How to Maintain a Clutter Free Home

How to Keep Your Home Clutter Free – 7 Simple Tips

Now that you’ve decluttered your home, find out how to maintain a clutter free home.

Having a home that is clear of clutter seems like a dream come true, but once you have purged your home of excess items, the question is how to maintain a clutter free home.

Thankfully, there are several steps you can take to keep your home’s clutter-free state and live in a way that is calm and well-organized.

To maintain a clutter-free home, minimize how much enters the space. Ensure every item has a place and take time every day to tidy. Make your bed and clean the kitchen daily. Keep a donation box to remind you to declutter often. Use a one-in-one-out rule to keep the number of possessions steady.

You are not alone if you often find yourself surrounded by clutter and wish your home could be junk-free. So many people become slaves to their possessions and have to find ways to purge the excess junk.

Once you get rid of the excess, the trick is maintaining a clutter-free home. It takes an ongoing commitment, and we have a few ideas to keep you on track.

(Here are simple decluttering hacks to help make it easier for you to declutter your home).

How to Maintain a Clutter Free Home – 7 Helpful Tips

To maintain a clutter-free home, you need to have a mindset shift of living clutter-free. With every purchase, you should consider the weight of the responsibility and what the new item will imply for your home.

Understand that the objects in your home affect your energy and your family’s energy. When there are too many stuff, our energy becomes drained as we consciously and subconsciously battle with losing control over our environment.

For me personally, a cluttered home makes me feel claustrophobic and stressed out.

Having only what we need allows our energy to be calm. We know on a deep level that we have control over our environment and that our belongings serve us and make our lives easier. Moreover, clutter can give your home a cheap look.

To understand how to keep clutter out of your home, you should have a concise understanding. We like to define it in the following way:

Clutter is when you have too much stuff in your home
Clutter is anything that makes you feel uneasy or disorganized
Clutter is anything you own that you do not use or do not love

With these in mind, deciding what to keep and purge is easier. Keep these definitions handy and refer to them when the lines begin to blur, and you need to figure out your decluttering goals.

Now, let us look at a few pretty simple ideas you can implement immediately to keep your home clutter free and enjoy your living space to the fullest now and always.

#1. Be Mindful of Your Purchases

So, you did a purge of all your excess clutter. Your house is gloriously minimalist, and you are feeling good. Now it is time to keep it that way.

We know as well as anyone how alluring a sale can be or the pull of a little retail therapy. But now that your home is clutter-free, you have the responsibility to maintain the calm. From now on, when you consider purchasing something, it will need to pass through a few strict gates:

Why do I want to buy this?
Where am I going to store this?
Do I really need this?
What responsibility will it require from me? (In what way will I be drained energetically through this purchase?)

If you want to buy the item because you feel like buying anything, opt for a coffee, gelato, or experience instead of an item that will need a storage space.

If you find that it is something you need, you have a legitimate place to store it, and you want to buy it because your old one is broken, or it will make your life easier, go for it.

Remember that each item you own is a drain on your energy in some way. Every object requires maintenance, tidying, cleaning, and thought. So do not mindlessly purchase things to stash in your home for no reason.

The aim is to own less. The less you own, the less cluttered your home will be.

#2. Engage in Regular Purging

An excellent way to ensure your home remains clutter-free is to schedule regular appointments with yourself to purge your home of clutter.

A fantastic opportunity is the change of seasons. During these times, we typically change out our closets, move outdoor furniture and toys in for storage and move things around in the home.

Take these times to sort through your belongings and donate, trash, or sell items you no longer need or use.

Twice a year should be frequent enough to keep your home clutter free with a good purge and clean.

#3. Find a Place for Everything

We know there is a season for everything, but did you know there should also be a place for everything?

Someone gave me a gift recently, unfortunately, I really couldn’t find a storage space for it. So I decided to re-gift it to another friend who not only needs it (and will use it), but also have a place to store it.

Having a place for every item is a beautiful way to keep your home uncluttered. This method of keeping things put away helps you know what you have and what needs replacing.

