What I Wish I’d Known About Clutter When I Turned 50
The autumn I turned 50, my youngest moved into a first apartment across town, and just like that, the house was ours again. I stood in that empty bedroom the …
Declutter
I Labeled the Backs of My Photos So the Faces Don’t Become Strangers
It was a slow, rainy afternoon, and my granddaughter had pulled an old shoebox of photos down from my shelf to keep herself busy. She sat cross-legged on the floor, …
I Held On to Who I Used to Be, One Drawer at a Time
Have you ever opened a drawer you hadn’t touched in years and felt like you were looking at a stranger’s things? Except they were yours. Every single one. That happened …
I Alphabetized My Avoidance: How I Mistook Organizing for Decluttering
I once spent four hours “decluttering” my house and threw away absolutely nothing. I sorted. I arranged. I made neat little piles and even labeled a few things (the label …
My Husband Keeps Everything, and I Finally Made Peace With It
My husband can’t throw anything away. I say that with love, mostly. After forty years of marriage, I’ve made my peace with it. But it took me a long time …
Where to Start Decluttering When You’re a Senior and The Clutter Feels Too Much
Have you ever stood in the middle of a room that needed clearing, looked around at all of it, and felt so overwhelmed that you just sat back down? You …
Decluttering for Women Over 70: A Kinder Way to Lighten a Lifetime of Things
If you’re over 70 and looking around at everything you’ve gathered over a lifetime, wondering how you’ll ever sort through it all, I want you to take a breath. This …
Decluttering With a Bad Back and Sore Hands: The Gentle Way I Do It Now
I still remember the day I sat down in the middle of my bedroom floor and nearly cried. I’d set out to clear one closet. Just one. But twenty minutes …
Slow Decluttering: The Gentler Way to Clear Your Home After 60
A few years back, I decided to declutter my whole house in one weekend. I’d read that you had to be ruthless. Rip the bandage off. Pull everything out, make …
If I Can’t Declutter Perfectly, I Won’t Start
There’s a closet in my bedroom I avoided for the better part of a year. Every time I opened it, I told myself the same thing. Not today. When I …