When there are too many sentimental items all piled together, it feels sad, not heartwarming.

Less is more.

This is usually the time of year—after all the holiday shopping—that we realize we’re no happier and our relationships are no different than before we bought a bunch of stuff.

What an absolute honor it is to announce today that I signed a book deal with Penguin Random House. I’m with their brand new imprint, Align Insight! After 14 years of writing consistently, my dream has come true ❤️

Don’t Save the Good Stuff…yours in Spring 2027!

The thing about me is I believe your home can be decluttered even with kid art on the fridge, multiple photo albums on the shelf, family pictures on the wall, and books in every room.

A high volume of items that represent a person or memory tends to feel sad. It’s a like a big reminder of a past you sorely miss.

But if you choose just the few favorites to represent that person/memory best, the stuff can elicit happy memories. It’s not a big pile of sadness.

When starting out, consider decluttering a space that has these 3 elements:

1. Obvious: it should be somewhere you see every day
2. Non-sentimental: don't start with stuff that will pull at your heartstrings
3. Zonable: in other words, easy to zone down and take one chunk at a time

In psychology, a "success spiral" means if you do one little thing in a positive direction, that win motivates you to continue making progress.

So if the clutter in your house feels overwhelming, don't look at the big picture. Choose one task to complete, and let the success spiral propel you.

Getting my kids to declutter toys before
Christmas stopped being a dramatic struggle when I gamified it like this:

"Fill the box before this song ends!"

"Find one blue, one soft, and one loud thing to give away."

As I like to say, a lot of parenting is just creative marketing.

The 5 biggest myths about decluttering:

1. You can't keep sentimental items

2. Your kids will feel deprived

3. Your house will look boring

4. It’s financially irresponsible

5. It’s just about aesthetics

Just a reminder that if you want to save money, you can switch out following accounts that tempt you to buy cute things with accounts that encourage you to be content with what you already have.

Future you doesn't want the clutter either: that dress you've only worn once, that appliance you never use, that lotion you've never opened. It's time to let them go.

It’s within our power to adjust the labels we put on ourselves that hold us back from living in a less stressful, decluttered home: “I’m indecisive,” “I’m too sentimental,” “I’m not naturally organized.”

🙅🏻‍♀️ Change the thoughts themselves and see how that changes the outcome.

Just your daily reminder that decluttering is a way better dopamine hit than shopping. 🫶

Our brains retain information about unfinished tasks far more than they store information about completed tasks, which is why clutter feels like such a mental drain.

It truly IS a mental drain, because clutter is a bunch of unfinished tasks or postponed decisions that our brains are holding onto.

If you’re over-organizing with painstakingly detailed label systems and containers and bins, it’s probably a sign that you just have too much stuff.

Hot take: The ultimate cleaning hack is to get as much stuff out of your house as possible.

Parents always tell me that one of their biggest struggles with toy clutter during the holidays is loving family members who *over-buy* for their kids.

I created a *free* email/text Gift Request Template with fill-in-the-blanks to help you graciously request gifts that won’t become clutter.

“Too much stuff” is wayyyy too abstract. Instead, use a ~PHYSICAL BOUNDARY~ like a bin, a drawer, or a set number of hangers that sets the limit for how much you can keep of a certain type of item.

When it’s at *comfortable* capacity, it’s time to declutter.

We are being influenced by way of comparison more than we even realize. It’s taking our money AND cluttering up our homes…all from the fear of being left out or not enough.

Which is exactly what today’s episode of Paring Down is all about. 🎧

Taking the box to the donation center: 30 minutes

The box hanging over your head because you haven't taken it yet: 6-12 months

MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!

When it comes to decluttering sentimental belongings, don’t feel like you have to get rid of everything that makes you YOU.

Instead, consider—can you keep a smaller token of the memory to represent the love and joy? A picture, or just one item instead of a set?

It’s honestly SO WEIRD but true that the more clothes you have in your closet, the less you have to wear.

(Hence why I decluttered mine big time and now help other people do the same. Kicked that decision fatigue right out to the curb. BYE.)

I did a deep dive on when buying in bulk is actually cost-saving, and when it’s not.

Turns out you can’t just say “I buy in bulk because it saves money!” 🫣

I break it down on the Paring Down podcast:

Ep 105: Can You Live Minimally in a Big House? (And the Truth About Buying in Bulk)

Realistic minimalism is not about never finding meaning in items—it’s about curating a home that honors that meaning.

Instead of letting sentimental things pile up in dusty boxes or get lost in chaotic displays, we cherish and highlight the few things we love *most.*

3 ways to make decluttering sentimental items easier👇

1. Bring them somewhere that you know they’ll be cherished

2. Take a photo of the item, or consider if the memory is already preserved in a photo

3. Display and use the best sentimental items you own, so letting go of others isn’t so bad

Potentially useful stuff isn't actually useful.

If we want to live in homes that aren't bursting at the seams with clutter, it's time we part with the things that are only useful in theory.

A few questions to ask your kids when helping them declutter their stuff:

• What do you love about this item?

• Do you know what it means to give it to someone who “needs it”? (Kids often don’t really make this connection)

• Where does this fit if you want to keep it?

If decluttering feels like a drag, it’s because you’ve decided it’s a drag.

Take a deep breath and say “How could I shift how I’m looking at this?” “Why do I want to do this in the first place?” “What new strategy could I try that would make this more fun?”

5 Signs Your Organization Solution Won't Turn Into Additional Clutter

1. It fits into the natural rhythms of how you already operate
2. It creates less work, not more
3. It's designed for items you use regularly
4. You've considered all measurements
5. You'd use it even if no one else saw it

STOP—before you buy any organizing bin or product, consider this:

If you throw your shoes in the closet, a shoe bin would work great. But a shoe rack would require lining them up nicely every time.

Choose the product that fits what you (and your family) *already do.*