How to have a clean house without really trying - Part 3

In my last post, I talked about keeping things tidy. Here's something that I try to do to mean it's easier to achieve that:

Have less stuff

Having a lot of stuff is endemic to modern day life. We have piles of books, DVDs, kitchen equipment, photos, and clothes in our homes. These things aren't bad in and of themselves, but the more we have of them, the more upkeep there is to do, the more space is needed, and the more there is to tidy.

I've been consciously decluttering for a year or so now. We did a car boot sale the other day and it was a great way to make a little bit of money from things that we genuinely don't need or use. Most of the stuff in our house is now there for a purpose (either we use it or we find it beautiful). Yes, there's some stuff that's still there because we don't quite know what to do with it (old computers and the like), but in general, it's quite streamlined nowadays.

The second part of this is:

Have homes for the stuff that you do have

Personally, I think t's fine to have a 'junk drawer', but if there's junk in all the drawers and cupboards of the house, that's a problem. It's really hard to keep a house comfortable and attractive if there's stuff spilling out everywhere.

The third part of it is:

Don't put it down, put it away

Once you've got homes for your stuff, use them!