Have you ever been stressed to host a gathering at your home? That gut wrenching feeling that your home isn’t neat, tidy, organized or even designed with furnishings that are good enough… 

Maybe this was you the last few weeks? 

You look around - drawers are full, closet doors won’t shut with ease, nothing has a place + your anxiety levels continue to creep up. 

Physical clutter looks unconquerable but emotional clutter feels insurmountable.

And let’s be real, it’s not that you don’t notice these things or that you don’t care. 

The problem is bigger. You’re busy. Your life feels like a thousand miles a minute + you don’t have a good enough understanding of the problems that actually exist to even gain any traction in maintaining a clutter free home. 

We know what that feels like. But here’s a breath of fresh air, decluttering home is controllable in a world of uncontrollables.

Your home can lie at peace in an organized state without the mess of physical clutter while your emotional clutter subsides too. 

At Elegant Simplicity, we’re a passionate interior design + professional organizing firm who loves every minute of teaching, educating and helping clients discover what a well organized + clutter free home feels like.

The best part? We have a process that’s proven itself over nearly a decade + a half. Lucky for you, we’re sharing some fundamental steps for you to follow to keep a clutter free home in 2024.

CLUTTER FREE LIVING ALL SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL IT IS DONE

You certainly desire to have a clutter free home or you wouldn’t have made it this far. However, getting there is slightly more difficult. 

For some of our organizing members, that’s because the amount of decluttering and organizing you have to do is purely overwhelming. And ya know what — that’s ok.

We live in a world where we’re inundated by algorithms + artificial intelligence feeding each scroll with more. More to buy. More to have. More to fill our homes with.

On the other hand, some of our organizing members might not struggle with the quantity of clutter but rather the habits around their home that keep it clutter free. 

Whatever the case may be, decluttering your home is actually possible. We’ve said it before but belief in a clutter free home drives action. So, if you don’t wholeheartedly believe that having a clutter free home is possible then your actions won't follow suit. 

To help you prioritize the rooms that need decluttering + to ensure you not only stay on track but feel the motivation of quick wins you can head over to our FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY to download our Organizing Roadmap.

IDENTIFY CLUTTER + GET RID OF IT

What Is Clutter? 

The reality is Boo, a clutter-free home is not minimalism or maximalism, it’s not modern or traditional. In fact, it’s not anything anyone else can “label.” And it’s not our job as a professional organizer to tell you what clutter is in your home. It’s not our place to tell you or force you to get rid of things. 

At Elegant Simplicity, we define home as everything you need + nothing more®. 

And so we view it as our responsibility to educate you, to help you identify what you need + to become a conscious keeper of it. From there, you not only understand why you want to keep it but also why you’re willing to part ways with everything else.

And in our opinion, that’s the magic that takes time.

Because… clutter is the excess stuff that rears its ugly head in our physical, mental and emotional lives. And yet, what’s clutter in our eyes can represent a deeply cherished moment in your own life. That’s why it’s not for us or anyone else to decide or to judge how much is too much because clutter is in the eye of the beholder.

When Does Clutter Appear?

For most, physical clutter begins to appear when we have too much stuff + we have no organized systems for the things we own. #TruthBomb Boo: when you own less stuff, maintaining a clutter-free home is not only easier but clutter has less control of our time, our lives and our energy.

So, how do we really get this decluttering thing underway? Understanding the psychology of stuff + the emotional connection we have with our belongings is nothing more than recognizing that clutter manifests as anything you no longer use, love or need.

When you look at the piles of clutter that exist around your home (or desk at work) right now, ask yourself:

Top 3 Clutter Defining Questions To Ask Yourself

Clutter causes stress, anxiety, frustration and friction in our lives. And when we're stressed, our bodies release chemicals called "stress hormones" which can affect our mood and behavior. 

But… here are some simple questions to ask yourself to take decluttering to another level.

Do I Use It? 

Be honest + think about the last time you actually used all of those darn pyrex pans, plastic containers or all of those pens. 

