10 Swedish Death Cleaning Tips for a Decluttered Home!
Swedish Death Cleaning can offer you a way forward to declutter focused on memories, relationships and mindful living (and less on physical stuff). Everyone wants a clean home (or would benefit hugely from one!), but many of us feel overwhelmed at the very idea of trying to reach this goal. This approach will help you identify what is truly meaningful and essential and what is just taking up space and causing stress.
If you wouldn’t miss it, odds are pretty good that no one else is going to miss it either. We understand our stuff more than anyone else possibly could, so it is up to us to sort through it.
What is Swedish Death Cleaning For Decluttering Your Home?
In her 2017 book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Margareta Magnusson introduced the world to the Scandinavian concept of döstädning: cleaning out unnecessary or unneeded possessions during your life so your family has less to handle when you’re gone. She encourages readers to embrace a minimalist home, to enjoy a more simplified life and to have those sensitive conversations with your loved ones, rather than avoiding them.
Here is how you can use Swedish Death Cleaning with these tips in your own home to make it easier to manage and keep clean:
1. Start Now
First of all, don’t get caught up on the death part. It’s not intended to be morbid! It’s actually about taking control of your LIFE by focusing on the positive and the meaningful things you want around you. It’s a way to FREE Free yourself from the JUNK that you don’t care about (but accidentally thought you did… read on…).
While Magnusson suggests that people start their death cleaning around age 65, obviously this is a flexible approach that can be applied at any age or at any point in your life. Major life events, like the end of a relationship or around a major move, are also good times to start.
There is never a wrong time to let go of clutter that is just crowding your space and causing you stress. Starting earlier in your life has some advantages.
- Mindset: When you start earlier, you develop better habits and will have less to sort through later.
- Physical Work: No one wants to think their mobility may be challenged as they age, but your body changes as you age. You may require more help to move boxes and furniture as you age.
- Emotional Benefits: Living in a decluttered home will give you peace and fulfillment, knowing your life is in order.
- Teach Your Kids: We are always teaching our kids lessons in the example we set. Teaching our children how to manage their possessions is important.
2. Talk to Your Family and Loved Ones About Swedish Death Cleaning and Decluttering Your Home
No one wants to think about their own death or the chore their family will have to clear their residence out, but it’s a better conversation to start when your health is good.
It’s important to speak to your family and close friends, both for the practical help they may be able to offer, but also for the emotional support. You may need someone to talk to about the process and the items you are dealing with. Magnusson also points out that by speaking of it, others can serve as accountability partners to keep you on track.
3. Use a list
By creating a to-do list, you can set out a plan to make the process seem a little less overwhelming. Going through your entire home is a big job. A list will break it down into manageable chunks.
It’s also super satisfying to cross things off the list and have that visual sign of how much progress you are making. Magnusson is a big fan of rewarding yourself for progress, specifically with life-enhancing experiences and activities, like a nice meal or a walk outside. (This is not the time for shopping rewards!)
If your family is helping, it also lets them see the plan and they can tell you if there are specific things they want to help with. Maybe your sister wants to help you with your basement since your kids are teens and their toddler toys are still down there (?)
You can start small, like you would with any other decluttering you have done. Maybe it’s five or ten minutes at a time. Find what works for you and try to make it a regular habit.
4. Start With Non-Sentimental Things
Decluttering is a skill and thinning your possessions involves a lot of decision making. You’ll want to start with the easier tasks to strengthen your decision-making skills before you move on to the tougher ones.
The kitchen or the front closet are two good places to start with decluttering because it is not typically very emotional. Look for anything broken, unused or a duplicate and get rid of it. Whether you donate, sell or trash, move it out of that space you are working on.
(If you need some help on where to start, check here for Minimalist Home Decluttering Strategies).
Marie Kondo liked to ask “does this spark joy?” For Magnusson, the question is “will anyone be happier if I save this?” It’s a different focus. If the answer is no, then let it go!
5. Gift Possessions Away Gradually
This is not a weekend warrior kind of process. Swedish Death Cleaning is a project that you start and keep working on because it’s intended to create lasting change.
When you are having the conversations with your family and you start to get an idea of what they might want, consider whether you are willing to let go of it now and whether they even have a place for it right now. Timing is important for both you and the person you would gift your items to.
At the same time, do not offer things that do not fit the recipient’s taste or the space in which they live. Consider how they will use it. Maybe it is better to offer two place settings with serving dishes to a couple who could use them for date night, rather than the full formal China service.
Some people feel very awkward about saying no to donations, especially sentimental items. Try to notice when this might be happening and be sure to give them full permission to decline the offer. As much as you might want an heirloom to stay within the family or to be given to a specific individual, sometimes it is kinder to donate or sell it. It is a gift to the environment for it to find new life in a new home where it is wanted. This might be difficult, but try to think of it in terms of avoiding a situation where our gifts accidentally become (physical or emotional) burdens to our loved ones.
