Is Your Home Overstuffed? This Concept Changed How I Declutter!

I am guilty of seeing an overstuffed drawer or a shelf crammed with items and thinking, “I just need to organize this better…”

And I’m realizing that I actually need to shift my mindset and do something totally different—reduce the number of items.

So today I’m talking about The Container Method, which I learned about from Dawn, The Minimal Mom! It’s an incredibly useful concept for those of us who try to do the “organizing first” method or for anyone who is a chronic overthinker when it comes to decluttering. The beauty of this method is that it’s so simple—let the container dictate how much you actually keep!

For example, if I have a drawer that’s stuffed with t-shirts and sweaters, and I’m trying to cram more and more things into it, and I just physically can’t, I let that drawer dictate how much I keep. If the container is stuffed to the brim, this is my signal that it’s time to reduce the clothing I have here.

Instead of letting my stuff spill into another drawer, or trying to squeeze everything in with a new organization system, I let the container do the hard work of telling me how much I can keep.

The goal is to get my things to comfortably fit in that drawer—and when I say comfortably, I think that looks different for everyone because we all have unique thresholds for the amount of stuff we feel comfortable and at peace with. Personally, I prefer a drawer or container to be 50-75% full to give the space some breathing room so I can clearly see everything.

But again, clutter thresholds are different for everyone, so find what works for you and let the container dictate how much you keep and what you declutter.

Not only does this simplify the decluttering process, but it takes away overthinking. It’s also a great indicator of which areas of your home need to be decluttered. Often we walk in circles around our homes wondering, “Where should I start?” With this method, you simply look for containers that are overflowing and start there.

The Container Method has shifted my entire mindset about how I store items and how I reduce the clutter in my home. I want to know—do you have any containers that are more difficult than others to reduce?