Do any of them actually work? Ok, seriously though. 

How often do you use all of them?

Do I Love It? 

Why doesn’t it have a home then? 

If you love all of your jewelry (equally) why is some of it stuffed in a bin (in the back of your vanity) where you can’t even get to it, much less enjoy it?

Do I Need It? 

Really…  be honest with yourself! Can you find it when you need it? 

What would happen if you didn’t keep it? 

How difficult or easy is it to replace it if you got rid of it? Oftentimes, our struggle between what is a want vs. a need gets blurred.  

Using that handy Organizing Roadmap we’ve created for you (psst… don’t forget it’s at the bottom of this page), you’ll be able to select one specific area of a room (like a drawer or under cabinet space) + tackle the steps above fairly quickly.

The Value Of A Quick Win When Decluttering On Your Own

Decluttering + organizing alone isn’t easy. However, these quick wins will keep you from losing the motivation to declutter which often wreck our dreams of a clutter free home. 

If you’re struggling to decide on whether you should get rid of one, two, or maybe even a handful of items, put them in an IDK bin. Anything that you touch that takes longer than 5 seconds to decide should go there. 

You certainly don’t have to get rid of everything (+ here’s some helpful tips for how to do it responsibly) but you also shouldn’t race to create a clutter free home. Making home feel like a guilty pleasure, like the place you never want to leave happens over time.

How To Maintain Clutter 

Once you create an organized home by removing the excess stuff, you’ll find that clutter will still creep back in. And let’s be honest Boo, that’s life. 

Everyday we’re adding more things to our calendars + to our responsibilities, so promise me you won’t beat yourself up if you notice the clutter mounting again!

Maintaining a clutter-free home is about knowing your priorities + making the time to fulfill the habits + routines that keep the clutter at bay. 

There’s a couple strategies we recommend to our clients to help them stay proactive against clutter. 

Maintain Clutter As You Go 

Our parents think we’re crazy but the moment Brooklyn’s done with one toy - we’re encouraging him to put it away before he brings out another toy. John’s the best at this. Often I even notice him watching me like a hawk, if I’m closing my laptop, to see where I put it :)  To his defense:

So, how does one maintain the clutter as you go… when it comes to new possessions? 

Well, the moment you come home with a new blouse + head to your closet to hang it up - that’s when you grab an older blouse + toss it in a donate bag.

Some examples of maintaining as you go:

• Cleaning the kitchen after a meal

• Folding blankets when you’re done using them

• Hanging coats up when you come in the door

It’s tough + not for everyone. If you’re human *wink* + you’re not the best at this - there’s a couple other ways to maintain a clutter free home.

Schedule Decluttering Maintenance Sessions For Yourself

You can try this daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or even seasonally but the most important part is to set a schedule + stick to it. 

Some of our best organizing members love that we help establish new habits + healthy routines with them. They tidy the bathrooms on Saturdays + do laundry on Sundays.

Keep in mind, when you declutter + organize on a set schedule you do it even if it doesn’t look like it needs it. 

The more disciplined you are with following through on your clutter maintenance schedule the better you’ll feel about your clutter free home. The longer the time in between your scheduled sessions and the more you’ll begin to see that your home isn't as tidy or neat as you’d prefer.

Some examples of scheduled decluttering as you go:

• Organizing the refrigerator, pantry + cabinets

• Doing the laundry, then folding + putting it away 

• Decluttering your closet

Decluttering and Organizing When You Need It 

This is probably the most common habit people come to us with.

Decluttering and organizing when it’s needed causes a lot of unnecessary stress because it’s reactionary. 

Suddenly, you or someone else notices that clutter is accumulating everywhere in your home + you decide now is the time to remove the excess stuff + organize the rest. 

Some examples of decluttering when you need it:

• Papers on the kitchen counter

• Organizing your office or desk

There’s really not a right or a wrong way to build habits around removing excess clutter. In fact, it’s not really about which maintenance method you utilize rather what it’s about is prioritizing time to actually do it. 

