1. LEAD BY EXAMPLE
When trying to encourage minimalism in your home, it helps to think like a professional organizer and take the lead, setting a good example for everyone else in your home, suggests Michelle Parravani, professional home organizer and founder of Designing with Less. Practicing what you preach is the best way to motivate people to clean, she says:
2. TRY THE KONMARI METHOD
Although minimalism usually emphasizes keeping only the functional essentials, you can encourage more relaxed minimalism by using the KonMari method and also keeping only the things you love, too, says Raychel Klein, professional organizer, certified Kon-Mari Consultant, and founder of RayBayBay Home Organizing:
3. HOLD A FAMILY MEETING TO DISCUSS THE BENEFITS
It is important to remember that just because you are in the mindset to declutter, your family might not see the point, let alone the lesser-known benefits of organizing your home. Michelle Parravani, professional home organizer, recommends setting up a family meeting to help share your goals
4. THINK ABOUT THE OBJECT'S PURPOSE
There are plenty of decluttering approaches that can help you to achieve your decluttering goals, from the one-in-one-out system, decluttering burst, or the 20-20 decluttering method. Kimberly Corey, professional organizer and founder of Finely Sorted, suggests that when it comes to minimalism, you should instead consider the object's purpose and question whether or not it has ‘earned’ its place in your home
5. IMPOSE LIMITS ON CATEGORIES
When trying to encourage minimalism as a long-term goal in your home it can be helpful to impose limits on certain household items to avoid overspending and bringing items into the home that will result in clutter, says Raychel Klein, professional organizer. These limits can be for anything from organizing kitchen appliances, to organizing a bathroom vanity.
6. DEVELOP A DETAILED DECLUTTERING PLAN
The only way to set yourself up for a successful decluttering session is to set out a detailed decluttering plan – especially if you are working with friends or family towards a common goal, says Michelle Parravani, professional home organizer. Your plan should have everything from a list of priorities, a list of every room you want to work in, down to what to do with the items you are decluttering
7. FOCUS ON DONATING ITEMS FOR A POSITIVE BOOST
When encouraging minimalism, it helps to attach a positive experience to the process to keep you motivated and spur you on to continue. Laura DeJohn, professional organizer and owner of All Checked Off Professional Organizing, recommends trying to declutter without throwing away and instead making regular donations of old but well-kept items