A history of organising and decluttering in 1000 words.
Hello and Welcome!
This is the first in a series of blogs that I will publish throughout the year on www.fortheloveofthings.com
Starting in July (drumroll, please) I will share monthly writings and musings on topics about ourselves and our belongings, with a special focus on the practice of organising and decluttering. Topics include the essence of decluttering, its impact on long-term sustainability, the relationships between memory and our belongings, teaching children to declutter, effective storage designs, the role of professional organisers for neurodiverse clients, and global care for our surroundings. References are listed at the end. As a mother, thinker, and 'ideas' person, I will share some of the thoughts that occupy my mind drawn from a variety of sources. Let's begin with the basics: what do we mean by decluttering and organising, and how did these concepts come about?
Declutter or organise?
Decluttering. It's a cumbersome word, and I kind of dislike calling myself a 'declutterer' (the extra '—erer' sound is particularly grating). It feels like a cruel tongue twister that’s been imposed on people who are already struggling with awkward texts or disorganised spaces. The word conjures up images of chronic disorganisation, clutter, rats' nests, untidiness, maximalism, chaos, and mess, which contrasts sharply with terms such as calm, space, emptiness, cleanliness, tidiness, as if our social worlds are already pitting these extremes against each other. What I do goes more towards organising, categorising and grouping belongings to then make decisions together about what could go and how what stays where.
A bit of background to managing our homes…
In the 19th century, displaying expensive everyday items was a way for middle- and upper-class homeowners to showcase their wealth. Victorian homes were filled with curios, the more cluttered, the better to demonstrate social status (see Prof. Jane Hamlett’s work). Young men returning from their Grand Tours of Europe displayed their objects and hung lavish paintings. By the late 1880s, there was a pushback against this excess. In 1884, Eugène Poubelle introduced the rubbish bin (la poubelle) to Paris and early movements in America began to advocate for reducing household contents for aesthetic reasons. In 1911, Elsie de Wolfe's book The House in Good Taste reminded her readers about “Simplicity!”. The national 'Better Homes for America' competition, won in 1924 by a Unitarian minister, Caroline Bartlett Crane, also known as 'America’s housekeeper', championed values of thrift and self-reliance (see Mansky 2019).
Thinking about how people maintained their house without ‘clutter’, and how they used to dispose of unwanted items led me to looking at the histories of 'rag and bone' men and women. This recalled a story from my children’s primary school archive of local history which I’ve been helping to organise in Camberwell (London). A former pupil reminisced: “We used to collect old newspapers and take them to the newspaper merchant in Camberwell Passage (where the bookshop used to be). And we’d take rags to a cottage on Camberwell Grove. I remember a local rag and bone woman called Mrs Carr. Her daughter Margaret was my best friend. She collected stuff from houses in a bassinet pram, took it home and washed and ironed it, then sold it on her stall at East Street Market…” (n.d accessed 10/06/24).
Decluttering gained momentum in the 1970s as we get closer to what some believe is the path to domestic bliss. A 1974 New York Times article described Stephanie Winston's profession of arranging jumbled files, books, and records, and optimising storage space (see Mansky 2019). Starting to feel familiar? Winston's 1978 manual ‘Getting Organized: The Easy Way to Put Your Life in Order’ was influential. In 1983, professional organisers in Los Angeles formed the Association of Professional Organizers, later known as NAPO (National Association of Productivity and Organizing) which is still going strong today. In the UK, APDO (Association for Professional Declutterers and Organisers, www.apdo.co.uk) was founded in 2004, offering annual conferences and certified training and support.
Japanese society and culture have significantly influenced global organising practices. Reflecting Buddhist teachings and Hinduism, limiting excessive consumption aligns with avoiding 'too much' rather than financial motivation. In 2009, Hideko Yamashita introduced danshari (‘less is more’), and Marie Kondo's 2014 book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ popularised the KonMari method, which encourages keeping items that 'spark joy'.
Sustainable habits?
So far, we see that decluttering and organising are often used interchangeably. It’s not merely cleaning; it's a reaction to excess and a practice with philosophical underpinnings. Professional organisers support this practice, and it can be seen as self-care. A German study (Muster, Iran, Munsch, 2022) found that using the KonMari method leads to more mindful consumption and sustainable habits — the study further questions whether this becomes a long-term habit or not. Clients often feel 'lighter' however, after sessions, validating the removal of burdensome items.
A balanced approach to decluttering involves managing expectations, being cautious, maintaining control, and doing what feels right for you. Whether you prefer maximalism, minimalism, or essentialism, decluttering can significantly benefit mental and physical health. This is why I love what I do, and I will continue to explore interesting aspects of this work in future blogs, so if you like this one, keep an eye out next month on www.fortheloveofthings.com
Resources to help circulate your things:
Each month I will share suggestions for donating unwanted items or other tips, particularly if you’re local to South London. I've been compiling this list since founding For the Love of Things, aiming to help promote sustainable disposals. The information is accurate at the time of publishing, but always double-check before as places close/ change/ have funny opening hours... don’t blame me!
Let’s start with A + B…
A: Artwork
Preservation Equipment Ltd
B: Baby and children banks (clothing and equipment for babies)
Love North Southwark
The Small Project (Kennington)
B: Books
- Webuybooks (scan barcode/ISBN to get a quote, can arrange collection)
- Zapper (what they can’t sell, they take to recycle)
- Ziffit (also for cd’s, dvds and games, will collect for free if boxed up)
- Bookwise
- Rescued Reads
- BooksforLondon (to find book swapping places in London)
- Oxfam
- the Book Rescuers
- Local libraries, local schools
B: Boxes
- Really useful
- Ryman
- Homebase
- Montana for really pretty ones (but check where/ costs)
- Good Ikea ones are Samla 301.029.74 (stackable, transparent, with lids)
- Muji
B: Bras
- Against Breast Cancer (send by post)
- Smalls For All (send by post)
B: Bulky waste
Lovejunk (sign up and you will be matched by the nearest/ appropriate rubbish clearer)
REFERENCES:
Mansky, J. How America Tidied Up Before Marie Kondo (Smithsonian Magazine (2019) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-america-tidied-marie-kondo-180971239/
Muster, Iran, Munsch. The cultural practice of decluttering as household work and its potentials for sustainable consumption (2022) https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainability/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.958538/full
Professor Jane Hamlett (Royal Holloway, University of London) https://royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/history/about-us/staff-key-contacts/jane-hamlett/