How to declutter a tiny house?

Sustainable, affordable, and convenient — tiny houses are all the rage. But when you have a tiny house, just a little clutter can quickly become a chore. Tiny houses have to be well-organized, or they quickly become suffocating. Here are some tips for keeping your tiny house minimalist and serene.

1. Get Rid of Everything You Don’t Need

Every week or every month, go through your house and throw out the things that you don’t need. If you’re hesitant to throw something out, place it in a “junk box” for a month. If you haven’t used it in a month, you probably don’t need it. Don’t forget that you can donate things that you don’t want anymore, so you’re not just throwing things away.

2. Don’t Get Trapped By Sentimentality

Your memories don’t belong in things, they belong in you. Rather than keeping sentimental items around your home, take photos of them. Instead of keeping a whole blanket, keep a swatch. Be creative about the way in which you remember things, and acknowledge that it isn’t the things themselves that are important. Consider digitizing photo albums, and moving items that aren’t part of your day-to-day life into storage.

3. Switch to Digital Rather Than Physical

You don’t need a book if you have an eBook, and you don’t need a complete collection of DVDs if you have them on your laptop. Go digital with as much media as possible, so you don’t have to waste storage space on things that can take no space at all. You may even be able to transition your work life entirely to digital to improve your productivity.

4. Avoid Buying New Things

Are you thinking about replacing some of your items with something new? Consider mending and recycling instead. Otherwise, you may end up with a large number of half-working items, in addition to a graveyard of broken items that you’re still planning to fix. In general, it’s more sustainable to purchase things used, too.

Instead of purchasing new clothes, consider reworking clothes into new items. Dresses can become jumpers, and pants can become shorts, with just a little work.

5. Don’t Add Without Subtracting

For every item you add to your house, try to remove something, too. This is a great way to stabilize your ecosystem, especially if you often find that you gather things without noticing. In a tiny house, you have a limited amount of square footage. And with that limited amount of square footage, you’re going to need to be aggressive about keeping the bulk down.

6. Start Enjoying Experiences

Do you often find yourself purchasing items when you feel unhappy? Start prioritizing experiences over things. Instead of going out to shop, go out to a new restaurant. Ask your friends and family members if they’d like to visit a museum or a park. Take photos rather than purchasing memorabilia, and otherwise start enjoying things that aren’t commercial in nature.

7. Do a Complete Inventory Before You Go Shopping

Everyone has ended up with two blenders, or two gallons of milk. It’s easy to forget what you have once you’re already out shopping. Before you go shopping, make a list of the items you need, and do a complete inventory of everything you have. That way you won’t end up with eighteen sewing kits inside your kitchen junk drawer, and you won’t have too many groceries going to waste in your fridge.

8. Borrow, Don’t Buy

Rather than buying one-off items that you’re going to rarely need, consider borrowing them. If you have a friend who collects tools, they may be more than happy to lend them to you. Just make sure that you return them in equal (or even better, maintained and cleaned) condition! That’ll ensure that they want to lend to you in the future.

Don’t forget to let them borrow things in the future, if they need to borrow from you!

Tiny living is a complete lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle that focuses on reducing your material needs, getting rid of the clutter, and remaining well-organized. The better organized you are externally, the more organized you will be internally. You’ll be able to manage your own life far easier, and you’ll have less to worry about overall.

As a tiny house denizen, you need more help getting organized than most. Follow the Get Organized Wizard to learn more.