can’t Kon-Mari like Marie Kondo, don’t feel bad. Of course, Marie Kondo didn’t have kids when she wrote her book, so there’s no advice about convincing your kids to pare down their stuff or, at the very least, keep it out of the rest of the house.īy subscribing, I consent to receiving emails. Then, while you’re trying to decide what doesn’t “spark joy,” your kids will no doubt have their own opinions about their clothes, books, toys, etc.

(The average house in Japan, where Kondo is from, is 1,300 square feet on one floor.) In a larger home, your legs are going to be burning as you carry things up and downstairs. That might work in a one-level, mid-sized home. (On other days, you’ll be doing the same with their books, papers, toiletries, electronics, etc.) Then, after deciding what no longer sparks joy, you take everything back and put it neatly away. So, one day you’ll pile everyone’s clothing all together in the same room, and you’ll sort through it. Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has hundreds of thousands of devotees. The basis of her system involves decluttering by category.

Unclutter my computer