The two things I need you to know before you start to declutter – these will guarantee a successful clear-out

Amanda Jones is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on sustainable living and decorating a home in way that is good for the environment. See the rest of her articles here.

There are two tips I always give to people who are just embarking on decluttering their home, that will not only ensure their success, but also mean they won’t need to do as much decluttering in the future…and that’s before you even fill your first bag.

Having spent many years, slowly decluttering my home of 70% of my belongings, I learnt a thing or two, and I became very good at deciding what to keep and what to let go off.

These days people want quick results, but by decluttering slowly, mindfully and with intention, it really gave me the time to understand myself, my family and my home. I learnt what we ACTUALLY needed, verses what we wanted. The understanding I developed has ensured 10 years on, I’ve never got overwhelmed with “stuff” again.

Over the years I’ve been asked hundreds of questions about how to declutter, people what tips on how to, the best way etc. etc. practical advice. I shared my whole decluttering journey over on my Instagram, @small_sustainable_steps.

The two pieces of advice I tell people however, before they even start to fill their first bag; ask yourself WHY you want to declutter and have your Exit Strategy ready.

Rather than jumping straight into the process, as temping as that is, think about WHY you want to declutter. This is important because it will enable you to change your future consumption behaviour and therefore change what you bring into your home. I really believe, once you understand why you want less stuff in your life, it will help you not resume old habits, and save you time, energy and money.

So why are you decluttering? Is it because you feel overwhelmed by the stuff you have, do you want to change you shopping habits? Would you like to be more organised, to save time and energy? Are you concerned about you overconsumption from an environmental perspective?

Initially for me I was overwhelmed by my belongings, then realised how mindless my spending had become. I didn’t want to be so wasteful anymore. The more I let go of, the easier those decluttering decisions became. Gradually I started to take back control of my home, there was a lot of self-reflection and learning along the way. Understanding your WHY will help you to find the whole process easier.

The second piece of advice I give to people before they start to declutter is have you Exit Strategy ready. Where is the stuff you are letting go of going to end up? Whilst it was tempting to hire a skip for a week and fill it up, I wanted to do decluttering responsibly.

I’d read an article about how charity shops were overwhelmed, how our unwanted clothes become another country's issue, so I wanted to avoid charity shops as much as possible and look for alternatives. It meant spending a bit of time researching and writing down the names and contact numbers of local organisations who accepted donations.

My Exit Strategy

1. To move things out of my home as quickly as possible once the decision had been made to let them go. Because I was decluttering slowly, this was manageable, it was usually just a few boxes/bags a week. I also had transport so the items could go straight into the car. I had contacted local organisations; I knew what they would/wouldn’t accept. I knew where my things were going, I was being responsible.
2. Sell or not to sell? I decided early on I didn’t want to sell too much, just a few pieces of our higher priced stuff. Selling, although good if you want to pay off debt, or need extra cash, is quite lengthy and stressful, and that would have been too much for me. We gave away a lot of stuff through freecycle, and asked family and friends too. We also had a box of ‘free stuff’ outside on our drive, most of it was taken by passersby the same day. You can also use local community pages/websites/community boards to advertise your free stuff.
3. Local charities/organisations (not charity shops). Toys/baby items/quality women’s and children’s clothes went to a local women’s refugee, collected by a member of staff. We took clean towels and bedding to a local cat rehousing charity. Books the local supermarkets. Furniture, storage, electrical and kitchen items went to a homeless charity, again picked up by staff.
4. Charity Shops, although I didn’t want this to be my first choice I was happy to send some items. A new charity shop had just opened near us, and it supported our local hospital, so a few home décor pieces went there.
5. Local council recycling centre. We recycled what we could, but invariably some items did end up in landfill. That is the consequence unfortunately of buying too much, especially if it’s poor quality, but because I decluttered mindfully and slowly, this was kept to a minimum.

So, before you fill that first box of things you no longer need, think about the two pieces of advice. It will completely change how you approach the decluttering process. It will make things much easier emotionally because you’ll know why you’re doing it. You will also find you send a lot less to landfill and ensure you don’t refill your home again six months down the line. It’s what they call, a win, win.