I’ve always been a neat and orderly person — even as a child.
I kept my room clean and organized without any parental prodding because I wanted it neat and organized for myself.
I instinctively decluttered when things felt too “full” for my liking — but for the most part, I kept as much as I wanted in my room — as long as it was neatly organized and had a “home” (even if I didn’t necessarily need or use it).
Then I went to college and my eyes were opened to the real world! 😂
One of my college acquaintances owned more clothing than anyone I’d ever known… probably 3 times more!
She had a huge closet with various organizers, rod extenders, cubbies, etc. along with multiple dressers, under-bed storage units, decorative wall organizers to hold shoes and accessories, and a free-standing armoire — all filled to the brim.
And… it was all immaculately organized.
Color-coded and organized by type, sleeve length, fabric weight, season, and style.
She knew where every item of clothing was (or if it went missing) and she took great care to keep her massive collection neat and organized all the time.
In a way, it was a work of art.
If I had a smartphone back then, I would have shared pictures!
Over the years since college, I’ve often used this situation as a reminder that just because something is organized, doesn’t mean it’s necessary or a good use of my resources.
No one person could have worn even half the clothing she had… not to mention ALL the time, effort, energy, space, and money this gal used to maintain her extremely full and extremely organized closet.
That was the first time I realized how complicated, time-consuming, and expensive organizing could be!
Of course, it doesn’t have to be complicated, time-consuming, or expensive… in fact, I argue that it SHOULDN’T be any of those things.
Up until that point in my life, I had always assumed that as long as I was organized, as long as I had a place to store everything I owned, and as long as I put everything back in its place each day, my home and my life would be simplified.
However, I didn’t consider the huge amount of time, effort, space, and money I would potentially need to maintain that level of organization… or the fact that the amount of time, effort, space, and money needed was directly tied to the amount of stuff I had to organize.
I finally realized the difference between decluttering and organizing!
Yes, I could organize hundreds and thousands of items I don’t use, need, want, or love. The space will likely look very nice and I’d honestly have a lot of fun doing it… but an organized system with hundreds (or thousands) of items will require considerably more care and maintenance to stay looking nice and functioning properly than a system with fewer items.
OR…
I could declutter the things I don’t use, need, want, or love, organize what’s left, and enjoy loads of extra space, time, and energy to use however I desire.
I know which option I’d choose!
As I’ve mentioned before, I am NOT a “minimalist”. I love my farmhouse decorations, I probably have a few too many kitchen gadgets, and our array of toys, crafts, books, and games is more than I care to count.
And yes, I like to keep things organized.
However, as I clean and organize each week, I also declutter the things we no longer need, use, want, or love.
By completely removing these items from our home, I save time, energy, and space cleaning around them or re-organizing them for the umpteenth time.
RELATED READING: Evaluating The True Cost of Our Stuff
Consider the difference between “organizing” and “decluttering”…
Organizing requires continual effort for each item; decluttering is a once-and-done thing.
Organizing looks nice and provides a sense of accomplishment RIGHT NOW, but decluttering offers long-term results that are much more sustainable (especially for busy moms and grandmas!)
If you have time, grab a box or a paper bag and walk through your home right now. Fill them with items you’ve been re-organizing but should actually declutter (donations or trash).
Put another bag in your closet or laundry room and, as you go through your weekly cleaning routines, ask yourself if certain items should be permanently removed from your home.
Stop organizing the things you don’t need, use, want, or love — declutter them instead!
It’s a great habit to create — one that has the potential to transform your home.
If you can only spare 5 extra minutes today, find 5 things to declutter from your home.
RELATED READING: How to declutter 100 items from your home today!
Eventually, you will notice less clutter around you… and less time, effort, and energy required to take care of your home. You might even end up with an empty drawer or two!
In my own experience, decluttering has been far more beneficial for simple living than obsessively re-organizing stuff I don’t need.
I’ve saved hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars, and a whole bunch of stress-induced grey hairs as a result (no grey hairs… yet!)
Stop wasting money on cute containers and time on reorganizing. Instead, declutter the things you no longer need, use, want, or love… the organization part will be so much easier.
