How to Declutter Your Home Without Making a Bigger Mess
If you've ever set aside a whole weekend to declutter your home, pulled everything out of the cupboards and then run out of time or energy partway through, you'll know how quickly a house can end up looking worse than when you started. It happens to a lot of us, and in my experience, the standard advice on how to declutter your home can actually be part of the problem.
In this article, I'll share the process I guide my clients through when they want to tackle the whole house (without making a bigger mess).
But first, hello and welcome! I'm Dr Bea Bobbin, and I’m a Professional Organiser and Certified Decluttering Coach. I help women with ADHD declutter and simplify their homes to make everyday life wayyy easier. I spent more than ten years working as a medical doctor, and I also have ADHD myself.
So let's get on with making your home a bit easier to live in, starting with whatever time you've got today.
Table of Contents
How Long Does It Take to Declutter Your Home?
A realistic timeline for learning how to declutter your home from top to bottom is a few weeks (which I’d still consider a stretch goal for most people) to a couple of months. For many of us (hi, it’s me), it can take years when you’re doing it on your own.
I don’t say that to be discouraging; it usually took us years for all that stuff to accumulate, so it makes sense that it might take us a while to un-accumulate it.
Trying to do it all in one weekend tends to lead to rushed decisions and a lot of self-criticism when you inevitably run out of time and the job isn’t finished.
In my own home and with clients, I’ve seen real progress happen very quickly in little bits of time.
That’s really the secret to how to declutter your home without burning out: small, consistent sessions add up. (Skilled professional help will speed that up even more!)
Why I Don't Recommend Pulling Everything Out When You Start Decluttering
Most decluttering guides on how to declutter your home suggest pulling everything out first, then sorting it into piles. It sounds logical, and I can see why it’s such common advice.
But in real life, it can turn pear-shaped quickly. Halfway through, the baby wakes up, or it’s time to start dinner, or your brain runs out of steam, and now the floor is covered in things with nowhere to go.
If you get sidetracked (and if you’re anything like me, that’s guaranteed to happen at least 67 times), that unfinished pile can end up becoming a semi-permanent roundabout in the middle of your lounge room.
If this has happened to you before, I reckon it says a lot more about that ‘helpful’ (ahem) ‘pull everything out’ advice than it does about you. That’s why the first thing I tell my clients is: please don’t pull everything out!
New to decluttering? Read What Is Decluttering? The Meaning, Method, and Why It's Hard so you can learn the basics before you begin.
How (and Why) the No-Mess Decluttering Method Works
Instead, I use decluttering expert Dana K White's brain-friendly Five-Step No Mess Decluttering Method with every client. We work through one space item by item, and everything stays where it is until we've decided what to do with it, so the mess never gets bigger and we can stop at any point.
If you're DIY'ing and the kids need you, the space still looks better than when you started, with no giant pile waiting for you to come back to 'later' (AKA never).
Ever wondered why decluttering feels so much harder for some brains? Read Is Clutter a Sign of ADHD? to find out what the research says.
Where to Start: The Most Visible Spot in Your Home
I usually recommend starting with the most visible space in your home. For most people, that's wherever guests come in, like the front entry. You'll notice the difference every time you walk through the door (and feel wayyyyy more comfortable when someone randomly knocks).
Before You Start: Clarify the Purpose of the Room
Take a moment to ask yourself: "What do I need to be able to do in here?"
In an entryway, people need room to do things like come in, take off their shoes and coats, and hang up their bags (depending on how things work at your place).
Keeping that all-important purpose in mind makes decisions easier as you go, because it helps us realise that leaving enough open space to actually do those things is the number one priority, rather than cramming the whole room full of stuff.
How to Declutter Your Home Using the Five-Step No-Mess Process
These are the five steps I work through with clients in every area of their home.
If you'd like to give it a try yourself, let's work through it together now!
You'll only need two things: a rubbish bag, and an old box or bag for donations.
(A recycling bin is handy too if you have that service available in your area and it’s already part of your everyday life, but the rubbish bag and donation box are all you need to get started if not.)
Step 1: Rubbish
Starting in the most visible area, take out anything that's clearly rubbish and put it straight in your rubbish bag. Think old receipts, junk mail and dried-up pens.
If you have to stop and wonder whether something is rubbish, it's probably not rubbish, so you can leave it where it is for now (we'll come back to it in the next few steps).
Step 2: Easy Stuff
Next, look for anything that already has a home somewhere else in your house, like a jumper on the back of the couch or Lego strewn all over the floor like a booby trap out of Home Alone. Pick that thing up, and take it there right now.
