3 Great Books to Help with Spring Cleaning and Decluttering

Spring has well and truly sprung here in Queensland, and the days are a sunshiney riot of colourful birds and flowers. Like this little bloke, munching contentedly on a grevillea.

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Spring also brings with it the urge to spring clean. The need to open up the house and let fresh breezes through, to put things in order so that friends can be invited for BBQ dinners before the weather turns too hot, and to get rid of the winter clutter that has accumulated while we've hibernated the last few months. In other words, it's a very stressful time for this clutter-bound pack-rat!

I tend to attract clutter like a black outfit attracts white pet hair. I'm like a homing beacon for cheap, useless, "we're sure to need it one day" stuff that then gets stacked in wobbly piles about the place and is always in the way. It's frustrating, because I actually like an uncluttered home, with neat clear spaces and room to breathe. Little by little though, I am changing the way I allow stuff into our home and working at purging the clutter that is already here.

The following books have helped a lot with changing my mindset from one of "I might need this later" to "is this item really worth the effort to acquire it, store it, maintain it, etc". Please note, I don't think I'll EVER be a radical minimalist - I just don't think it's programmed into my genes! But I have picked up some great tips and habits from these books, and I am using them in the continuing battle to bring our home under control. Perhaps you'll find them just as useful as I have.

The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

This was the very first book I ever read on the topic of minimalism, or living with less. I'd read plenty of things about organising stuff, keeping a tidy house, and how to declutter, but this was the very first one that made me stop and think that maybe the problem wasn't about cleaning or organising at all. Maybe the problem was actually just how much stuff we had. It was also the book that opened my eyes to the idea of empty space in the home. I found it a very good starting point for my journey.

Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by The Minimalists (Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus)

Stumbling across the Minimalists' website, and later this book, was the major catalyst for getting me moving. Something about the way they presented their ideas and suggestions just resonated with me. At the time I was able to remove so much junk from our house thanks to these guys! I confess, I have yet to be able to take it as far as Ryan's "Packing Party", but I often wish that I could. This book, the website, the podcast, the documentary, and the tours are all excellent resources for keeping motivated at building a clutter-free life. I am currently revisiting them and working on another major household purge.

Goodbye, Things: On Minimalist Living by Fumio Sasaki

This is the latest book I've read on the topic of living a more minimalist life. While many of the concepts covered are similar to the Minimalists' book, it was refreshing to read about it from a different cultural point of view. Once again I have to point out, this extreme level of shedding stuff is definitely not for me! The book has a great collection of points and ideas to reduce how much stuff you have though. How many of these ideas you follow, and how far you take them is up to you. At the end of the book the ideas are also provided as handy lists. I found it a great refresher read, one to help keep me on track and remind me about what I'm trying to achieve here.

I hope these books have been of interest to you. Do you have a favourite spring cleaning / decluttering / minimalist living book to recommend?

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