Celebrity tips on how to clear your clutter

How to clear your clutter? It is a dilemma that we all have to deal with pretty much every day, and celebs are no different.

In fact, quite often the more money people have, the more they buy and so the more clutter they have…unless they have learnt their lesson and start organizing themselves better.

Here are a few tips from celebs in the UK and abroad for de-cluttering and organizing your stuff around the house.

 

1. The Oprah Winfrey’s Wardrobe Organiser Method

Actually, it wasn’t Oprah who thought this up but she made it famous. It’s pretty clever too.

If you suspect you don’t actually wear a lot of the clothes in your wardrobe, then hang all of your clothes with the front of them facing to the right in your wardrobe.

After you wear something, hang it up with the front facing to the left.

After a few months you will see pretty easily which clothes you’re not wearing because they will be the ones still facing to the right.

Anything that is still facing to the right after six months should either be sold online or given to the charity shop (unless you suspect you might wear it later in which case give yourself another six months, but no more!)

 

2. Marie Kondo – Japanese celebrity ‘tidier’.

Marie Kondo, author of the international bestseller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising says tidying creates joy because it means that anything that doesn’t “spark joy” is removed, leaving only items that give you joy.

Kondo is a celebrity in Japan and is inundated with requests to help clients tidy and sort their belongings.

Interestingly, her method involves gratitude for what you have, which is a happy approach in itself. You take up every item that you’re clearing. look at it, consider it and if it doesn’t ‘spark joy’ in you, then you thank it  for what it has done for you and then you sell or give it away so that it can do good for someone else.

She says that the results can be life-changing as people find themselves surrounded entirely by things that give them joy. She even says that when the reader has finished her book they should get rid of it in a good way (unless, of course, it sparks joy!).

These are some of her tips for clearing clutter around your home:

• She suggests de-cluttering by subject rather than room by room. Start with the things that are easiest to part with and then get to the harder stuff at the end. So you might start with your books in all rooms. Then after that go through clothes, then shoes, then cooking utensils.

• She says you should focus on what to keep rather than what to get rid of which means you start with a positive rather than a negative approach.

• Anything that doesn’t spark joy in you is to be touched, thanked and then sent on its way towards a better life elsewhere.

“It’s important to create good habits in the home, in particular the places that can become magnets for clutter. Each room will have its own storage needs for items that need to be kept out of sight, creating more space to display the items that mean the most.” Darryl Brunt, UK Sales & Marketing Director at Fellowes UK

 

3. Anthea Turner – The Queen of clean

TV presenter Anthea Turner, has lots of brilliant de-cluttering tips on her website Antheaturner.com including these:

• Get the whole family involved. Let everyone know and they can be a part of the decision making. The golden rule here is that ‘everything has a place’ and if everyone in the house knows where that place is, your life will become easier.
• Plan your clearing: Before you begin, look in every cupboard and drawer, regardless of what it contains at present, decide what you are going to keep there in the future. Then, as you are tidying, you will be able to put any misplaced items where you want them to be.

 

4. Hillary Clinton and handbag tidiness

Hillary Clinton really knows how to keep her handbag organized.

She says that when you switch bags, rather than just dump everything from one to another, keep everything in small mesh bags so that it is all kept together and you don’t lose anything.

 

5. Jasmine Birtles – A Fresh Approach

Jasmine, founder of MoneyMagpie.com and of the Clear your Clutter campaign has several tips for clearing clutter and keeping things organized. She says:

“A while ago I realized that I had lots of half-used or unused bottles and jars in the bathroom, so I gathered up a few bags and small boxes and divided them up into all hair products, all lip products, all eye products, all nail products etc and put each lot into a different bag or box in a bathroom cupboard. So now, if I use up one shampoo bottle I check the hair products bag before I buy another one. Same with lipsticks, toothpaste and so on. It’s amazing how much half-used make-up and other products I have in there. I’ve saved a lot of money by using what I’ve got in there first!”

Jasmine also stores her winter clothes in bags during the summer and does the same with her summer clothes at the start of winter. “It means that I have a lot more room in my cupboards and drawers and also putting things away and taking them out again are both good opportunities to weed out the clothes I know I haven’t worn for years and am not likely to wear again. The charity shop does well at least twice a year!”

 

6. Jessica Alba and Orlando Bloom

American professional organizer Linda Koopersmith, who has stars like Jessica Alba and Orlando Bloom as clients, has a few ideas to keep your shoes organized.

She says “force yourself to get rid of anything you don’t use regularly, and put seasonal shoes in storage. Use clear shoe-size boxes to store pumps, and keep them in your closet based on colour and type. Believe it or not, this will take up less space while giving you easy access to your favorite shoes.”

 

Find out how to get involved in National Clear Your Clutter Day 2018