10 Decluttering Habits That Changed My Life!

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It's been a long while since we last talked about decluttering and minimalism, so in this video, Melissa Maker shares some of her favourite decluttering habits to help you on your on your journey to less clutter in your home! #Decluttering #Minimalism #Declutter

0:00 - Introduction
1:17 - Live it Like a Lifestyle
2:32 - Embrace Empty Space
4:26 - The Six Second Rule
5:15 - Actually Donate Things
6:22 - Vote With Your Dollars
7:50 - Nighttime Cleaning Routine
9:26 - Quality Not Quantity
10:42 - Avoid Single Use Items
11:55 - Don't Second Guess Yourself
13:33 - Clear Surface Challenge

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[ginj]

I've always told myself, to clean my house correctly, I just pretend we are moving again. Always had yard sales and moved lots of things that fit other places. Saves money moving it and clears out things I don't use any longer.

[LittlePrairieLibrary]

One thing that helped me declutter kitchen utensils was to put everything in a box. As I used the items I put them back in their proper home, and after a couple months I was able to take good stock of what was left. There weren't a lot of items that came out of the box back to the drawer without being used first.

[tgeee]

You addressed the "but you moved into a bigger house" comments so graciously and not defensively! You moved into a bigger house so you can have more space for family and friends and to *do* things - not *have* more things!

[susanwagner]

Shop local-yes! Supporting small businesses - yes! Thank you for addressing this important topic!

[ggbythesea]

Appreciate Your piece re "Vote with your money" SO much. It's IMPORTANT. I haven't spent $1 with big box stores or online companies for decades. The policies of those companies is offensive to me on so many levels. I'm frugal, yet it's important to me personally to shop local, I don't mind spending more to do that. What little I *DO* spend feels like an investment in local People, small businesses, & the Environment. Thank You for all the tips, but sharing this 1 is MeaningFULL!💙

[johannathorisdottir]

So awesome i love empty spaces empty countertops basically having Nothing that i think is visual clutter it drives me crazy! I gave all the decor to my sisters and let me tell ya that it takes me minutes to clean and tidy every night. very little dusting and re-setting my home is a breeze. Love your channel

[allsquaredup]

I’m sort of going thru the same thing with our garden as we went thru with our house. Once we got rid of unused things we also got rid of unnecessary pieces of furniture. “See the baseboards!” was my new mantra.
Now with our Northern California garden facing unprecedented heat and drought, we are rethinking the need to have plants everywhere. We have torn out some bushes and plants that have been struggling and when we did and just covered the areas with mulch, it was a “See the baseboards!” moment in the garden. It’s looking way more intentional and open without plants everywhere and I’m enjoying it more, knowing we don’t need to water so much. There is more “decluttering” to do and I’m excited for getting our yard easier to maintain.

[aida]

Thank you so much for sharing Melissa!! Years ago I used to be such a "holding onto stuff just in case one day" kinda girl lol!! One day I had to clean and had an "AHA moment" when I learned the quote "Clutter creates not only chaos, and also a chaotic mind!!" This is SO true so I cleared a corner of clutter and saw some space, OMYGOD🤩!! Then and there, I got rid of everything that no longer served me and have lived by "minimalism" ever since!! "Minimalism" and open space feels SO freeing!!❤️🥰🙏🏼🙏🏼

[emmax]

Awesome tips, thank you! When I donate things I put them in a box and then I force myself to fill up the box so I start looking for things around my house to donate to fill the box. It’s like a mind trick that works for me😄

[claudiamiller]

Problem: married 48 years….Problem: Hubs is stubborn about change….Issue: I’ve moved on from all the styles and stuff we’ve accumulated and hauled around all these years. I want crisp corners, no excess, clean lines, fresh colors, overall tidiness and breathing room! Our current house gives us each a room to ourselves - but the Battle of the Common Areas rages on! And it is exhausting!

[bcvahsfam]

I need a video on finding or creating a place for everything.

[renatamaw]

Great video!! Just when I needed it. Having a clutter free home is so much more important than a potential something might be used one day. I think a lot of this holding on comes from our childhood, background, hard beginnings, how our parents never throw away things as there were times in life when money were really tight and it was really hard to buy anything.

[carmenlugo]

I'm so glad to hear you say that it's what pleases me and what makes me comfortable. Everytime I had people help me they wanted to do it there way and I always find myself telling them that this was my home and not an abandoned home. Seems they could never understand I just needed help. 😟

[kathyesargent]

We went 3800 square feet, to 3000 to 1500 what a nice way to declutter. Then we went to 2000 just the right size and we became less is more not a minimalist but just right. I continue to get rid of things to keep it just right for us❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[PhiliH]

Voting with my dollars has been life changing in terms of clutter for me! I refuse to use Amazon and fast fashion (amongst a few others) on principle, so I have to work harder to buy things. Often, the work required means I never get round to it. If I really want/need to, then I do - it just reduces the things I sort-of-want or wanted-briefly 🎉

[kimmimcknight]

I actually wish i'd taken a picture of my computer desktop, which was *drowning* in papers (many of them in a stack, but just as many if not more, in wild disarray) and sundry items totally not meant to be on my pc desk i'd just put there "for a moment" --i can't count how *many* moments...turned into days...into weeks...until i started watching this video. It took me almost an hour and a half to sort the papers into "junk" and "not" junk, business and pleasure, et cetera; you get the gist of it. Now i'm quite happily sitting at my amazingly clear desk, with a satisfied smile (should i mention the seriously aching back now?) and about to pop a pain med, but am sooo happy i powered through that. It had been a LONG time coming! My caregiver will be soo happy to see my now clean desk. 😁🥰 Thanks for the gentle reminder of what we can do, even in little bits (although i knew if i stopped, it would never get done!).

[gillianwinzinger]

I think one thing that's been a bit of a journey for me is balancing my dislike of the minimalist aesthetic with my need for a minimalist mindset. I am absolutely a maximalist at heart, but in terms of wanting fifty pictures on my wall and a pile of quilts on my bed... not in terms of wanting a stack of mail on my kitchen counter or twenty bottles of nail polish in my bathroom. I have become really good over time at designating a place for everything and not accumulating more of whatever that item is than its space can hold. Like I have a cabinet for all my jigsaw puzzles, but when I get a new puzzle, it means an older one has to be donated because there's no more room in the cabinet, and I'm not going to allow them to take up more room in the house. I also don't bring in any decor that isn't special to me. I have a lot of art on my walls, but none of it is mass produced, it's all from actual artists, or something my kid made, or a portrait of my pets, etc. I have a really hard time feeling comfortable in what most people would think of as a minimalist space, so I just keep working on that comfort/function balance.

[toandiloya]

Love this video.. Sometime ago, we did some decluttering and to this day, we are so happy without all the stuff we gave away or sold. It is such a great feeling. Clutter=misery in my opinion. Our house looks so clean and refreshing 😍 We only have what we need not want and so far it's worked out.
Maria L.

[cindyb]

Love you Melissa. You were on to this lifestyle of minimalism -- making the "things" in your life work for you years and years before it became such a trend. I value your videos.

[keithbates]

I have been watching this Wonderful San Diego couple, who cleans out dumpsters and donate to different charities. Pretty Cool, trying to lessen the landfills!! Joan