6. Keep Memories and Special Things for Yourself
You don’t have to get rid of everything! This is not “throwing out all of your stuff” as if you have already passed away.
We all have things we know our family won’t care about but that make our own hearts sing. This is about really narrowing it down to our most essential things. Keep those important items because you still need to be comfortable in your space.
You might want to consider documenting and writing out the details around some of your special things. This can become a gift later on to your family members as it will help them understand why a piece was important to you and reduce the “why did they keep this?” questions. Sometimes it will make it more valuable.
You can always keep a box labeled Throw Away if you have things you want to keep for now and have disposed of immediately after your death. This might be letters, diaries or anything private. (It’s good to talk to a family member who will do this for you, no questions asked.)
7. Declutter on a Regular Basis: Donate/Sell/Trash
When you start Swedish Death Cleaning and embrace a more minimalist life, this will be a regular part of your life. Letting go of excess items will help you keep your home cleaner because you will have room to put things away and it will take significantly less time to tidy.
Within Swedish Death Cleaning, there is a Red Dot System (RÖd Prick) which involves putting a red sticker on anything you want to get rid of, a green sticker on things to keep and a yellow one on anything you need to yet decide about. If you are having a lower energy day, this is one way to work on it without having to lift, carry or rearrange anything.
8. Make a List of Important Documents and Passwords
Paper clutter can get out of control quickly. It’s important to take control of it and deal with every page that comes in your front door. Everyone needs good paper habits.
Work on compiling a list of important documents as well as gathering together important documents and passwords. This may include wills, power of attorney documents, banking information and legal documents. It is much faster for you to shred outdated records than for someone else to determine what is current or not.
While most of us think this is important for our family to deal with our estate, this is also a really helpful collection when it comes to any emergency situation where you might have to leave your home on short notice (fire or flood) or in the case of a health emergency. Knowing where the important documents are takes a lot of stress out of an already difficult time. You can grab the box, binder or folder and take it with you.
9. Address Digital Clutter
Instead of boxes of old photographs and slides, many of us are filling up hard drives and online digital storage with photographs, video and digital clutter. It is key for you to spend the time going through it. Curate that collection and ensure you have backed up important files.
Yay for another task for those low energy days! Good to have a few of those options.
It is important to include the details for accessing any digital content. You may delete old email accounts or social media, but someone will someday need to access your current email or online profiles to close or manage those. Figure out a secure storage option for any passwords. Of course, this can be handy for you as well, since there are so many passwords these days and we often forget them ourselves!
Keep a list of digital subscriptions with your paperwork as well. It’s harder for family members to know what you have unless you leave them some clues!
10. Tackle the Sentimental Stuff Last
Sometimes it’s not as sentimental as we think or it turns out that we have six photographs, but only one is a keeper. I have recycled old letters that at one time were so important to me, but now I barely remember the person who wrote them. I know I’m not the person I was back then and it’s okay to let them go.
You don’t have to keep all your sentimental things, but do keep the ones that are really important and share with your family why those ones are important. Those stories are important. Sometimes sharing the memory is enough and will help you let certain physical items go.
Will Swedish Death Cleaning to Declutter Your Home Work for you?
Swedish Death Cleaning isn’t necessarily going to be the approach that “fits” for everyone to declutter their home. Either way, in order to give yourself a chance to move toward a more minimalist home, you need to stem the tide of new things coming in the door. A less-is-more approach is really beneficial here.
It’s not possible to stop buying new
things entirely, but in order to make a permanent change in your home and keep that minimalist vibe, you need to stop the flow of new things. Without intentionally consuming less, the new stuff can accumulate so gradually that you barely notice until you have way too much again. The good news is that it’s not inevitable. You can be more mindful of what you bring home. Try following these guidelines to maintain your decluttering progress:
- Replacements:When it’s a replacement item, like a new pair of shoes or a new pot, make sure you remove the old one and put it in the donation box or garbage as appropriate.
- “Procrastinate” the purchase: Ask yourself if you need it. Is this something you’ve been considering for a while or are you only looking at it because it’s on sale?
- Storage: If you decide that there is an item you really want and need, take the time in the store to think about where you will store new items before you even make the purchase. Do you have the space? What could you get rid of to make the space, if needed?
By getting your life in order and decluttering the things that don’t matter, you will make your home a more peaceful and relaxing space. This is a gift for you as much as for your family. And when the time comes, your family can focus on grieving and remembering, not resentment or exhaustion from the burden of sorting your life’s possessions. (Maybe we need one more little “cheering you on” type sentence at the end?)
Related Resources
Swedish Death Cleaning Comprehensive Guide
Thankyou so much I’ve been decluttering this year so these tips are helpful thank you
You’re welcome! It will be amazing!