While Canna Campbell is known her for financial advice, the Sydney-based mother is also beloved for her tricks and tips on minimalism and organisation.
And recently, Canna took to her YouTube channel, Sugar Mamma, to share her simple strategies for spring cleaning and decluttering your home.
‘Every now and then I go through these manic, culling, decluttering phases in my life and I go through the house and get rid of a lot of stuff,’ Canna said.
‘This is about how I declutter my life, the process I go through, the questions I go through and the benefits it adds to my life.
‘When I have gone through a decluttering, culling process I feel so much lighter, I have a much better sense of focus and concentration and my home just seems so much more calm and tranquil and it makes keeping my home tidy really easy.’
While Canna Campbell is known her for financial advice, the Sydney-based mother is also beloved for her tricks and tips on minimalism and organisation
And recently, Canna took to her YouTube channel, Sugar Mamma , to share her simple strategies for spring cleaning and decluttering your home
BREAK IT DOWN INTO BABY STEPS
Canna’s first and most important piece of advice is to break down the jobs into small, achievable tasks.
‘I am slightly OCD I am obsessed with the number 10,’ Canna said.
‘If I am feeling like I need to get back in control I will simply say “find 10 things around you that are causing distraction, making you feel bad, depleting your energy, frustrating you or not serving you or adding any value”.
‘I simply either give them away, sell them, donate them or throw them in the bin. It’s as simple as that.
‘Breaking it down into baby steps makes it so much more achievable and it stops you building it up in your head as a bigger task that what it really is.
‘You could also focus on decluttering one area at a time or one wardrobe at a time or even one room at a time.’
Canna’s first and most important piece of advice is to break down the jobs into small, achievable tasks
STORE THINGS YOU DON’T WANT BEFORE THROWING THEM
Canna says for those things you are unsure of, it’s good to keep them in a cupboard for a while before making a final decision.
‘When it comes to decluttering and there are a couple of things that I’m not too sure about getting rid of I will put them in a cupboard for between say three weeks to five or six weeks to make sure I’m definitely not going to regret it,’ Canna said.
She said she has only ever changed her mind once and it was over a pair of high quality shoes.
Canna says for those things you are unsure of, it’s good to keep them in a cupboard for a while before making a final decision
LOOK AT EACH ITEM AND ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT EACH ONE
With each item in question, Canna picks it up and asks herself questions about it.
‘What is this? When did I last use it? Is this something of value? Do I have something that actually does the same thing or multiple things that do it? Do I really need this?’ She said.
‘Is this taking up valuable space? How does it make me feel when I use it or wear it? Does it fit correctly? Is it comfortable? Is it damaged in anyway that stops me from using it? Does it have any sentimental value?
‘Answering these quickly helps me work out if it is something I can get rid of.’
With each item in question, Canna picks it up and asks herself questions about it
‘Answering these quickly helps me work out if it is something I can get rid of,’ she said
GO WIDE
Canna said instead of focusing on main rooms, it’s good to extend the decluttering process to other, less common areas.
‘I don’t just dedicate the decluttering process to my home. I go through my car and get rid of a lot of stuff there, I go through my office and I don’t forget the little bits in the home,’ Canna said.
‘For example the fridge, the freezer, the pantry, the laundry all the funny nooks and crannies that areas can be magnets for attracting stuff.’
Canna said instead of focusing on main rooms, it’s good to extend the decluttering process to other, less common areas
EXAMPLES OF THINGS CANNA HAS DECLUTTERED
Canna chose to declutter the kitchen, the bathroom cabinet and her wardrobe and came up with a number of items she wanted to get rid of for good.
The first? An old mismatched saucepan lid.
‘I found an odd saucepan lid, I don’t know where it’s matching partner is. It takes up space so every time I shut the drawer it hits everything else and I don’t know why I have been putting off getting rid of it for so long,’ she said.
Canna also threw out a pair of old broken kitchen scales and a potato masher because her new thermomix did the job of both so she did not require them.
Canna chose to declutter the kitchen, the bathroom cabinet and her wardrobe and came up with a number of items she wanted to get rid of for good – and the first was a saucepan lid
Canna also threw out a pair of old broken kitchen scales and a potato masher because her new thermomix did the job of both so she did not require them
She then removed old, expired medicine from her bathroom cabinet and tidied the drawers before taking to her wardrobe and decided to throw out her old white jeans.
‘These white jeans. I have actually put on a little bit of weight and the zip is starting to show around the hips. So I have decided to finally let them go and these are six or seven years old so I do need to replace them,’ she said.
‘They simply do not fit and I simply need to accept that. It’s time.’
She then removed old, expired medicine from her bathroom cabinet and tidied the drawers before taking to her wardrobe and decided to throw out her old white jeans
Canna put a top she mistook for a white top in an online purchase on eBay and threw out two tops that were stained
The final item was a top that had small make up stains and needed delicate ironing every time it needed to be worn
Canna put a top she mistook for a white top in an online purchase on eBay and threw out two tops that were stained.
‘It simply is not fixable and I need to let it go,’ Canna said.
The final item was a top that had small make up stains and needed delicate ironing every time it needed to be worn.
‘My life is busy and crazy, I don’t have time to constantly be ironing clothes or doing dry cleaning because it’s expensive,’ she said.
‘Next time I’m shopping I need to be more careful with the fabric that I am buying.’