The environment you fall asleep in certainly has an impact on the quality of the rest you get. And who couldn’t use a better night’s sleep? The hard part is finding the right routine, the most comfortable temperature, the best lighting, and a perfectly soft (or firm) mattress. The easy part — comparatively — is … Read more
The first time I sat down to craft this program (formerly called the September Sweep), I wrote about how much I struggle with paper clutter around my home. Well guess what? I still struggle with paper clutter around my home. It just goes to show that all of the motivation, knowledge, and strategy in the … Read more
Value statements aren’t just for startups. The right words, in just the right order, can speak to your soul and help you heal all manner of bad habits or patterns. Now that we’re halfway through this decluttering project, I thought it might be a good time to take a break for reflection. Today, we won’t … Read more
What’s your signal that it’s time to declutter? For me, it’s when my supply of things is overflowing the space I’ve dedicated for them. It happens in the kitchen, when I run out of space to store my coffee mugs. It happens in the junk drawer, after I’ve tossed so much junk in there that … Read more
If you’re overwhelmed by the messy state of your home, my best advice is to start small, and start with wherever it is that you spend the most time. For many people, that’s the living room. We’re going to hit many rooms and many categories of clutter in this two-week decluttering challenge, but I want … Read more
When you have too much stuff, decluttering is the answer. But it’s not the solution. A better choice would have been to go back in time and avoid bringing home that thing entirely. Now, that’s not advice that works for everyone (I mean, besides the time machine part). Sometimes the things you’re decluttering are things … Read more
Decluttering can sometimes take the form of a capital-P project (like the one we’re doing right now with the Cure) where there’s a big effort over a brief period of time. But people with tidy homes also know the power that small, frequent efforts can have towards keeping a home uncluttered, too. Everyday clutter — … Read more
When you start to see the telltale signs that it’s time for another decluttering effort, you’ll be tempted to dig right in and start clearing out last seasons’s stretched-out sweaters or the microplane you swore you’d use to make au gratin potatoes every weekend. Follow that motivation for sure! But before you actually begin casting … Read more
Clutter is the enemy. For as long as I’ve been the editor of Apartment Therapy’s Organize & Clean vertical (Hi, I’m Taryn!), “decluttering” has been the most consistent topic of interest to our audience for years. The thing is though, you have to name your enemy to fight it, and the word “clutter” doesn’t have … Read more
When you think about it, a home is really just a collection of objects. Some are more important, like walls, lights, and mattresses. Others — like the fraternity formal t-shirt and box of spare cords — maybe less so. There’s also a whole lot of objects in-between that might be hard to parse through — … Read more