You thought that was the hard bit done. Then you take a look around and realise your home is cloaked in a mass of kids’ toys, mementos and junk that you’ve somehow accumulated over the years without even trying.
What to do?
It’s time for some good old fashioned döstädning – aka Swedish death cleaning, says Houzz.
This selfless art of decluttering your home in readiness for death is typically aimed at the over 80s market who want to minimise the work their family or friends would do when the time comes.
“I have death cleaned so many times for others, I’ll be damned if someone else has to death clean after me,” says Margareta Magnusson, author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.
But her decluttering guide is also useful for down-sizers and those looking to prep their house or unit for sale.
Her tips are especially useful when trying to decide what to do with items of sentimental value.
“It’s a delight to go through things and remember their worth,” she says. “If you don’t remember why a thing has meaning or why you kept it, it has no worth, and it will be easier for you to part with it.”
If sentimentality is taking up too much space, think about where else these items could go that could give someone else warm memories.
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