What people find when they begin to live in an orderly way is that they save money. Instead of purchasing new items, they find what they need in the designated place.

They won’t have to spend money buying things they already have at home. Living in a clutter-free home is reason enough to put things in their place, but saving money is a fantastic added bonus.

#4. Rethink Where You Store Things

Perhaps closely linked to point number three above, this tip is all about using common sense rather than what society or, perhaps, previous generations suggest.

When selecting spots to store the items in your home, it is a fantastic idea to imagine yourself using them. If you always use your pens and scissors in the living room, find a place to store them. Having your items stored in places that make sense for you and how you live will make it way easier for you to keep up the tidying.

Nobody enjoys having to walk across the entire house just to put away one or two items. Choose “homes” for things close to where they are used to avoid leaving them out.

While contemplating this point, consider placing items you would like the kids to put away in easily-reachable spots, too.

If you would like your children to be responsible for folding and storing blankets, for example, make the storage space for blankets an easily accessible cupboard that is nowhere near anything dangerous.

The spot will make it much easier for the kids to be helpful when the time comes for them to organize and store the blankets for you.

#5. Do a Daily Tidy

To keep your home free of clutter, you need to commit to a daily tidy up. There is no denying it; we use things in our homes every day, making them look messy and cluttered.

Schedule a time or two every day and take those few minutes to love your home by putting your belongings where they belong.

We recommend using a laundry basket and placing all the loose items in each room inside the basket. You can then walk from room to room, taking the things out of the basket and putting them in their proper places.

Aim to make your bed each morning as part of your daily routine. It may seem like a simple task, but making your bed can be a catalyst for having a tidy home for the rest of the day.

Once you have made your bed, you are more likely to pick up the clothes lying on the floor. That could lead to you putting on a load of washing, packing away dry washing, or sweeping the bedroom floor.

Aim to spend about ten to fifteen minutes tidying in each of your sessions. This way, it will be manageable, and you will be more likely to keep it up.

#6. Clean the Kitchen

Kitchens can become grimy even when we do not use them. To keep your home clutter free and looking and feeling clean, it is a wonderful idea to clean your kitchen daily. We recommend giving it a light clean after every meal.

Wash cooking utensils or place them in the dishwasher ready to be cleaned. Clean and declutter counters and dust away any crumbs. Return all ingredients to the refrigerator or pantry, and put all leftovers in containers in the fridge for later use.

Leaving your kitchen in this way will make your return for the next meal so much more enjoyable. It will minimize the chance of having critters take up residence and make it easy for you to welcome any friends who want to drop by for a quick cup of tea and a chat.

#7. Keep Up with Your Paperwork

Paperwork is one area most people need help to keep organized. We recommend you work out a system for receiving it, working through it, and storing it to avoid having it clutter your home.

A paper collection tray or box is a handy way to keep letters that arrive by post. Keep them in the collection tray or box until the designated day for working through them.

Choose one day every week or so and work through your letters. Take the necessary action immediately to avoid forgetting any important tasks that need to be fulfilled.

Scan and electronically save what can be kept that way. Store the documents on a dedicated hard drive or memory stick and label the items in files and folders that make sense to you.

Dispose of the paper by shredding, tearing, or cutting it before placing it in the recycling bin. Do not place it in the bin in its complete state since it likely contains sensitive information about you.

Have a file with dividers for paper documents that need to be kept in hard copy. Place the items in their relevant sections and save the file on a bookshelf or in a drawer.

Keep up-to-date with your paperwork by keeping a regular date to go through it and take action, scan, and file what needs to be handled immediately.

You will love your paper free counter and table spaces.

Final Thoughts on How to Maintain a Clutter Free Home

It is easy for clutter to creep back into a home after it has been decluttered. However, you can maintain a clutter free home by keeping up with tidy sessions. Keep up with your paperwork and put away all your belongings at least once daily. Make your bed every single morning to start your day on a clean and tidy note.