Closet by Closet: 6 Lessons I Learned While Decluttering My Home’s Hidden Spaces
When it comes to clutter in my home, it’s the hidden spaces—my closets—that tend to be the biggest culprits. And this past fall, I’d had enough of the clutter.
Perhaps, you, like me, reached your limit when you opened a closet to put something away and something else fell out, again. Or, perhaps it was after a loved one had passed away and you were tasked with the emotional process of going through their belongings—and you realized just how much stuff you have in your own home. Or, perhaps, after another move, you decided you are never again moving those several boxes you still haven’t opened since the first move.
Whatever your motivation for getting rid of the clutter in your home, I hope the following lessons I learned during my own decluttering journey might help guide you through your own project. And, because I’m no organizational expert, I reached out to Certified Professional Organizer Ellen Delap to get her thoughts on how best to declutter those pesky hidden spaces.
Lesson No. 1: Create a command center.
I chose one room of our home that wouldn’t get much use in the foreseeable future and made that the place where I collected everything I planned to donate. This was especially helpful when I tackled my clothes. It was nice to have a space to lay everything out so I could better decide where each item should go: the trash, the donation pile, or a pile of things I’d like to try and sell in an online marketplace.
Pro Tip No. 1: “Give yourself a timeline for the online sales so items move quickly. Group items together to sell in a batch rather than individually. For a quick sale, set pricing at 25 percent of the original cost.” —Ellen Delap, CPO
Lesson No. 2: It helps to designate a charity (or several) to receive items that are hard to part with.
As I was going through my things, it surprised me how hard it was to think about simply throwing away something that once held value and purpose. After I chose a couple of charities I liked and respected, it made it much easier to part with my belongings because I kept thinking how someone else could use what I had only been storing. Because we were new to the area, it took some digging to figure out which charities would accept the items I wanted to donate, but people at our church and our neighbors proved to be great resources for recommending local charities.
Pro Tip No. 2: “Don’t dwell on finding the ‘perfect’ donation spot. Move the donation pile out as soon as possible to a local philanthropy. It’s a bonus to see the space clear.” —Ellen Delap, CPO
Lesson No. 3: Start with the easiest closet first.
Because getting rid of things is not always easy, start your decluttering journey with the easiest closet, the one that holds the least amount things or the one that stores the least amount of sentimental items. In doing so, you’ll ease yourself into the decluttering mindset, so by the time you reach that pivotal closet (for me, that was my clothes closet), you’ll be much better at realizing what to keep and what to donate or throw away.
Pro Tip No. 3: “If you can’t begin with the easiest closet, start with just 15 minutes at a time. Baby steps are the key!” —Ellen Delap, CPO
Lesson No. 4: Take your time.
Part of decluttering is also organizing what is left, and these two activities take time—a lot of time. If you’re a stay-at-home parent with young children at home, tell yourself for the next week you’ll use nap time to accomplish your goals. Or, if you’re a working parent and taking on a decluttering project is an overwhelming idea, set aside one weekend to schedule a sleepover for your kiddos with their grandparents or family friends, and turn it into a weekend of productivity around the house. Just give yourself plenty of time and be patient. If you’re anything like me, your clutter wasn’t accumulated in a day, and so it’s going to take time to dismantle those hidden spaces!
Pro Tip No. 4: “Write in your decluttering sessions like they are an appointment.” —Ellen Delap, CPO
Lesson No. 5: Find a podcast or audio book, and have fun!
If the idea of going through your house, closet by closet, sounds vaguely like torture, turn on a podcast or listen to an audio book for some company. Who knows, you might find yourself enjoying the time to be productive and discovering something new or “reading” a book you otherwise wouldn’t have had time to sit down and read. Check out these podcasts and audio books, which were recommended to me:
Podcast Recommendations
- Relatable by Allie Stuckey
- Made for This by Jennie Allen
- Smartest Person in the Room by Laura Tremaine
- Ten Things to Tell You by Laura Tremaine
- The Lazy Genius
- The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman
Audio Book Recommendations
- The More of Less by Joshua Becker
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Pro Tip No. 5: “Some podcasts I love include Getting to Good Enough; The Minimalist Podcast; and Becoming Minimalist. I also recommend these audio books: ADD Friendly Ways to Organize; Organizing from the Inside Out; and The Minimalist Home.” —Ellen Delap, CPO
6: Work with an eternal perspective.
This is often easier said than done. But the popular saying of “You can’t take it with you!” is very true. Yes, you can certainly bless future generations with inheritances, but do your children and grandchildren really need (or want) everything you’re not using but still storing?
If what you are storing in your closets you consider to be junk, then bless your spouse, children, or grandchildren (future or present) by going through it now so they don’t have to later. If what you’re storing is useless to you but might be useful to someone else, then consider donating it so someone else can enjoy it. Or, perhaps in all of this you find some hidden treasures you’d forgotten all about. This is where organizing comes in so you can create a space where you can actually find it and use it! Last, consider trying to sell a few of your more valuable items online and making a bit of money. (Just remember to be careful when selling items online to complete strangers. You never know who’ll show up at your door!)
We all tolerate clutter differently. Some of us can live in extreme clutter and are never bothered by it—and perhaps we don’t even consider those mounds of clothes or stacks of old textbooks to be clutter! For others of us, the tiniest pile of papers sends us into an organizing frenzy. Whether your decluttering journey looks more like a serious purge or simply a light reorganization of things, I hope these six lessons I learned—plus the tips from our pro, Ellen Delap—encourage you as you go through your home closet by closet.
Meet Our Pro, Ellen Delap—Owner of Professional-Organizer.com
Ellen Delap, certified professional organizer and productivity consultant, launched Professional-Organizer.com in 2000. She is an award-winning Certified Professional Organizer recognized for her contributions in the industry and community. She has extensive experience in working with ADHD individuals and holds certificates of study in ADD and Chronic Disorganization and is a member of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD). Ellen’s goal is to empower her clients by making a difference in their lives! Visit Professional-Organizer.com to learn more about Ellen and to discover more great tips in her blog.
For more great organizing tips, check out our Q&A with Ellen about The Organized Life
What is an organized life? Is it living inside an organized home? Is it clearing your calendar to spend more time doing less? . . . We sat down with certified professional organizer Ellen Delap to get her thoughts on how to tackle the clutter in our homes and in our lives one step at a time. Because while organizing our homes and lives might be simple in theory, it’s definitely not always easy! Read more >
2 Comments
Ellen Delap
Thank you for sharing this great article! I am always excited that the new year brings much to our renewal and resetting. Your tips will help so many people start their year and meet their goals!
Barbara Shippy
Thank you, Ellen—and back at you! We sincerely appreciate you sharing your expertise to help people meet their goals!