Clean Living: Declutter Your Way to a Minimalist Home in 7 Easy Steps
Modern homes are all about clean lines and light-filled space, but too much stuff just doesn't fit
Joanna Tovia
31 July 2014
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well. Follow her photodocumentary about pets and the people who love them on Instagram @unfoldingtails
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well.... More
A cluttered space makes for a cluttered mind, or so the saying goes, and I couldn’t agree more. As someone who isn’t naturally tidy, I’ve had to train myself to adopt new habits for my own peace of mind. I find a clear, clean room makes for more focused thinking and a cheerier mood, and paves the way for a more organised and less stressful existence … even when kids are in the picture. These simple tips will have you streamlining your house – and your life – in less time than you think.
1. Pare back the lounge room
The best thing about de-cluttering is that you end up keeping only the things you absolutely love, and that’s a recipe for success when it comes to living an authentic life that reflects the real you. Look at your living area honestly, and re-home all those knick-knacks that look tatty, serve no real purpose, or just aren’t up to snuff in the looks department. Just because you loved something a decade ago doesn’t mean you have to love it now.
The best thing about de-cluttering is that you end up keeping only the things you absolutely love, and that’s a recipe for success when it comes to living an authentic life that reflects the real you. Look at your living area honestly, and re-home all those knick-knacks that look tatty, serve no real purpose, or just aren’t up to snuff in the looks department. Just because you loved something a decade ago doesn’t mean you have to love it now.
2. Streamline your eating area
Dining rooms should be about good food and great conversation. Minimalist eating areas can be just as warm and inviting as more traditional versions, but the right lighting is key. Get rid of all but essential items from this area, and free up the space around the table if you can to give you, and everyone else, room to move.
Dining rooms should be about good food and great conversation. Minimalist eating areas can be just as warm and inviting as more traditional versions, but the right lighting is key. Get rid of all but essential items from this area, and free up the space around the table if you can to give you, and everyone else, room to move.
3. Lather up your bathroom with love
Too many bottles of shampoo, body wash and other assorted shower and bath products do little to make a bathroom as cleansing for the mind as it is for the body. Keep towels and any other accessories to a simple colour palette – white is often the best choice – and stash all but the most vital of products away in drawers and cupboards.
The bathroom is another opportunity to free yourself from things you don’t really love. Choose soap you adore the look, smell and feel of, for example, over the purely functional variety, and you’re sure to come away from every shower feeling fresh and revitalised.
Too many bottles of shampoo, body wash and other assorted shower and bath products do little to make a bathroom as cleansing for the mind as it is for the body. Keep towels and any other accessories to a simple colour palette – white is often the best choice – and stash all but the most vital of products away in drawers and cupboards.
The bathroom is another opportunity to free yourself from things you don’t really love. Choose soap you adore the look, smell and feel of, for example, over the purely functional variety, and you’re sure to come away from every shower feeling fresh and revitalised.
4. Blitz your bedroom of all but the essentials
This feel-good bedroom is positively restful primarily because of the absence of clutter. Make it a habit to keep bedside tables clear of all but the book you’re reading - I’m guilty of keeping a stack by the bed – and make a conscious effort not to accumulate more things than can fit in a single drawer. Bedside tables like these force the issue – there’s no room to hold more than just the bits and bobs you really need.
This feel-good bedroom is positively restful primarily because of the absence of clutter. Make it a habit to keep bedside tables clear of all but the book you’re reading - I’m guilty of keeping a stack by the bed – and make a conscious effort not to accumulate more things than can fit in a single drawer. Bedside tables like these force the issue – there’s no room to hold more than just the bits and bobs you really need.
Follow Oprah Winfrey’s rule and your wardrobe will declutter itself: every time you wear something, hang it back in the cupboard the other way around. At the end of six months, you’ll have a clear idea of what you’re likely to wear again, and what you can gather up and give to charity.
5. Clear away the benchtops
If you’ve got an appliance cupboard in your kitchen, use it not just for the blender and mix-master, but for the kettle and toaster, too. If you don’t, think about how often you really use an item before giving it a permanent home (and space) on your bench. If you don’t love it, lose it.
