Let’s face it, we’re drowning in clutter.  We have so much stuff in our homes that more and more people resort to storing their excess outside of their homes, in self-storage boxes.  The self-storage industry in Singapore has grown from 1 facility in 2003 to almost 100 in recent years!  In the US, it is estimated that 1 out of 10 households owns a storage unit. And this situation doesn’t touch only wealthy people, in fact, even low-income families are faced with clutter in their homes. I’ve been working as a professional organiser since 2013 and here are my views on how we breed clutter.

I love decluttering, in fact, I find it quite cathartic, but I appreciate it might not be the case for you. Maybe you tried in the past, only to find out it took more time than you anticipated and lost the momentum along the way. The reality is that, more often than not, clutter didn’t happen overnight and is not going to disappear overnight either. And it often gets worse before it gets better. Here are a few strategies to help you find the motivation to declutter and to keep going at it.

One of the questions I get most frequently asked when I give a talk on the topic of clutter is how to deal with a loved one’s clutter. I’m not surprised because, having worked with many families over the years, I’ve noticed it’s quite common in a couple to have one half who strives for order while the other half doesn’t really mind the clutter, or doesn’t even see it. I also well know how it feels to look day in, day out at a loved one’s clutter, in fact, that’s what got me into this line of business. Dealing with a loved one’s clutter is tricky, to say the least, yet there are a few things you can do to stand a better chance of getting them to do something about it.

Decluttering is not rocket science, yet the thought of decluttering can be paralysing for many people. So, if you’re in need of some decluttering inspiration to get you started or keep you going on your decluttering journey, here are my favourite quotes. Most of them have been written by minimalists but you don’t need to aspire to become one to be inspired by them.