You Are Organizing Your House Wrong

Summary

Struggling with clutter? Gabe Bult shares insightful tips to streamline your living space. The video begins by addressing the issue of visible clutter on flat surfaces and offers solutions like removing non-essential items. Emphasizing closed storage over open shelf trends, Gabe explains how minimalism can transform your home. Key ideas include understanding that organization alone isn't the solution—having too much stuff is. Gabe provides practical strategies for decluttering and highlights the mental clarity that comes with a simplified lifestyle. Recommended organizing tools are also featured to help maintain order.

Highlights

• Gabe Bult explains that less is more when it comes to making your house feel organized and peaceful. 🌿
• Having fewer items displayed can make your room feel less cluttered and more open. 🏠
• Closed storage helps hide clutter effectively, giving your space a neater appearance. 🗄️
• Instead of just organizing, it’s important to reduce possessions for true simplicity. 🎯
• Use practical questions to decide what to keep and what to discard: would you buy it again? 😌
• Decluttering isn't just about physical space; it brings mental clarity and less stress. 🧘‍♂️

Key Takeaways

• Clear off your countertops, especially if you don't use those items daily. This simple change can make your kitchen look spacious! 🍽️
• Embrace closed storage options instead of open shelving to maintain a tidy look and hide those pesky cables. 🚪
• Moving towards minimalism doesn't mean just organizing; it's about reducing the amount of stuff you have. Keep what brings joy and utility! 🧹
• Simplifying your wardrobe can free up physical and mental space. Stick to the essentials! 👗
• Combat the emotional struggle of letting go by asking if something truly deserves a place in your life. 🔥
• Make decluttering a regular habit, not a one-time event. Consistent sorting leads to lasting harmony! 📅

Overview

Gabe Bult discusses the common mistake of organizing clutter instead of eliminating it. He highlights how visible clutter, especially on flat surfaces, creates a disorganized look. His simple tip: if you don’t use it frequently, store it away. By doing so, your space instantly feels more open and welcoming.

He advocates for closed storage over trendy open shelving, which can appear chaotic and dusty. Gabe emphasizes minimalism, suggesting that the solution lies in owning less rather than hiding more. His insights on decluttering focus on retaining only what’s essential, practical, and cherished.

Throughout the video, Gabe shares practical advice on overcoming the emotional struggles associated with letting go of belongings. He introduces engaging ways to evaluate your possessions and talks about the joy and mental clarity a simplified space brings. Encouraging consistent decluttering habits, Gabe inspires viewers to commit to long-term home organization.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 03:00: Visible Clutter The chapter titled 'Visible Clutter' discusses the issue of having too many items on flat surfaces in a home, which leads to a cluttered feeling. It offers solutions for managing this clutter, primarily by storing away items that aren't used daily or frequently. The suggestion is to remove anything from counters that isn't used at least four to five times a week, to improve the overall feel of spaces like the kitchen.
• 03:00 - 06:00: Questioning the Need for Belongings The chapter explores the concept of decluttering and reorganizing personal spaces by questioning the need for certain belongings. It suggests that if an item has not been used or needed in a few years, it is time to let go of it. The chapter advises that clearing out unnecessary furniture, especially those that tend to accumulate clutter, can significantly change the feel of a room. It also recommends finding dedicated spaces for everyday essentials and decorative items to maintain an organized and pleasant environment. An example is given of selling an unused end table for extra cash.
• 06:00 - 09:00: Product Recommendations and Strategies The chapter discusses strategies for improving the appearance and organization of spaces within a home. It suggests using closed storage solutions, such as investing in furniture with hidden shelves, to make living areas look more put together. The text also recommends using trays or plates to organize and enhance the presentation of items you choose to display, as well as hiding cables and other clutter to give the space a cleaner, more cohesive look.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Emotional Attachment and Decluttering In the chapter titled 'Emotional Attachment and Decluttering,' the discussion begins with a critique of open shelving trends due to their tendency to accumulate dust and reveal clutter. The speaker emphasizes the aesthetic and practical benefits of closed shelving for a tidier home appearance. The chapter introduces the idea that sheer organization isn't the solution to a cluttered home; rather, the core issue often lies in owning too much stuff. It suggests that instead of merely organizing, one should reconsider the necessity of the items they possess, hinting at the principles of minimalism for effective decluttering.
• 12:00 - 15:00: Benefits of Minimalism The chapter discusses the problem of having too many belongings and points out that organizational tools are not the solution. It emphasizes addressing the root cause, which is owning more than necessary, rather than using quick fixes like buying organizers. Minimalism is suggested as an effective way to deal with excessive stuff—by decluttering rather than just tidying up.

