10 Minimalist Rules for a Clutter Free Home in 2026

Hey everyone, welcome back and happy new year. Today I'm sharing 10 minimalist rules to have way less clutter in 2026. These are rules that I personally try to live by, and that have helped me not just simplify my home, but my life as well. Whether you consider yourself to be a minimalist, or you just want to be intentional, these rules can really help to change your relationship with stuff, have less stress, save money, and feel more at peace in your own home. I truly believe that clutter isn't just about things. We pay for our stuff, not just with our money, but also with our time, our energy, our space. And once I realized that, everything just kind of clicked. These 10 rules focus on three things. Reducing what comes into your home, making it easier for things to leave your home, and using simple systems to help keep clutter under control long term. And when you follow them, owning less starts to feel natural and not restrictive. So feel free to grab yourself a cozy drink if you want, and join me. I have some fresh mint tea, because I had mint leftover from Christmas. So grab yourself something nice and let's talk about it. A quick reminder also, before we jump into the first one. I'm doing a big new year sale right now, and all my digital products are 20% off. I have a decluttering ebook with all my tips and tricks, checklists, things like that, to help you declutter your home. I have an online simplify your life course, where every week I teach you to simplify one big aspect of your life. And I have a 30-day slow living program that helps you to slow down and find more calm in your everyday life. All three are now 20% off until the end of January, and you can use the discount code newyear26. So you can get one of them if you want, you can also get more of them, because they're all different and there's no overlap between them. And the links are in the description. All right, the first rule is to be much more selective about which things get to enter your home. And I think this one is the foundation for everything. One of the biggest light bulb moments for me in my decluttering journey was when I started seeing my home as my sanctuary, my safe space, instead of my storage space for all my stuff. My apartment truly feels like my safe haven. It is where I can unwind, relax, calm down, be myself, feel comfortable. And when I started viewing it like that, I just became so much more selective about what I allow in here. And I don't want anything here that doesn't contribute to that calm, safe, happy feeling. Before, there were some items that always made me feel guilty when I saw them, or just areas in my home that always got messy or cluttered or dusty and that stressed me out. And minimalism really helped me to clear those areas and see it with fresh eyes. Because you know, we can declutter all we want, but if stuff also keeps coming back in, then the clutter is always going to be an issue. So it's not sustainable. And this rule is about raising the bar for what is allowed in your home. So before buying or accepting something, I just ask myself a couple of questions. For example, would I buy this at full price? If not, I probably don't value it as much. Do I really want this, or do I just want the idea of it? Because you know, items can look really pretty in the store or on social media, and it can spark this idea of something. But when you really get down to it, do you really want that specific item in your home? Do I already have something else that can do the job? Which oftentimes I do. And most importantly, where will this live in my home? And if I cannot think of a good space for it, where it's not in the way, then that is a big red flag for me. And this applies to free things or things that were on sale as well. Because free clutter or cheap clutter is still clutter. And I am not a very strict minimalist. I buy things sometimes just because I like them, or I like looking at them, and that is perfectly fine. But with most of the things that pop into my head that I feel like I want, if I start asking these kinds of questions, I start to think more deeply about it. And I'm like, you know what, I don't really need that, I don't really want that, I'm fine without it. And that's really a lot easier. And impulse buying is one of the biggest drivers of clutter. So if you can just have a little bit of a pause and ask yourself if this is actually allowed into your home, into your safe space, then that can really help. The second rule is always imagine yourself having that item for a while before you buy it. This is so helpful, and I think this really has kept me from making many purchases that I would have come to regret later. When you see something that speaks to you, take a little moment to imagine having that item in your life for a while. Really try to envision it, and how it would feel, what it would look like, and just how it would impact your life in practical ways. Try to see yourself with that item in your home, and ask yourself, okay where will I use this? For example, let's say you're thinking about buying a hair tool. Go to your bathroom, see where you would use it. Do you even have an outlet nearby where you can use it? Where will you keep it in your home? Is there a space for you to store that item there? Also think about maybe items that you would also have to purchase if you owned that thing. So with the hair tool maybe you also would have to purchase heat protectant serums or something. Does it need to be charged occasionally? Is that going to be annoying? Is it going to be difficult to keep it clean? I do this sometimes when I see someone having gel nails, because I used to have gel nails myself. And I always love the look of beautiful gel nails on someone. And sometimes I see them on someone and I'm like, oh you know, maybe I would like to have gel nails again one day. But then I start to like think practically about it, and my life is just so much simpler and easier now that I don't have them to worry about keeping them neat, and having to go to the salon every three weeks and everything else. So I'm so happy with my like low maintenance