Living in a clutter free home is really about identifying what clutter is, knowing what to do with it + having the discipline to follow through. What’s amazing about the process of creating a clutter free home is that your journey will have lasting positive effects on your self-confidence + in how you view your home. 

You deserve an, “Atta girl, babe!”

Be Mindful Of What Enters Your Home

Have you ever taken a step back and seen how our society operates? We are constantly hit with a barrage of sales, discounts + deals. 

It’s as if we aren’t truly living life unless we are accumulating new things. 

Now look, we’re not saying we don’t love a new blouse, a new pair of shoes, a new kitchen appliance… 

But, if you take time to consider all the things, the stuff, that we’re bringing into our homes then the accumulation of clutter is a lot more manageable.

Why?

That’s easy, when we are mindful of the things we bring with us into our homes + the things we buy, receive for free or accept as gifts, then we’re starting to live life with purpose. 

When there is an intentionality behind the stuff you allow in your home - that’s when you’re truly living. Because everything we bring into our home should reflect who we are, who we've been or who we hope to become.

When we walk through the front door of our home it feels like we're looking deep into our soul. Our home should tell our story, it should tell others what's important to us. That is how we make a home feel like your very own... guilty pleasure!

Minimize Impulse Buying

So the next time you feel like you’re acting on impulse at the checkout register, think about what story this item is going to tell to yourself and to others.

Ask yourself a handful of really simple questions to keep yourself in check:

Will I Use It 

Not only is the question, “Will I Use It” important but so is giving yourself a date or specific scenario in the near future.

Will I Still Love It

Likewise with the question, “Will I Still Love It” is the concept of “later.” Will you still love it later or will it simply be something you bought for the sake of the moment? 

Will I Need It

To consider whether you actually need it is saying… I think I need it right now (in this moment) but after a day, week, month… “will I still need it?” 

So often, we go through life without ever asking ourselves why we buy what we buy. These are three simple questions to ensure you’re practicing conscientiousness when buying for your home.

Living Clutter Free With Kids

We know a lot of our loyal Elegant Simplicity tribe has kids. And we love em!

One of the most difficult times in anyone's organizing journey can be wrangling the kid stuff. Especially when your kids are young, you may find yourself inundated with new toys, clothes, crafts, etc. 

Trying to make room for it all can be an absolute struggle. And it can make you feel a bit ungrateful for these things.

What do you do with the older stuff? Do you push it to the back (because you know your kids want to play with the things they just received) or do you find a second or even third location to store it?

Something we did this year with Brooks (who at the time was 4; has since turned five) was allow him to select as many toys as he wanted to give to other kids. At first, he was resistant to the idea but… we pressed on. 

And we talked to him about the reason why donation, especially locally, is a good thing. While these may be older toys to him some other little boy or girl might find them really fun to play with. 

Little by little, he came around to the idea. And then, we boxed them all up + took them to the Giving Pantry (a local donation spot) + we allowed him to carry the boxes. The joy in his heart was so visible on his face — truly is one of the proudest moments we’ve experienced so far as parents.

So, clutter free may look a little different to everyone (especially to little kids) but when we put meaning behind “the stuff” in our homes it becomes more apparent than ever what we need + what’s excess… even for kids.

Our home is nothing more than a mirror reflection of ourselves. 

A brilliant window that peeks into the most intimate corners of our soul, protecting the most beautiful memories from our past, making room for every nook + cranny to be filled with laughter + love.

Which is why at Elegant Simplicity, we believe that home is ––  everything you need + nothing more®. So friend, as you continue on this journey of clutter free living this year, know that we’re here to support you :)

Regardless of where you’re beginning there’s nothing unattainable for you in creating a home + a life that’s clutter free. With every piece of physical clutter you remove this year, you’ll be making room for more love, laughter and life.

If you love this — get ready to do another happy dance for ourFREE Video Course: 4 Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home. And, if you’re wanting to dive even deeper into the world of organizing or design —let’s chat.