You Are Organizing Your House Wrong Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 visible crap when you have a lot of stuff on flat surfaces your home will always feel cluttered so there are actually a few ways to deal with this the first way is to find common use stuff for instance if you don't use this stuff on your kitchen counters like every single day then try to find some place to store it instead this will drastically change how your entire kitchen feels so unless you use something every day or at least four to five times a week it probably does not belong on your counters if you haven't looked at that treasure Keepsake that
• 00:30 - 01:00 you keep on your shelf in like 3 years then it's probably time to let that go and if possible if you can actually clear out Furniture especially anything that you can put other things on that you don't need to that will drastically change how your room feels especially if you don't have a place to put extra crap that you don't really need we just got rid of this end table got 20 bucks for that and then whatever is left you can try placing on something like we keep a couple things on our counter that we use every day and things like plants and instead of having those loose which just looks kind of horrible we put them on a
• 01:00 - 01:30 little piece of wood and it just looks way better so whatever you do have left and you do actually use try putting it on a plate or a tray or something and it'll just look much more put together another hack you can use is closed storage there's this trend of having like open shelving we recently invested in in a TV stand that has like actual shelves so we can put our blankets and other things in there and it actually looks way better than when we had a bunch of open shelves on our TV stand before it just looks completely different all the cables are HID makes the whole room feel more put together I
• 01:30 - 02:00 know why there's this trend of having like open shelving like this is nice but it gets so dusty and if things aren't like super clean then you can you can tell so anytime you can have some type of closed in shelving it'll generally make your house look better so before we get into some products that I actually use and some really useful hacks I think it's important to remember that organizing your house is not really the answer a lot of times it's having too much stuff people start with minimalism or they start you know trying to get their house together by organizing this stuff that they have when the real
• 02:00 - 02:30 problem is having too much stuff it doesn't matter how many different organizers you have you can't just shove too many things into a closet especially if you don't use a lot of those things it'll just be an expensive way to store stuff I feel like that's the easiest thing to go to the easiest thing is to buy something to cure your problems instead of actually addressing the root of the problem which in in our case is too much crap or it's like the thing that will give you the results the quickest like you organize stuff it looks nice you can take a picture throw it on Instagram instead of actually getting rid of stuff which which can
• 02:30 - 03:00 sometimes especially when you're getting started actually make your house look more messy cuz you're going through all those cabinets that have stuff that hasn't been emptied in years and that could be really hard it's scary it's depressing the first time my wife Meredith decluttered her room she literally had like a a foot high of clothing across an entire room and was like going through it for multiple nights after work and having a really hard time to try to figure out what to get rid of and now she's reduced her clothes by like 50 to 70% and she's still not exactly where she wants to be but she had to do that really hard work
• 03:00 - 03:30 when she could have just organized and colorcoded and put stuff in storage for in case she moves up a size or down a size you got to go through that hard part for the rest of this to actually work and be useful I used to have that problem too I had way too much clothes um and I finally found a brand that actually fits me it's Cuts clothing it's the t-shirts I've been wearing pretty much in every video for the past like 4 years and I've mostly gone to just black t-shirts I have a simple wardrobe where I can have like 15 to 20 different shirts and I just cycle through them and I never have to wear anything else I've never had a shirt wear out on me in this entire time and I wear them every single
• 03:30 - 04:00 day they fit amazing they feel like they were like tailored for me they're by far the best shirts I've ever worn if you guys want to check those out there's a link down below with 15% off I would highly recommend them they also have a women's line um and I would just highly recommend trying to simplify your wardrobe that can free up a ton of space and like mental space as well where you never have to think about what you're going to wear cuz everything that you have is your favorite but now it's time for some products organizers now this is mostly for stuff that you definitely need it's not for all the stuff that you don't need these are the few that
• 04:00 - 04:30 actually have helped us we used to have like 20 boxes shoved in they'd be ripping apart it was so so frustrating we invested in some organizers and now uh our drawer always feels good when it comes to like bags plastic wrap that type of stuff definitely definitely worth it and under the kitchen sink organizer I think we need one more of these because of the amount of stuff that we have but this keeps everything organized and it doesn't just build up and go Bey there and you can't even open things or find stuff so worth it baskets again this comes to putting all your stuff together we used to have just like