nails now, that once I start to like think it through, how will it impact my life? I then also see like, okay I don't really want to go back there. No shade obviously, because I do think that gel nails look very pretty. The thing is that the promise of a new item always looks shiny and perfect in our imagination. We're like, oh that's really going to solve this issue, or oh that's really going to make this space more beautiful. But then you need to also consider all the practical implications as well. Because it's usually not, it's not going to be shiny and new and exciting forever. So it helps to kind of imagine yourself having it for a year or two years, and see what's up. Number three is the rule to make it easier for things to leave than to stay. I think a lot of clutter stays in people's homes just because it is easier to just leave it there than to actually get rid of it. So you could ask yourself, instead of should I keep this, is there a reason for this to stay? Like would you feel secretly relieved if one day you woke up and that item was not there anymore? And you didn't have to like do anything about it, it was just gone. It was also not your fault, so you don't have to feel guilty. If you feel that that would be a relief, then that is a really good sign that it is time for you to take action on that thing. One of the easiest tips is to make sure that you have a get rid of it box somewhere in your home, so that whenever you come across an item that you feel you don't want to keep any longer, you can just put it in the box. And you don't have to like go to the donation center or sell things for every specific thing that you come across. But once the box is full, then you can deal with it and drive it down, or sell it, or whatever you want to do with it. This can also apply to paper clutter. Instead of letting your mail come in, reading it and putting it down, so like I'm gonna deal with this paper clutter sometime later. I got in the habit of immediately when I open something and I've read it, it's not important to keep it, I immediately get rid of it. I don't like put it somewhere else to deal with it later, because later sometimes doesn't come. And the more stuff piles up, the bigger the hurdle will be. So try to make letting things go as easy as possible. Do small bits here and there, one drawer, one cupboard, 15 minutes a day, whatever helps you to get stuff out. Instead of just letting it pile up, get bigger and bigger to deal with. And give yourself permission to let go without guilt. Guilt is very common in the decluttering process, but it is not necessary. You will learn from your decluttering, you will try to make better purchasing decisions going forward. That's beautiful and really great, so you don't have to feel guilty about past decisions anymore. Number four, a very important one. To be realistic about your real life instead of your fantasy life. Because a surprising amount of clutter belongs not to our actual life, but to our ideal version, or our fantasy person that we want to be. Maybe it's the version of you that hosts fancy dinner parties all the time, and it has all of these hosting stuff and all of these fancy cooking stuff that you hardly ever use. Maybe it is the you that journals every day, and you have a bunch of journals and stationery that you don't really use. Maybe it's the version of you that wears high heels, when in fact you never really reach for them because they hurt your feet. This used to be me, very much. I had tons of heels and I hardly ever wore them. And of course there's nothing wrong with any of these versions if that is actually you. But if you are not these kinds of ideal versions of yourself, then the items that belong to them basically are just cluttering up your life. So I regularly ask myself, does this support my actual real life in a concrete way? Not the life I wish I could live one day, not the life that I feel like I should live, but my actual day-to-day self. And if the answer is no, then I try to let go. Again, without feeling bad about it. Because we cannot be everything. Like, we cannot be everything that we fantasize about. That's not realistic. One of the fantasy self items that was the hardest for me to declutter was my digital piano. And this decision took me years to make. Every time I looked at it, I felt very guilty because I couldn't keep playing the piano like a consistent practice. It was always like two months of practicing and then six months of not touching it. And once I eventually made this decision to sell the digital piano and have that space open, and not have to bring it with us into this new apartment taking up space, I felt so free. It was such a nice feeling. I really liked selling it to someone who I hope will actually use it, because they were very excited about it. So it was just a really great decision, even though it was a bit painful at first. And when your space reflects your actual life instead of your fantasy life, it becomes so much easier to keep it clutter free. Rule number five is to prioritize long-term thinking over short-term thinking. Living with less stuff and keeping your home clutter free comes down a large part to long-term thinking. In the short term, there's buying new things which can make us feel good, because it gives us this rush of excitement and dopamine. Whereas decluttering in the short term can make us feel very uncomfortable, because we have to deal with all of these items and make tough decisions. And it requires time and effort. So because of that, it can be easy to postpone the decluttering and difficult to resist buying new things. But when you start to prioritize long-term thinking, these two actually get crossed. The short-term reward of buying something can long-term turn into clutter, stress and regret. Whereas the short-term discomfort of decluttering can long-term increase our feelings of, you know, relaxation and calm and peace. So a really big shift can happen when you stop asking yourself what do I want to do right now, and start asking yourself how do I want to feel in my home six months from now, or a year from now. So when I remind myself of why I want my home to be