Reverse Decluttering Can Work Wonders for Your Home

When my mother-in-law was preparing to move from the large home she and my father-in-law had raised four sons in, she used reverse decluttering without even knowing it.

Reverse decluttering meant that she was focusing on the essentials as she packed, and leaving the rest. For example, she took just one set of dishes and a few basic cooking implements. Just a couple of sets of sheets for each bed (her new condo has a guest room). Just one couch for her new, smaller living room.  She pictured what she’d need for comfort and happiness, and that’s what she moved. 

Why reverse decluttering?

There are a lot of decluttering methods out there (here’s another one of my favorites), but reverse decluttering has benefits that make it stand out. It’s faster than some other methods, because you don’t have to take everything out, create a huge pile in the middle of the room, and sort through each item individually. That makes it less energy-intensive as well, with minimal decision fatigue.

Here are a few more benefits of reverse decluttering:

• It removes guilt.
• It negates nostalgia.
• It reduces emotional attachment and adds objectivity.
• It helps you get clear about the goals and projects you still care about.
• It aids the removal of “just in case” items.
• It boosts your confidence that you have what you need.
• It overcomes clutter blindness (what happens when you’re so used to clutter you no longer pay attention to it).

Are you ready to try it?

The first step is imagination.

If there was a fire, and everything burned, what can you think of right now that you would need and want to replace? (I realize some things would be irreplaceable.)

Start your decluttering on paper (or in the list app on your phone). Instead of emptying all of your closets and cupboards and pawing through the resultant mess, work backwards by listing from memory all of the items that are most important. When you start imagining what you need, the items that come to mind first will be the things you use most often and the items you love.

Reverse decluttering works because it lets you focus on what adds value to your life. Instead of feeling like you’re getting rid of things, or “losing” them, you focus on what you want to keep. This method flips the typical decluttering mindset on its head by letting you decide what you truly need and love. It shifts the script from “loss” to appreciation.

For example, imagine starting with an empty clothes closet, and actively choosing only those items you’d buy or wear again. Not only does everything else feel unnecessary, but you easily create the core of a capsule wardrobe.

Start with any empty space and imagine how you’d fill it. If you had to buy furniture, kitchenware, tech, tools, books, décor, etc. again, what would you choose? It’s like getting ready to move without actually moving. You get to choose what’s useful, what’s beautiful, and the things you really like, and then – without drama – you can remove the rest.

As Andrea, who writes at simplifyingmomlife.com says, reverse decluttering helps you “focus on the ESSENTIALS to efficiently trim the EXCESS.”

If you’re still struggling to declutter, buy a package of Post-it notes and start sticking them on things you use daily or weekly. Stick them to items that have the greatest sentimental value – the things you want to see every day, or during each holiday season.

Another option is to pick a number, and choose what you want to keep up to that number. If you’re going to keep just one set of dishes, which set makes the cut? If you’re going to keep two coats, which two are your go-to favorites? If you’re going to keep just one bookcase, and you think it’ll hold about 60 books, which ones are you going to choose? You can fudge the numbers a bit if you need to, but suddenly your choices become much clearer.

The beauty of reverse decluttering is that you don’t need a fire in order to do it. You don’t actually need to be moving. You can pretend. Simply imagine what you’d choose to keep, and remove all the rest.

Your streamlined home will look just the way you pictured it.

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About the Author: Karen Trefzger is a writer, singer, teacher, wife, mother, and grandmother who has been choosing a simpler life for over 20 years. She is the author of several books about minimalism, and blogs at Maximum Gratitude Minimal Stuff.