How To Give Your Closet The Swedish Death Clean

Apr 24, 2018 by apost team

It is likely that Swedish death cleaning is something you may have heard of. Döstädning is another word for it that means for "cleaning" and "death" in Swedish. This way of organizing is gaining popularity due to the book "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter" by Margareta Magnusson.
 

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Why is döstädning the key? With Swedish death cleaning, your life will be tidier when everything is decluttered and organized. The reason is to eliminate the things you don't want your family to have to take care of and reduce the amount of possessions you have until just the essential items remain.

Swedish death cleaning is actually more of a state of mind rather than a project for the afternoon, you can start by tackling one small area at a time, starting with: the closet.
 

De-cluttering, sorting through items, and paring down your belongings is the key to this process. When using the Swedish death clean process for your closet, you need to go through every corner to find every box. Sort all of the different items you find into piles and determine what you would like to keep.

According to the author Magnusson, you should only keep the items that are sentimental or essential, meaning that you should hang onto your family heirlooms, keepsakes, and photographs, but you should eliminate the clothes that you know you will not wear.
 

The Swedish death cleaning method comes with the benefit of organizing all of your essentials, or the things that are left after de-cluttering. Once you have gone through all of your things and decided what you are going to throw away, give away, and keep, you will be amazed at the amount of space you have.

You will be able to organize your closet and then enjoy the things you need as well as the keepsakes you have.
 

One of the goals of Swedish death clean is to ensure your family is not burdened with what to do with your belongings, but that is not the only goal. It is also designed to give you the chance to live a better, more organized, and tidier way that is much easier to do when you do have as much stuff.

Going through different boxes in your home that may not have been looked at for years can also bring a great deal of joy and flood of memories. Parting with items you no longer need is sure to give you a better quality of living in your home. In thinking of it this way, Swedish death clean is also about how you are living your life.
 

Magnusson's book recommends to begin this cleaning when you reach 65 years of age, but there is no better time than now to start this process.

Here are some more tips for cleaning your home in the most efficient manner:

If you have implemented this process or would like to, let us know what you think! Be sure to show this article to your friends and family so they can learn some new tips for clearing out their closet :)