Liane says
Here’s a funny anecdote. You undoubtedly remember how we remodeled our kitchen and how in doing so we took down and did not replace an overhead ugly dated head banger cabinet over the peninsula. Well that behemoth held ALL our wine glasses and drinking glasses and coffee mugs and way back in the corner some not-from-the-Florist vases.So I mercilessly purged that stuff. And put all our glasses in a single 24” three shelf cabinet. That started the where can I put this game since we have actually less space and all of it is exquisitely organized with only essentials . Well I put it in boxes and labeled it creatively. Like ‘ugly beer steins no one uses’ or ‘bent cookie sheet’ or ‘single beater mixer that halfway mixes’. We are now moving and I have all these boxes….and I took a deep breath and piled them on my porch STILL TAPED SHUT! And called for a pickup. If I didn’t need it in a year and a half and could even remember half of it it seemed just fine to let it go. If some family heirloom got into a box, well so be it. I am so over keeping stuff I don’t use!
Andrea says
ok… first of all, I’m thrilled you donated all those items without even opening the box — that’s AMAZING!
Also, did you know you were going to move when you renovated your kitchen?? I feel like you got the kitchen EXACTLY how you wanted it — I feel sad that you need to leave it all!
Liane says
Yes the existing kitchen was unsellable. The doors were delaminating, floor was horrible and the cabinets themselves were narrow and shallow drawers were useless. Kinda like when you bought your farmhouse. So yes it was knowing we were doing this to sell. We bought stock sized imported cabinets from an outlet store. Our quartz was a remnant and the floor was a closeout installed for free by a family member. The neighborhood we are in is untenable. Lots of multigenerational families crammed into 1500 sq ft homes. Everyone has a car. My driveway is frequently blocked and family cannot visit without hiking up our hill. Frequent loud amplified parties occur every weekend and randomly for birthdays as well. The cultural celebration of birthdays for children is quite different than the traditional cake and ice cream parties where guests were classmates. The last straw was when the last English speaking family moved away. We were holdouts of the original buyers from the 80s. Since then we’ve been overrun by gangs and violence, car thefts, stolen packages and it is bad enough we just need to go. Hopefully we will sell to an investor who will be able to rent the house to a young couple with no kids (schools are very bad). I paid for 24 yrs (2 kids) private Christian schools since even in the 80s it was bad. It’s not safe any longer for fair haired blue eyed kids.
Andrea says
ok that makes sense — I guess I was just thinking you were doing this kitchen reno as your “forever dream kitchen” since you meticulously measured various things to make space for specific items.
I’m sure it will make your home much more sellable. Enjoy your house hunting (I LOVE shopping for houses!)
Liane says
We aren’t house hunting. My brother and I inherited our parent’s house when our mother passed away. He used it as a weekday house to avoid a long snowy commute. He retired and we decided to sell this house and move there. It’s in a lovely quiet 55+ community with HOA and parking restrictions, painting restrictions and forbidden lawn parking and dead lawns! We currently have the only living lawn left on our block, no cars on soil or on blocks in driveway. No boarded up windows or tarps and no homeless over the back fence!
Lisa says
Amen.
Holly R Sanford says
Oh, I have laundry room envy now! I downsized to a small condo about 6 years ago and my laundry is a super tiny dryer and washer crammed in a closet in my bathroom. Terrible! My next place will have a dedicated laundry room as a non-negotiable item.
Andrea says
Hi Holly! Totally make a laundry room something you look for in a new home! However, for now, you could always add some battery-powered lighting (like twinkle lights), a nice curtain to cover the appliances, or something small to make it a little prettier for you. Just an idea 🙂
Karla says
Love this! I get rid of things on a regular basis. I hate, hate, hate the time it takes to keep things organized. Way easier to just own less! Unfortunately, my family loves to “rescue” things, so my purging mostly has to be done with great amounts of stealth. 😉
Jennifer says
I have been doing this for awhile…trying to get rid of items we just don’t use or need (or items my four kids leave around the house consistently and seem to serve no purpose…) I am constantly purging hand-me-downs people keep bestowing upon us. I just asked my husband to get rid of some clothing and shoes because he has a lot of items! I keep hoping little by little we can pare down what we own.
