What’s Your Decluttering Style? 8 Decluttering Methods To Try

Hoping to thin down your possessions? Have a go at one of these eight decluttering methods.

You know you want a clean, clear, minimalist home, but how do you get to that end result? Sometimes successful decluttering comes from finding the right decluttering style. Luckily, there are many different decluttering styles and methods to try, and here are 8 of them to consider:

The Four Bag Method

When you use the four bag method you usually have four bags, or containers labelled for four different outcomes for your clothes – Throw, gift, keep or place elsewhere (such as cheap self storage). You can have more bags of course, but the idea that everything can be sorted into categories.

The Test Of Value Method

For the undecided items you can place them into a quarantine to decide their fate. Any items you aren’t sure whether you should keep or not you place in a box dated for six months time. If you have to get the item out of the box within six months because you need it, it’s a keeper. If you haven’t, it is a clear sign you don’t need it in your life.

The Kon Mari Method

Marie Kondo’s method of decluttering focuses on ensuring any items you have in your home are functional and/ or bring joy. The best way to understand the method is to checkout either her series on Netflix, or the Kon Mari podcast ‘Spark Joy’.

Swedish Death Cleaning

Swedish death cleaning relates to decluttering your house as though you are preparing for your own death. The idea is that you wouldn’t want to leave your loved ones items that are not sentimental or useful.

One In One Out

If you aren’t the kind of person to go through your entire home or cheap self storage unit and declutter, the one in one out rule could work well for you. It also works well after a big declutter. You simply have to get rid of one item every time a new item comes in.

6 Things Out

This method asks you to remove 6 things in each space that you haven’t used or touched in 6 months. It’s a good practise to do as a starting point for decluttering, and as a maintenance plan to perform at least every six months.

90/ 90

The 90/ 90 rule was devised by The Minimalists and works simply by asking you have you used an item in the last 90 days and if you haven’t, will you use it in the next 90 days. It gives you a really practical way of looking at the items you own, helping with the decluttering process.

20/ 20

The Minimalists devised this decluttering rule which tells you if you can replace something for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes you can get rid of it. It’s a really good rule for those drawers full of miscellaneous items that you just do not know what to do with. More often than not, most of them can go.

The methods above are really useful guidelines to use if simply ‘decluttering’ just doesn’t get you thinning out your belongings in a way that you truly need. The chances are, at least one set of guidelines will stick, giving you the clear, organised home you deserve.