Having a donation box in every room

This is a top-tier, diamond-level hack for those who struggle with clutter and “too much stuff.” Yes, I said a donation box in every room! And I mean big ones!

You need an actual container, not a shelf or drawer or cabinet or corner. It doesn’t have to be a box. It can be a hamper, a decorative basket, or a storage tote. It should be large. It should ideally have wheels or handles that make it easy to transport. And it need not be an eyesore——there are remarkable vintage finds and hand-crafted storage vessels from around the world that can be perfect for this. Just remember you need one for each room, and they should be *big*.

Personally, I am partial to the large Ikea Frakta——and its more-elegant cousin, the Görsnygg——because it is big, cheap, expandable, carryable, and has a way of not competing with your décor because it is conspicuously “just an Ikea bag.”

You put stuff in there aggressively, with the assurance that it can totally be retrieved if you change your mind prior to donation——which is whenever you want. We call it “putting it away,” not throwing it away or getting rid of it. And if we are not always good about returning items to the store or repairing them, we don’t just hold on to the items in hopes that we will at some point recoup their value; instead, we declare amnesty and dump them straight in the box. We remember that we can always take them back out and return/repair those items if we’re serious.

Once a box is full, replace it with an empty one, and keep the full one in your car trunk till you can swing by the donation center. You will quickly learn how satisfying it is to remove items, even “perfectly good ones,” from your living atmosphere, and enjoy a peaceful, easy-to-clean, uncluttered home.