A Simple, Sneaky Way to Make Decluttering Easier

There are lots of tactics for decluttering craft supplies and books, but this easy trick might help make decluttering easier.

I have a lot of issues when it comes to craft supplies, from overflowing bins of yarn to fabric I haven’t used in years to random kids’ craft supplies we’ll probably never make anything out of.

But the biggest, most obvious problem I have is that I have a ton (maybe almost literally) of craft books.

Most of them are knitting books, because I used to get paid to write knitting book reviews on a relatively high profile website. Lots of publishers sent me lots of books for many years. (I still get some, and I still review some, but a lot less than I used to.)

There are books I love and have made projects from, books I want to make things from, books I want to read but haven’t yet, books I barely even glanced at before piling on the shelf.

And as overburdened and groaning as my shelves are, I have donated untold hundreds of craft books to my local library over the years. I’ve also given away at least a book a week for years.

But every time I look there seems to be more to get rid of.

Make Decluttering Easier by Rearranging the Furniture

If you’ve read any of Marie Kondo’s books, you know that she suggests you touch every item you own in order to decide what to keep.

I never thought that was necessary when it came to books.

I thought I could just pull out the ones I knew I didn’t want to keep and that would be enough.

But the other day I decided it was time to take a firmer approach with the books and myself.

So I decided to rearrange the furniture in my office.

The Magic of Moving

Moving furniture can help make decluttering easier in several ways:

• Giving your space a new look can inspire you to keep it clean.
• Taking everything off the shelves or out of drawers makes it easier to see what you have and be more selective about what remains.
• It forces you into thinking about what you want to keep, not what you want to discard.
• It’s a quick way to reset a space.

One of my favorite ways to think about decluttering is to imagine that I’m moving. Would I want to pack this thing? Would I want to find a place in my new house for it?

If not, it’s much easier to just get rid of it now.

Removing everything from a space so you can move the furniture around is another version of that game.

You’ve literally moved everything out of the way.

Now, what goes back?

I’m still in the process of going through all the books, but I’ve boxed up more than 100 already and I’m trying to be really selective about what I keep (though my to be read shelf is much more full than I would like).

Of course for this to work you have to have a place to put all the stuff you’re moving off of or out of the furniture you are moving. My office floor is still stacked high with books, and my guest room is a shambles from things I moved out so I could move the furniture around.

But I think clearing off and moving the furniture is a great way to make decluttering easier because it forces you to deal with those things right away.

This isn’t just for bookshelves, but can also work for cabinets, drawers, desks, anything that can hold crafty items and that it is possible to move.

Have you ever used moving furniture as a decluttering tactic? I’d love to hear about it!

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