• 04:30 - 05:00 30 or 50 different things on this one shelf and now we got some baskets and everything belongs in its own little basket and it just makes this place feel so much more put together you always know where everything is cuz it belongs in its little basket so you know where to put it back it doesn't just get all jumbled together and all the stuff in the back you never actually use and then we also try to organize to ease of use so everything that we use all the time is in the front it's in eye level it's easy to reach and all the stuff that we don't use that often is more up at the top when it comes to this medicine cabinet it's in the back it's behind the
• 05:00 - 05:30 hamper here that's more for like long-term storage cuz if we had to get to it every day it would be really annoying it helps all of those rules and habits are great but it really comes back to not having too much stuff in your house so how do you decide what you should get rid of and what you shouldn't that is the hardest question throughout the entire process when you're starting there's like some easy pickings where you get rid of the the stuff that's obvious but then you get down to the things that people gave you and you feel bad getting rid of you come to the things that maybe have some memories attached to them you come to the things
• 05:30 - 06:00 that you spent money for and you feel guilty donating or getting rid of or you can't sell for as much as you paid for it and it feels like a waste of money so how do you decide what to keep and what to get rid of well I have a couple questions that I asked that have really helped me the first one is if I didn't own this thing would I spend money for it if I didn't own this pair of shoes would I spend $100 in order to get them if the answer is no then that maybe means you should get rid of them you can ask that with so many things if you wouldn't actually go ahead and make that purchase again then you probably don't
• 06:00 - 06:30 need that thing when it comes to cups yeah I would I would buy our cups again we use those all the time I like them they're good when it came to the end table that I just decided to sell this week I realized that I wouldn't go out and buy this I don't even use it I would not pay money for it and therefore I I got some money for it which was nice actually so would you spend money for it another question that I ask is if there was a fire and this burned would I feel relieved or not this has really helped me with all that guilty stuff when people have given me things for
• 06:30 - 07:00 Christmas that I didn't want I didn't ask for I didn't need I've never even taken them out of the packaging but I feel bad getting rid of them if I would actually feel like you know pretty cool with them burning and just disappearing and my life would be easier maybe you have a storage container that's just full of crap that you've never looked at but you're paying for cuz you don't want to go through it and it's like this huge thing or your basement's full of stuff would you actually like be relieved if it just all burned up if that's the case you can get rid of that stuff if if you have a problem getting rid of it yourself ask a friend who's a little bit of a jerk to come over tell them your
• 07:00 - 07:30 plan and they can help you get rid of a bunch of stuff cuz they're not emotionally attached to anything and that can be actually a a good hack if you can't do it yourself have somebody else like force you to do it or do it for you it's a good strategy I think it's also important to remember that like this isn't about Instagram this is about making your life easier it's about reducing the stress in your life it's not about having some perfect aesthetic or having the same organization system as somebody else you've seen or Pinterest it's about improving the quality of your life and while getting
• 07:30 - 08:00 rid of a few things or organizing one drawer won't really change your life all that much building a habit of every Saturday or every Thursday night doing one portion of your house and systematically doing that for an entire year and then making it a habit that sticks for multiple years and then implementing some of the habits that I've talked about in other videos can actually improve your life it can reduce stress when you're home can make you more social and you're okay with people coming over it can improve your relationships cuz you're less stressed about the crap in your life like it's this mental clarity that you don't really realize that you were missing
• 08:00 - 08:30 until you have this space that was like the biggest thing that I noticed when I started my minimalist Journey was like everything that I owned owned a little space in my mind and as I got rid of more and more stuff and simplified my life I had less choices to make every day had a less stressful environment to live in there's just a lot of benefits for this so while it's hard especially when you're getting started it is definitely definitely worth it and another thing that's definitely worth it is uh subscribing to this channel so uh if you enjoyed this don't forget to subscribe don't forget to check out Cuts
• 08:30 - 09:00 uh there's 15% off down below and I'll see you next week