How To Swedish Death Clean Your Closet This Summer

Take a look at these tips and tricks for taking part in a Swedish death clean for your space.

Swedish Death Cleaning (or dostadnig) is super trendy right now, and it’s easy to see why – Swedish Death Cleaning is a method of de-cluttering and ordering your possessions that was invented by Marareta Magnusson that helps you go through your thigs in a way that, when you eventually die (morbid, I know), you are less of a burden on your family. Now, if you’re young and fighting fit, you might be asking yourself why this would apply to you, but actually Swedish Death Cleaning can be super beneficial for anyone – we all have loads of clutter that we need to deal with, and ordering it with the mindset of ‘do I want to leave this behind when I die?’ can make it easier to part with things. So, here’s how to Swedish Death Clean your closet this summer.

Ask People If They Want Your Things

When you’re going through your possessions, you may come across things that you no longer like, but you know someone else would love them. This is a great opportunity to give things away and give them a longer life through someone else. In addition, if you find that you have a lot of clothes that no longer fit or that you just don’t like, donate them. This way you know that your things will help people, even if you’re no longer going to get any use out of them. The Swedish death clean is a great way to organize and de-clutter.

Get Rid Of Anything Embarrassing

Magnusson says ‘Keep your favourite dildo – but throw away the other 15!’, and the same thing can be said for your closet. The shirt your wore in year 11 that got signed by all your freinds when you left? Keep. The kind of unfortunate Halloween costume that’s been kept in shame in the back of your closet for ages? Get rid. The way to think about this is imagine that your mum comes across it going through your closet – would you want her to see it? If this answer is no, then now is the time to get rid of it. If you wouldn’t but it still has sentimental value, see the next point. Try out the Swedish death clean tips!

Create a ‘Throw Away’ Box

Magnusson suggests creating a ‘Throw Away’ box full of things that have sentimental value to you, but wouldn’t to anyone else. Don’t let the box be too big, and don’t try to cram things in – think seriously about the things you want to keep. A good example of this would be shoes – if you have a pair of old boots that are completely worn out but you wore them out in a particularly significant time in your life, then keeping them for sentimental value makes perfect sense. Be careful no too ascribe sentimental value to everything, though; just because you wore a top once around someone who meant a lot to you does not mean you have to keep it.

Let People Know What You’re Doing

Having people know what you’re doing can be helpful, as you can ask them for advice about what you should do with certain items, and you can even get them to come help you go through things, Having a fresh pair of eyes that don’t see the things in your closet as super important can help you come to terms with whether or not you actually need items, and if you have ‘what if I need it one day?’ issues then having a friend can help talk you out of keeping things you realistically will never wear again.

Don’t Try And Do It All In One Day

It can be difficult to go through your whole closet, especially if you’re looking at it with a Swedish Death Clean mindset. Take your time, and go through things properly, even go through things once you’ve sorted them, too. You can get attached to the things you own, so taking a couple of days to think about them, and say goodbye to them if necessary is always a good idea. Also, trying to do it all at once will most likely leave you with a messy bedroom and not much done.