Swedish Death Cleaning is a brutal but effective way to declutter – that’s why it’s so popular. When I tried it out for myself in my living room, I found almost everything was being bagged up to-go in one sitting. The thought process behind it revolutionised my perspective – that little niggling voice in the back of my mind telling me to hang on to things ‘just in case’ was gone. So, there was nothing holding me back anymore.
It sounds morbid, but Swedish Death Cleaning has its purpose and it’s immensely helpful when you’re struggling with clutter. It involves removing unessential items from around the home so your family won’t have to do it after you pass away. It’s a sad thought, but not really when you consider how much grief it can save. Plus, the thought process can help you jump the final hurdle if you struggle to let things go. So, it’s actually a helpful process at any age. But where to start? Here’s 5 things the method advises you to declutter as a priority.
Note: All quotes have been taken from Margareta Magnusson’s book: Döstädning: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning
1. Clothes
Margareta recommends working through your home in categories of items, starting with the easiest to sort through first. For herself, that was clothes because there was an extensive collection!
She suggests sorting everything into two piles; one to keep and one to give away – simple as! Things that no longer fit need to go into pile two, while things that need repairing or dry cleaning should be removed from pile one to be actioned. The rest of pile one can go back in the wardrobe. Everything else can be given away or recycled.
Margareta surmises: ‘Your wardrobe, as with everywhere else in your home, is all about organisation – so that you can quickly and easily find something suitable when you need it. In my opinion, all garments in a wardrobe should look good together, and you should be able to mix and exchange them with each other… Only keep those that you really feel you will wear, or if the sentimental connection is very strong.’
Remember to switch your wardrobe over seasonally to save even more space, and use velvet hangers and garment bags where needed to provide better grip and protect items in storage. Check out the 10 golden rules for decluttering your wardrobe for more tips.
2. Books
Books are also given a separate mention in Margareta’s work. She admits that these are difficult to sell, so her first step would always be to offer them out to friends and family. But if you have a collection of books on one specialist subject, you may be able to sell the lot to the right buyer. So it’s worth listing these.
She makes a point that: ‘Sometimes, books have notes in the margins, written by people you know. These books can be difficult to get rid of for sentimental reasons. I suggest you give the book and notes one last read before you pass it on. When buying used books, I often look for volumes with notes in the margins written by strangers. It gives the book some extra character. So don’t be afraid of giving away books with notes in them.’
For Margareta, the only books that remained were those she planned to read and those she kept needing to reference, such as the dictionary and a cookbook she compiled herself from recipes friends had given to her over the years!
Books can always be donated to a local charity shop if they’re unwanted by friends, or you can try selling them online via World of Books. If you’re getting rid of sentimental books, remember to offer them to other members of the family first, in case they hold meaning for them. Here’s how to declutter your books for more tips and tricks.
3. Dated and expired things
Another category is things that are either dated or expired. This relates to all those items of furniture that were updated and have since been abandoned around the house. Or it could be medicine or makeup that has gradually amassed in the bathroom and has now expired. Forgotten appliances that are still working but are now buried in the backs of the kitchen cabinet fall into this category, too.
She concludes: ‘This crazy consumption we are all part of will eventually destroy our planet – but it doesn’t have to destroy the relationship you have with whomever you leave behind… That is another benefit of death cleaning: thinking more about how to reuse, recycle and make your life simpler and a bit (or a lot) smaller. Living smaller is a relief.’
Furniture can always be donated, sold or offered out to friends and family (or those moving into their first home). Expired medicine should be safely disposed of via your local pharmacy, while the packaging from makeup can often be recycled at health and beauty retailers. Working electrical appliances can always be sold, or if broken, recycled. You can use Recycle Your Electricals to find a local recycling point. With a bit of research, you can find ways to declutter all kinds of possessions without throwing them into landfill. What’s dated to you might not be to others.
4. Your secrets
The point of Swedish Death Cleaning is you’re removing things now so your loved ones won’t have to go through them later. That said, there are certain things that might jump to the front of your mind – namely, private items, which may cause embarrassment later.
‘There’s no sense in keeping things that will shock or upset your family after you are gone. Perhaps you have saved letters, documents or diaries that contain information or family stories you would never wish to embarrass your descendants with… If you think the secrets will cause your loved ones harm or unhappiness then make sure to destroy them.’
What needs to be decluttered in this instance is entirely personal to you, and if it’s something you’re still using now, there’s no sense in getting rid of it. It’s food for thought whether you’re young or old. If you no longer need whatever it is, and it’s likely to upset others, why keep it? Unwanted gifts may fall into this category, too, which Margareta also highlights.
Don’t forget, a key part of Swedish Death Cleaning is making life easier for your loved ones after you pass, so Margareta does recommend leaving behind all the necessary passwords in one easy to find place – her little black book, as she calls it. Keep all your important paperwork organised, too, including wills, pensions, account details and key contacts, such as named executors.
5. Photographs
Photographs are one of the hardest of things to declutter because there’s so much sentimentally attached, potentially making them one of the biggest decluttering regrets. You can easily ‘get stuck down memory lane’ as Margareta says and lose your motivation. That’s why she generally recommends working your way down from larger to smaller items around the home (larger ones are generally less emotional and can often be found in the basement or attic).
Margareta starts by discarding any obviously bad photos as well as those in which she can’t name everyone, but she admits: ‘Really old photos may well have a historical and cultural value even without knowing the names of the people in the picture – to look at the clothes, the cars and life in a street only thirty to forty years ago can be really fun.’ She says such pictures may be worth showing to children first.
She used a scanner to move the photos she decided to keep over to USB memory sticks and shared them with her children that way. These aren’t the most pressing of items though, and they take up minimal space, which is why she recommends going through them last.
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