Andrea says
it’s always a work in progress with little kids around!
Mary Ann says
A number of years ago, I suddenly had the epiphany that if I had too much stuff to fit the space then I needed to get rid of things. Up to that point, I truly believed that with better organization everything could fit. I also kept a lot of things other people thought I should keep even if I had no use for them anymore. We lived in less than 1000 sq.ft. at the time–obviously not room for everything.
It was so freeing–I didin’t need to spend more time organizing. I needed to only keep what fit the space. Dana White calls it the container theory–your home is a container, your shelf is a container, your drawer is a container and only so much will fit in each space.
I took a trunk full of donations to the thrift store on Thursday and already have another load ready to go! I’m on a roll. Haha
Andrea says
yeah, I’ve had similar thoughts over the years — like “as long as it’s organized, I can have lots of stuff” but I’m at a point right now where I just want LESS stuff to organize!
Way to go on your purging!
Summer says
I have been purging continually, and did the year end purge of all spaces but our garage. Funny thing though… As I keep emptying drawers, closets, and spaces, my husband seems to think it’s for him to start storing things there!!!!! Nooooooo! The first few times I was frustrated, now I just bring it too him and ask him to put it with like items please.
He has done a great job of purging this last year too and is making strides to a more organized life, while getting rid of things he doesn’t need, want, love or use. Slowly but surely he is getting it and I am leading by example.
Thanks Andrea for so many great tips! Happy Easter!
Andrea says
oh no — glad your hubby is making progress and no longer putting his stuff in your nice clean spaces!! Happy Easter to you too!
Michele says
Just brought a bag of clothes and accessories to the consignment shop and made $36just stuff I never wore or used. You can’t even tell I purged anything, I have way too many clothes! Too many choices makes me anxious. I’m striving for simplicity and your blog is excellent inspiration so thank you
Andrea says
every little bit helps — truly! Don’t get discouraged because you still have more to purge!
Debra Martin says
It could be that she actually enjoyed the process…like it was a hobby. I have more clothes than I need, too…and I worry about it sometimes, but now I am treating it like it they are more of a hobby, I enjoy spending time care for them, organizing them, etc. So I just accept that that is ok. I don’t usually like to have a lot of things. Every thing else in our house has a different set of rules, though. Purge, not organize! Good article, as always, Andrea!
Andrea says
yes, that could be. It was just shocking to me how much time, energy, and money she spent just maintaining her clothing. I’m not a clothing person, so it’s hard for my to fathom as it seems wasteful on so many levels! But you’re probably right about it being a hobby!
Dawn says
Yes! I don’t think people realize that there is a difference between the two and purging will help you stay organized without so much work. I love to get rid of stuff and what helps me is when I have to keep moving stuff to get to something, then I know it’s too full! Definitely time to purge that area!
Andrea says
yup, there’s a BIG difference. Both are necessary in many ways, but purging should always come first!
Chris says
My husband is like your friend, except for the huge fact that he is unorganized and I can’t keep up with the clothes, because he has so much and we don’t have a very good (or large enough) storage system. It is very frustrating and hard for me. However, I have decided this year to get rid of 1,000 things of my own and home type items, out of our home. I want to organize my own things first before I talk to him. Get my side of the closet looking nice. I’ve been purging lots of books, for example. I am about to item 377 out of 1,000, so I’m hoping I meet my goal.
Sarah says
Good luck, Chris!
My hubs likes to keep all his papers. I used to stress over it badly. Now, after 15 years, I finally got a bit smarter, and just started filling up boxes and putting them all in a certain spot for him. That way I don’t get rid of something he needs/wants.
And I just focus, like you are, on purging my own stuff. Simplifying and downsizing the rest of the home, while helping to make sure his stuff he wants to keep simply stays organized.
I wish you the best, you’re a third of the way there!
Andrea says
great plan Sarah. That’s actually exactly what I tell others in your situation to do too — model good habits (which you are doing) and designate a spot for their things so you can’t be accused of throwing something important away (which you are also doing!) yay!
Andrea says
oh no! Sounds like you are on the right track of modeling good behavior and developing good habits for yourself first (way to go with the 377 items wow!). I hope your hubby notices your new purging ways and decides to join in!