10 GENIUS Decluttering Tips from Dana K White I WISH I'd Known Sooner!!

What made the most difference for me was to stop shopping. Period. Unless something runs out or breaks, I don't impulse buy it anymore. Also, putting all the like items together gave me a sobering experience of how much stuff I had in different areas of my house. Put all your makeup together in one place, by category and think realistically how many years it'll take you to use up what you have. After some internal crying, I gave away lots of still good products, forgave myself for wasting hundreds of dollars if not thousands, and STOPPED SHOPPING

Thanks for giving Dana the credit she deserves for these ideas.

"It's just stuff. It doesn't have feelings." I LOVE that!!

When I first heard her comment about limiting your stuff to the containers, not expanding your Containers to accommodate the stuff was a real game changer for me! That was 5 years ago, and my house is definitely calmer and less clutter. ❤

I admit, I do like to toss stuff in a laundry basket when I’m declutterring. I do it because I can fill it with random stuff, then take it somewhere comfortable and sort through it. I know it (the laundry basket) is a quantity I can tackle in one sitting, which helpful because I otherwise feel paralyzed and avoid the job entirely. Small bites.

If I look for something and it’s not in the first place I look, I remember that spot and continue to look for it until I find it. Then when I’m done using it, I return it to the first place I looked and say to myself, “This is where you will be when I come back to you.” It works…most of the time ☺️

This was great! Thank you! 😃 My summary: - “Less and better” are more effective goals than “finished and done.” - Start with a highly visible area (vs. a closet) so you get encouragement every time you walk by it and see progress. : - ) - Stop stuff shuffling. (Instead get things out of the house, or assign a home for them.) - Ask, “Where would I look for this first?” and put it there. If you wouldn’t look for it, let it go. - Pull only one item out at a time and complete the cycle—if trash, throw away; if it has a home, take it there immediately (or assign one---it doesn’t have to be perfect).  (Prevents having a huge pile to put away at the end when you're out of time or already burned out.) - Start by removing trash. It makes a difference instantly and provides encouragement. : - ) - Once you’ve decluttered your bathroom completely, put things away every day to prevent chaos returning. ; - ) - Use decluttering supplies that help you: an opaque trash bag so you (and others) don’t second-guess decisions; a donatable donation box or bag so you don’t have to handle things again. - If you can’t reach bottom/back of washing machine, use salad tongs to grab items. - Use the container concept to determine maximum inventory (applies to drawers, closets, and whole house). If something doesn’t fit, use the one-in, one-out principle. ❤:chillwcat:❤

Oh, and one more thing that I learned through personal experience, is that you need to remove the decluttered items immediately from your home, or else they have a tendency to magically end up back in your closet

Love Dana K White. Her tips are so helpful. Kudos to you for mentioning her and her strategies. Your pupper on the bed snoozing is adorable.

Dana is my absolute favorite of all the declutter gurus. Her words stick with me like glue, and the Container Concept is LIFE CHANGING.

Love Dana K White! And she has a great sense of humor too.

Dana’s tip on giving everything in your house a home was my “AHA” moment. In the process of going through my first decluttering process, I found so many duplicates of too many items. I also like her decluttering without making a bigger mess process. I know I have reduced my household items by 50%.

Dana K White and you and Dawn from minimal mom and Cass from clutterbug are all fantastic and inspirational. It makes me so happy when you ladies support each other and introduce people to each other. You're fighting against clutter together.

Anyone else see some of the holiday movies through new eyes when you see the extensive shopping, gift giving and expectations, and high inventory decorations that must take up a room the rest of the year when stored? I have scaled way down on decor and have gone to giving (and getting)nearly all consumable gifts. Still festive, but much less waste, clutter, storage needed, money spent, and stress of figuring out what to give. So much simpler, and prevents clutter before it gets in your house.

Cleaned my garage one day, took everything out and put it in groups of what each item was for (auto, lawn, trash, etc.) took me 6 hours but was totally worth it, now the garage is organized and I can park the car in there.

It took me until I turned 64 to figure out that happiness is a choice, and buying things does nothing for my happiness, never has and never will. Now, as you say, if you run out and you need it, buy it. If it breaks and you can't fix it, then consider replacing it. After all, we do not sit back in a idle moment and think about the things we have BOUGHT. We do sit back and think about the things we have done, places we have gone, and people we have known, and we can do that until the moment we die. Material things don't satisfy in the long run and are easily forgotten.

I LOVE Dana K White! Cass from Clutterbug and Dawn from The Minimal Mom are great as well!

Hi Candice, I'm so glad for you that you found Dana! She was the one who got me into decluttering at 68, for the first time in my life! Be blessed mxxx

Yes! Clutter shuffling! I have shuffled clutter for decades!

Love your videos! I discovered Dana K White about 3 years ago and still use her methods today. Her container ‘rule’ is what has kept me from returning to my old ways.