My life before minimalism was like this: every Sunday I would do the laundry and spend the entire day cleaning and organizing my room. I kept rearranging my furniture, my stuff to make it look less cluttered. But it felt never ending honestly. I would constantly refold my clothes because I have stacks and stacks of it (like 1/3 meter of clothes piled up)  and by the end of the week, this pile would be a mess because of pulling a shirt that is on the bottom. It often came to a point when I couldn't close my closet anymore.

If this situation is familiar to you, you might be experiencing this too. But after a couple of years into minimalism, I have learned a few things along the way. Here are my tips on how to keep your home clutter-free:

1. Live within your means. If you desire a simple and clutter-free life, it is important to live within your means. This implies that you let the size of your home dictate how much stuff you have (not the other way around). For example, if your stationery drawer is bursting with stuff, then you have to get rid of some items.

2. Declutter often. We, people, change as time passes by. We grow, we change styles, sometimes our needs change too. There might be clothes we don't use anymore maybe because they don't fit our body or our style. Probably, you just changed your job and you won't be wearing some type of clothes anymore. Or you just graduated from college, and you won't be using your highlighters or books. It's important to go through your stuff from time to time to see if there is still a need to keep it or not.

3. Give everything you own a home. If we are really materialistic enough or we care for our stuff, we should designate each item a home (a specific container or place they should be) that we won't forget they're there and you didn't squish them in a container just so it can "fit in".

4. Remove excess stuff. When you find yourself with multiples of one stuff during the declutter process, ask yourself, "Is this duplicate necessary?" If not, then give it to other people or throw it away.

5. Slow the accumulation of possessions. After decluttering, it is important to be intentional with anything that you bring to your home. Ask yourself, "If I bring this home with me, is there any place to put it?", "Before purchasing this, do I have a similar one at home?" or "Do I really need this?".

6. Build a consistent cleaning routine. This is a no brainer. Even if you have less stuff or you are an extreme minimalist, it is still important to build a consistent cleaning routine. But of course, if you have decluttered, then you already have "less" to clean.

7. Go paperless, if you can.