clutter free, you know, less stress, more calm, less time cleaning, less mental noise, more money left over, all these reasons, it becomes so much easier to make the short-term choices that support my long-term vision. And sometimes that means not buying that thing that I think looks so cute, or you know, spending a Sunday afternoon decluttering something when I would rather read my book. For me, minimalism is not about deprivation or not making myself do things that I would actually like to do. It is just about prioritizing my long-term wishes over the short-term pleasures, if that makes sense. And when you do that consistently, it becomes easier and easier to do. Rule number six is to use what you already own completely. Become a person that uses their things, instead of a person that keeps buying new things. When you have all these things piling up, it creates so much mental clutter. And ironically, the less you have, and the more you actually use your things, also the less new stuff you will buy. Because if it's just piling up, it's kind of difficult to know like what exactly do you have. And it's hard to start using that stuff. It's easier to keep buying more stuff. So you know, have used skincare, or books you haven't read yet, extra notebooks you have lying around, backup versions of things that you don't use, or just way too many clothing items. So a big rule for me is to use what I have first, and use everything up. So read all my books first before I buy more, use all my skincare products before I buy more. Not only does this help you to save clutter, but it also helps you to save so much money. And the silly thing is, you know, with the wardrobe example, I never used to feel like I had enough to wear. Even though I had way more clothing than I do now. The more you actually use your stuff, the more you start to become aware of the fact that you actually already have enough. And this likely also will mean that you will try to care for your items and extend the life of them, instead of needing to replace them all the time. Rule number seven is to set clear space limits for the things you own. Clutter often happens because our stuff is overflowing the space where it's supposed to be. And we don't ask ourselves, do we actually have the space for these items? We just keep buying more, and all of a sudden it doesn't fit in the drawer anymore, and now it's kind of overflowing and we're dealing with clutter. So it helps to ask yourself, and this can depend on how big your home is too, how much space do I want to give this? Like one shelf for my books, or one drawer for my beauty items, or one jewelry box for all my jewelry. I have one of those travel jewelry box thingies that I think is really pretty, and also all my jewelry needs to fit in there. So if it's full, I don't buy more. And having physical boundaries for this just makes it so much easier, because you don't really have to think about, you know, do you want to add more yes or no, because the space decides for you. So if it is full, then it's full. And this can really help prevent that slow clutter creep starting to come back in again after you declutter as well. Rule number eight is to try and reduce visual clutter, not just physical clutter. I sometimes see people asking like, I've decluttered so much and my home still feels messy and chaotic and cluttered, so what do I do? And I think the answer here is to try and reduce visual clutter as much as you can. Because even a home that is decluttered and doesn't have an excess amount of stuff anymore, can still feel busy if there's just a lot visually going on. So I always try to be really mindful of this in my own space. Not have everything out, make sure that things are hidden behind closed storage when I can. Put like items together on a little tray instead of having them just kind of like all out on their own. And really try to be mindful with open shelving. Open shelving in my opinion is not for storing, it is for showing off. So I have one open shelving unit in my home, it's right back there. And I actually like curated this. Like I like how this looks. Yes it stores stuff too, but I also think like it's a good opportunity to show some personality or show some interests or hobbies or things you like to look at. I also have my youtube play button award there, so it's very intentional. But if you just have some things that really are kind of ugly, then closed storage is always going to be your friend. Visual calm helps to create more mental calm. And you don't have to be a perfect organizational expert for this, or have all the matching containers for stuff. Just be mindful of what you put out and what you keep behind closed storage. And the things that you do put out, make sure that they are not too distracting. Rule number nine is to choose who you want to be influenced by. Because don't underestimate the power of influencers and the online world. The things that we see over and over and over again, will at one point start to feel more normal for us. And so we might be influenced by the content that we consume, even when we're not actively aware of it. And even as someone who has practiced minimalism and intentional living for years and years, I also still catch myself being influenced by the content that I watch. If for example I watch other minimalist content creators out there, then I just notice this inspiration and this motivation to get decluttering again. For example, we have this one closet that we've been meaning to get to for a while. And I will really start to feel like tackling that like this weekend and start to feel all motivated. But if I watch content creators that talk about for example hair care or skin care, and it might not even be because of that topic I just like that person, or there's something about them that I find fun. If I watch their kind of content, then after a while I will start to notice within myself that I maybe think like I should improve my skin care routine a little bit more, or maybe I should do a little bit more with my hair. When before certain kinds of products would have seemed unnecessary to me, and I wouldn't be interested in them. But because I