The rise of ‘reverse decluttering’: Why anti-minimalism is the new calm
‘As featured in Body & Soul’
Minimalist fatigue is real – By TJ Tronoff – Featuring Dr Amanda Mullin
Forget decluttering – experts say reverse decluttering is the cosy new trend bringing warmth and joy back into our homes.
Marie Kondo spent years convincing us that less is more. But it turns out clean lines and empty shelves might not be the key to happiness after all – in fact, having things in your home might spark some of the joy you’ve been missing out on.
Enter reverse decluttering – the cosy, personality-filled trend people swear is doing more for their mood than any ruthless clean-out ever has.
Instead of tossing items that don’t ‘spark joy’, this approach encourages you to mindfully bring meaningful pieces back in: your favourite books, sentimental trinkets, warm textures and lived-in layers.
The trend is a reaction against the ‘millenial grey’ era of the 2010s – that horrendous period where interiors went from quirky to 50 shades of grey (and no, we don’t mean dark romance-inspired interiors), and minimalism was king.
A grey palette, along with Marie Kondo’s advice of discarding everything that didn’t spark joy, resulted in homes that were largely devoid of feelings and left us wondering: Are we standing in a family home of four? Or is it an empty display home haunted by a real estate agent?
Thankfully, these trends have faded, and colour is making a vibrant return to our homes.
As we move further into the 2020s and beyond the Marie Kondo-inspired approach to living, could reverse decluttering be the antidote to minimalist design?
What is reverse decluttering?
If you’re following the Marie Kondo method of decluttering from her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, it can be emotionally draining to ask ‘Does this spark joy?’ of every item you own.
Decluttering trends and concepts often get you to focus on the negatives; look for the items you don’t like, don’t use or don’t want.
Reverse decluttering instead focuses on the positives – you decide what you love, use and want to keep, then discard, recycle, sell or donate the remainder.
The result should be homes that are happy yet clutter-free.
Professional declutterer and Clean Organised Home founder Jessica Beileiter says reverse decluttering is more about enjoying the items you love and being mindful of the ones that take up space.
“When you feel overwhelmed in your home, then it’s time to declutter items not used and keep the ones you love,” Beileiter explains.
“You can create a nice, cosy home without having a cluttered home.”
How do our homes impact our mental health?
Psychologist and Mindworx Psychology founder Dr Amanda Mullin shares that our home environments (even just the aesthetics of them) can have more of an impact on our mind than we might think.
“When your home reflects you, your memories, your people, your joys, it tends to lift your mood with little micro-moments all day long,” Dr Mullin says.
“Meaningful objects can trigger small sparks of joy, pride, gratitude or connection throughout the day – they can help support connection even when you’re alone because photos, gifts and mementos can activate feelings of closeness and social support.”
When minimalism first took off, the idea was simple: By stripping your home back to nearly nothing, your mind would feel clearer and calmer.
But Dr Mullin notes that having sentimental trinkets and other household items that hold memories around us are actually better for our brains.
“Nostalgia is surprisingly protective. Psychologically, it tends to increase positive mood and strengthen feelings of social connection; it helps us to reinforce the meaning in our life,” Dr Mullin explains.
“(It) isn’t just being soppy; it’s our mind’s way of staying connected to our story of who we’ve been, who we are and what we’ve survived.”
She also highlights that nostalgia can help us be resilient: “When people feel overwhelmed, especially during stressful or uncertain times, nostalgic cues can remind them of love, identity, community and competence.
“In that sense, having meaningful items in the home can be a way of intentionally surrounding ourselves with emotional safety.”
How you can try reverse decluttering at home
Beileiter recommends striking a balance between keeping items that are significantly meaningful and discarding ones that are only slightly meaningful.
“I have so many clients who struggle with parting with their items, especially when they are sentimental,” she says.
“But I always guide them in a way (so) we can keep the more meaningful items and let go of the items that may not be as meaningful or sentimental.”
The professional declutter says having an emotional hold on items can slow down the organising process.
“Each item may have a story or memory, making it hard to make decisions on whether to keep or declutter it,” she says.
“This makes it harder to organise because the item might just be moving cupboard to cupboard rather than having its own space.”
So, how do you start reverse decluttering your home?
#1. In the bathroom
Instead of holding every item in your home and asking ‘Does this bring me joy?’, reverse decluttering is more about adding back the items that are meaningful and useful.
For example, you might start by clearing out your bathroom cupboards (a notorious cemetery for half-used items), removing absolutely everything and only returning the items that you constantly reach for every day.
#2. In your closet
Reverse decluttering your wardrobe is much the same; remove everything, and start to put items back that you reach for every day, or that have a deep sentimental value – the little black dress you wore on a first date with your partner or the jumper your grandma hand-knitted for you that you kind of hate but that also makes you smile whenever you see it.
You can also finally let go of the 20 identical black tops and that pair of slightly uncomfortable sneakers you keep pretending you’ll break in, but never will.
But keep the work blazer you wear three times a week, even though it’s not particularly joyful.
To create cosy, layered spaces without tipping into messiness (yet avoiding the Kondo-effect).
#3. Around the house
Beileiter advises setting limits on spaces around your home and giving each item a permanent place, such as a dedicated cupboard or spot on a benchtop.
“When items don’t have their own space … they end up as clutter,” she says.
Instead, make space for the items that mean the most and set yourself the goal of maintaining this by being mindful and asking yourself, ‘Does this item have a home within my home?’
Changing the way we ‘clutter purchase’
We’ve dubbed the habit of buying things you don’t actually need as ‘clutter purchasing.’
The correct term for it, however, would be ‘overconsumption’.
According to the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia, Aussies generated around 2.88 tonnes of waste per person during 2022-23.
Could this be contributing to our need for reverse decluttering? Yes, it would.
“I do think that having so much access to ‘things’ and being able to easily order online, and being influenced to purchase more on TikTok, is leading to overconsuming and building our clutter,” Beitleiter says.
Ideally, we wouldn’t be purchasing to the point of collecting clutter in the first place, which harks back to her advice of asking yourself if an item has a home in your home before buying it.
So, did we actually misinterpret Marie Kondo’s entire point? Yes, 100 per cent.
Her point was that material goods are not a means for attaining happiness, and it urged people to appreciate what they already have.
We took it as ‘minimalism’ and beige-ified our homes, removing the memories from our shelves and our cupboards.
But, thanks to the trend gods, the memories now have a place on our shelves again.
Where can you donate your clutter?
So your clutter doesn’t end up as landfill and has the opportunity to become someone else’s ‘meaningful’, here are some ideas on where to donate your things:
- Furniture, toys, beds, mattresses, whitegoods or household items: GIVIT
- Household goods and small electrical items: Habitat for Humanity’s Restores in VIC and SA; The Bower in NSW
- Clothes, homewares and everything in between: your local op shop, including Vinnies, Salvos Stores, Red Cross and Red Nose