It can be tempting to make a 'take to the Lego box' pile instead, but piles have a tendency to become invisible the longer they sit there. Taking each thing to its home straight away means that task is completely finished, and you won't have any lingering piles to deal with if you get interrupted and need to stop.
Step 3: Obvious Donations
An obvious donation is anything that makes you think, "Duh, of course this can go!" Put it straight into your donation box or bag.
If you find yourself umming and ahhing, leave it where it is for now, and we'll deal with it in the next step.
Not sure where to take your donations? Read Where to Donate in Canberra: A By-Category Guide to find the right home for everything you're letting go.
Step 4: Ask the Decluttering Questions
Now we work item by item, using two simple decluttering questions that help you keep making progress quickly and without spiralling.
The first is: "If I needed this item, where would I look for it first?" If you know the answer, take it there now, so you'll be able to find it again next time.
If you've got no idea, ask the second question: "If I needed this item, would it occur to me that I already had one?"
If the answer is yes, go back to the first question and imagine you're running late (again) and need it right now. Wherever you'd begin that frantic search is where it belongs.
If the answer is no, it's probably safe to let it go, because you'd most likely just buy another one anyway.
Step 5: Keep What Fits (the Container Concept)
Acknowledging those physical limits actually takes a lot of the emotion out of decluttering, because the shelf or cupboard decides for you, and you don’t have to agonise over how many of something you ‘should’ own. (Dana K White calls this the ‘Container Concept’.) It’s one of the most freeing shifts I’ve found when it comes to how to declutter your home.
So, put like things together in the spot where you’d look for them first. Start with your favourites, then keep adding until it’s full, leaving enough room to take things out and put them back easily.
Anything that doesn’t fit can likely be donated or let go. Hooray!
What If Something Feels Too Hard?
If you pick up something that feels too hard to decide on, like a gift from someone you love or old photos, I'd encourage you to skip it altogether and move on.
You don't need to deal with everything perfectly right now. You can totally leave it where it is, and the space will still be better off.
When you come back to it, you might see it with fresh eyes, and it'll probably be much clearer what to do.
Where to Go Next: Working Through Your Home Room by Room
Once your most visible space feels better, keep working through your home from most to least visible:
First: High-traffic spaces. Try busy spots like the lounge room, dining room and kitchen, where you (and your visitors) spend the most time.
Next: Rooms you use every day, like bedrooms and bathrooms.
Last: Hidden spaces. The attic and storage cupboards are out of sight, so the hard work there can feel invisible. Best leave these until the rest of the house is feeling more spacious!
Working from most to least visible spaces helps you see (and enjoy) the results of all your hard work straight away!
Ready to try the No-Mess Process in one room? Read How to Declutter a Room Without Getting Overwhelmed for easy steps you can start today.
Would You Like a Hand Decluttering Your Home?
You don't need to wait for the perfect free weekend to learn how to declutter your home.
Here’s how we can work together:
Live in or near Canberra? My Canberra Decluttering Services offer one-on-one help in your home.
Live somewhere else? My Online Decluttering Services bring that same support to you over video. We start with the easy wins, and your space will always be better off at the end of every session.
Not sure where to begin? Book a free one-hour consultation. We'll pick one small area to start with, with no pressure and no judgement.
Want more gentle decluttering ideas in your inbox? Join the Hello Space newsletter.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The ones I see most often are pulling everything out at once, trying to do the whole house in one weekend and starting with the hardest things first. Each of these can leave you with a bigger mess, or wear you out before you've made much progress.
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Rubbish. It doesn't require as much brainpower, so it's a quick way to make a visible difference.
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The 20/20 rule was made popular by The Minimalists. The idea is that you can let go of anything you could replace for under $20 in under 20 minutes. Some people find it helpful for 'just in case' items. But if the idea of buying something again feels uncomfortable, for your budget or for the planet, the two decluttering questions in Step 4 might suit you better.
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Work in short sessions, starting with the most visible spaces. Little bits of time, as often as you can manage, will often get you further than one big weekend that leaves you exhausted. Skilled help from a professional will speed things up even more!
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Most of the time, no. Decluttering needs to come first. Once there's less stuff, things often fit in the space you already have, and most of my clients find they don't need any new organising products at all.
If you'd still like to make the space look even prettier with some new baskets or tubs once you've finished decluttering, you'll know what size and how many you'll need, and you might even be able to repurpose things you already own without spending a cent. Winner!
