Reducing Clutter in 2015: 3 Strategies to Adopt Now

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

(Image credit: Kevin’s Natural & Nostalgic 450 Square Foot Singapore Apartment House Call )

The neat, healthy and clutter-free, home: such a lovely concept, such a hard one to actually achieve. Unfortunately, people and places come with stuff, and the longer those people live in those places, the more the stuff can really start to take over. This year, to banish clutter from your home once and for all, embrace these three basic ideas.

Follow Topics for more like this

Follow for more stories like this

1. Control what comes in.

Reducing clutter at the source is the surest way to ensure you don’t have to deal with an excess of anything. Whether it’s creating a landing strip to better organize your incoming mail, asking yourself “Why?” every time you go to hit Checkout when online shopping, or using a one-in-one-out policy for various areas of your home, make a decision to respect your home enough to take control of the things that want to invade its peace.

2. Control what goes out.

And when I say control, I mean enforce. Sometimes we become so used to seeing things in our home that we don’t even notice they’re there. Working one room, bookcase or packed-to-the-rafters closet at a time, really look at the items you see every day, and decide if any can be culled. You may want to use the Outbox strategy or invest in some versatile, multi-use items as well.

3. Create anti-clutter habits.

This is where the real work is, but also the biggest payoff. Creating a clutter-free home is really about creating good home habits, and incorporating them into your daily life. You may decide to devote 30 minutes every weekend to decluttering, or maybe you’d rather do five minutes every day. A weekly paper-filing session or monthly trip to the charity shop will both help the situation, as well as your peace of mind.