If you’ve got an appliance cupboard in your kitchen, use it not just for the blender and mix-master, but for the kettle and toaster, too. If you don’t, think about how often you really use an item before giving it a permanent home (and space) on your bench. If you don’t love it, lose it.
6. Set up your home office for success
If you spend the first 10 minutes clearing up your desk every time you sit down to do some work, there’s something wrong. If a minimalist look helps you focus, the way forward is simple: clear the decks and create some healthier habits. Set up a system for bills and other items that are sure to come in, house pigeon holes in desks rather than on them. Aim for a computer and little else on your desk for a truly streamlined set-up.
If you spend the first 10 minutes clearing up your desk every time you sit down to do some work, there’s something wrong. If a minimalist look helps you focus, the way forward is simple: clear the decks and create some healthier habits. Set up a system for bills and other items that are sure to come in, house pigeon holes in desks rather than on them. Aim for a computer and little else on your desk for a truly streamlined set-up.
7. Get the kids into good habits early
The first step to getting kids to value a tidy room is providing ample storage for all their belongings – there’s no such thing as too much storage. Next, put a weekly bedroom clean-up on their chores list. If they need a little extra encouragement to actually get in there and do it, think about reward rather than punishment. Positive reinforcement is far more likely to foster long-lasting good habits.
TELL US MORE
Did you inherit the tidy gene, or do you find yourself battling a tendency to hoard? Share your good and bad habits in the comments below, and be sure to tell us about any de-cluttering tricks you’ve found especially useful.
The first step to getting kids to value a tidy room is providing ample storage for all their belongings – there’s no such thing as too much storage. Next, put a weekly bedroom clean-up on their chores list. If they need a little extra encouragement to actually get in there and do it, think about reward rather than punishment. Positive reinforcement is far more likely to foster long-lasting good habits.
TELL US MORE
Did you inherit the tidy gene, or do you find yourself battling a tendency to hoard? Share your good and bad habits in the comments below, and be sure to tell us about any de-cluttering tricks you’ve found especially useful.
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Dislike rummaging in drawers and cupboards...drawers almost always become "everything" drawers....reminds me of the enormous drawer at the bottom of my antique wardrobe as a child....I put everything in there, even my secret things..(little love ;letters from my childhood 'boyfriend', my first attempts at life class figure drawing...knowing that Mum would not go into that disorganised clutter.
So out with the drawers...I suppose and off with bench cupbpoard doors in the kitchen in favour of organiser and baskets.. I suppose...the only problem would be a tea towel thief in the form of a 75+K mastiff who opens drawers...so baskets...what fun!
What else? My wardrobe...yes, definitely adopt the Oprah method..and maybe take a lesson from Mum...LESS and quality is MORE, and more mix-n-match...out with the chain store clothes and Op Shop items...unless its a designer garment that's perfect.
A place for everything and everything in its own place is a good guide. I think that if things are in sight...say in those cube storage nooks in see through baskets for me things would be comfortably 'at hand' but at the same time in their own place...less tendency to hide it all willy nilly behind doors. Don't like stark environments in white and just black and white.
For me these feel ...lifeless...as if the inhabitant either had no imagination with colour use or that they could not be bothered or that one must follow the trend. Suppose it comes down to..I can't bear to paint natural timber.. Am very big on translucent stains of all colours for timber and on decorative decals and coloured and decorative laminates on interior glass doors and windows. Over a stark white or a midnight black doona cove and grey cushions and pillows I'd choose a flambouyantly coloured or quilted an patterned fabrics.
Like the Bohemian atmosphere woven in with natural stones and timber. Guess that preference attracts a certain anount of Gypsy, arty clutter. Besides...who said everything needs to be streamlined and antiseptic-looking when the body living in the space is otherwise inclined? I am of the opinion that a certain amount of organised clutter is "homey"...and am of the take that "a house is not a home if nobody (appears to be) there.
Thanks for a great read, and some great tips…. I think knick knacks are a real issue around peoples homes.
In my experience, the knick knack issues can effect any room space around the home, and can very easily get out of control.
Keep things clean and simple is the best way, for a carefree easy life. :)