just keep hearing about them over and over again, it starts to feel more normal for me. If I watch creators who talk about interior design, after a while I start to feel like you know maybe I would like to replace my sofa and replace my rug with a natural fiber rug, because that's so much more beautiful. And all of a sudden I start to find myself feeling slightly dissatisfied with my setup. When I wasn't watching their content, I was perfectly fine with how my home looked. And because I'm the kind of person who tends to be really mindful about all of these like internal processes, I start to catch these kinds of thoughts. And then I can do something about it by changing the kind of content that I consume. But if we are not aware of it, we might be influenced without really noticing that. So I try to ask myself like, would I also be interested in buying this or replacing this if I hadn't you know recently seen that on someone else's channel for example? If I wasn't aware of it, would this like be an internal thing that came up? And oftentimes it wouldn't. So maybe if you're following creators that just kind of spark your interest in shopping, or something that you know it doesn't even have to be related to stuff or saving money can be anything, then you can kind of ask yourself like okay is this really adding anything positive to my life right now? And number 10, the last rule that I find so incredibly helpful is the very famous quote. Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. I have always loved this quote because I think that it sums up minimalism and intentional living very perfectly. Because it allows room for beauty and just having things because we like them and they they bring joy for us. And it also focuses on the useful part. And I especially like there that he said know to be useful instead of think that they could kind of come in handy one day. If for example you're decluttering and you come across an item that you didn't even remember you had, then you cannot really say like I know this to be useful. Because you didn't even know you had it, you probably haven't used it for a very long time. Or you think like okay this could be useful maybe in some hypothetical situation in the future. And you know you don't have to throw away everything that you haven't used in the last year. Because sometimes things you know don't need to be used that often, but it is still nice to have them. But then you probably already knew you had it. So if you wonder like oh I better keep this around in case someday I might, then you don't really know it for sure to be useful. And if you believe something to be beautiful, or it just brings you joy, or you like looking at it creates a beautiful memory, or whatever it is, then that is fine too. There is room for things like that in minimalism in my opinion. You don't have to get rid of everything that is not essential in order to be a better minimalist. I still get comments sometimes from people saying that my home is too sparse, not cozy enough, like cold minimalist, like uninteresting, no personality. And then on the other hand I also get comments and you have way too many things, you have this and this and that, and that's not minimalist. So we all kind of have our own thoughts about it. And that is okay, because it's your home, it's your stuff, you get to make these decisions. So if you're ever decluttering and you're feeling stuck because you are hung up on arguments, for example I paid a lot for this, or someone gave this to me, or I have a lot of memories, or I feel guilty, or something's going on with this item, maybe you just don't know anyone who to give that to, and it hurts you to think like to throw it out. Like there are so many things that we could get caught up on that stand in the way of us actually dealing with this item. Just ask yourself, do I know this to be useful, or do I believe this to be beautiful? And if not, give yourself permission to let go without guilt. I am very curious, in 2026 what are your goals when it comes to minimalism, when it comes to decluttering? Are you interested in that kind of stuff? Do you already feel like you've decluttered enough, or are you still in the process? Or maybe you're just like, you know, I don't mind clutter, but I just want my home to be a little bit easier to keep clean and organized, for example. I would love to hear your thoughts for the year of 2026. Where are you in your journey? In the comment section. A quick reminder that my digital products are all 20% off, so that is my decluttering ebook, my Simplify Your Life online course, and my 30 day slow living program. Links are in the description, and you can use the code newyear26 to get 20% off. And the sale will be until the end of January. And here we are, the start of a new year. I don't know why, I'm just really excited for 2026. I'm happy, I'm grateful for 2025, I'm grateful for all of you who have been here. I hope to keep having you around this year too. I, for my part, will do my best to keep making helpful and fun videos for everyone here. So thank you for being here, and let's keep it up in 2026. Also a really big thank you to my channel supporters, everyone who has already joined. You are really helping me to keep making these videos, and to keep the channel going. So if you would like to also support my work and get extra videos as a bonus, then you can sign up either on Patreon or on YouTube memberships. They are the same videos, the same content, it's just a matter of which platform you would prefer. Links are in the description. And I make two extra videos every month for my channel supporters, so you will get access to those two videos, plus more than a hundred videos that I've already uploaded for bonus videos so far. I wish you all a wonderful year, and I'm sending you all a big giant hug. Thank you and I will see you again soon. Bye bye. So for Christmas I got a few things that hopefully will help me to organize my kitchen surface a little bit better. Because I talked about it last time, how it's getting a little bit cluttered. So I have a little organizer and two oil dispensers that I hope are going to help. So yeah, I'll try.