Clutter, including plant clutter, negatively affects everyone. It makes it harder to focus, makes us more likely to be anxious and depressed, causes us to struggle socially, and makes us have trouble falling and staying asleep!

But when the clutter around us is something that we love (houseplants), how do we start tackling it?

Houseplant clutter is tricky because we love plants (that is why we collected them), and they are living things. But that doesn’t mean that we are obligated to live in an environment that doesn’t bring us peace and joy.

Houseplants should add to the beauty and tranquility of a home (in my opinion), not the clutter and stress.

“[Your home] should be the place where you escape all negative forces in the world. Your home should be the antidote to stress, not the cause.” Peter Walsh, It’s All Too Much

Here are 5 tips to start decluttering your houseplant clutter so that you can have the peaceful, beautiful home you deserve.

Table of Contents

• Decluttering Tip #1: Take a Picture of the Room You are Working In. Here's Why.
• Decluttering Tip #2: Let Go of Plants in Bad Shape or Plants that Evoke Negative Feelings.
• Decluttering Tip #3: Use the "Clear Out and Buy Back" Method
• Decluttering Tip #4: Give Yourself Lots of Encouragement!
• Decluttering Tip #5 : Embrace doing these steps over and over again in the same location!
• Disclaimer
• Related Posts

Decluttering Tip #1: Take a Picture of the Room You are Working In. Here’s Why.

Have you noticed that you get used to the clutter in your home? I know I have.

When a new pile of clutter accumulates, it will bother me. But after it’s been there for a few days, I don’t think about it anymore or even really acknowledge it.

This phenomenon is not unique to me. Our brains are wired to ignore what isn’t important and focus on what is.

The pile of paper on the countertops becomes background noise, just like the hum of the refrigerator.

This allows us to focus on what matters: cooking dinner, caring for our children, conversing with a loved one, getting ready for work, etcetera.

Because the brain has done us a favor and deprioritized clutter, we have to find a way to bring it back into focus to be able to fully deal with it—plants included.

One way to see the clutter more clearly is by taking a photo of the room.

Taking a picture of the room before starting to declutter serves two important functions:

1. The picture allows us to view the room through a new lens, like that of a visitor. This perspective shift sheds light on areas that we don’t see through unfiltered eyes (thanks to our brain’s ability to deprioritize clutter)
2. It allows you to have a memory of what the room looked like before decluttering, which will help to show progress when it may not feel like progress has been made

Decluttering Tip #2: Let Go of Plants in Bad Shape or Plants that Evoke Negative Feelings.

When I realize that certain houseplants are causing me stress or negative feelings, I know it’s most likely time to let them go.

This can be pretty tough, though. Determining when to get rid of houseplants is more complicated than getting rid of a pair of pants.

When a pair of pants is extremely worn and has a big hole in the crotch, the decision is clear to me: It’s time to get rid of them.

However, plants are living things. Like us, they get sick and don’t always look their best.

It is necessary and rewarding to love my plants through a rough patch. Many of my plants would not be here if I had given up on them when things were going imperfectly.

But there are also times when it’s okay to give myself permission to give up and let go.

I’ve had plants that are consistently infested with pests, plants that just aren’t growing well for me or are on the brink of death, and plants that evoke negative feelings.

If I look at a plant and realize that it makes me feel sad, stressed, or perhaps even like a failure, it’s time for the plant to go. My mental health is more valuable than the plant.

Regardless of how much money I spent on it, it’s time for the plant to go.

I have limited space in my home, and I want the plants I keep and care for to shine and to bring me joy (at least most of the time). I do not have an obligation to keep these plants.

Decluttering Tip #3: Use the “Clear Out and Buy Back” Method

Traditionally, people look in their spaces for what they want to get rid of. This does not work for me.

It feels painful to try to identify which plants I like the least because I really love them all.

So, I figured out a way to do the opposite: I pick what I am most excited about after clearing the space.

Let me explain.

1. I’ll pick one plant area that I would like to declutter and then remove all of the plants from that area. As I remove them, I place them somewhere else in my house that is available.
   • It can be the floor, the dining room table, the kitchen island, a box, or whatever works.
   • Once the space is completely cleared, I clean the area because it always needs it. (Not required, just recommended)
2. Then I pretend that I don’t technically own any of the plants that used to be in this space, and I get to start over. I don’t have to continue to own any of them unless I really want to.
   • I look at the plants as if I am walking around a plant shop and seeing what excites me to own and bring home.
3. I walk around the plants in their temporary location and look for the plant that speaks to me the most. That is the one that I want to “buy back” or bring back into my space.
   • Then, I place that one back in the cleaned area.
4. I go back and shop for another and place it in the cleaned area.
   • And another.
   • And another.
5. I stop (regardless of what is left out) when the space looks styled and aesthetically pleasing.
   • Whatever looks aesthetically pleasing to you is perfect. We aren’t trying to please anyone else (except maybe someone else we live with).
6. Then, I review the plants that I didn’t put back and make hard decisions about those.
   • Will I let them go?
   • Will I make space for them elsewhere in my home?
   • Will I put them back in the area they came from despite feeling like it was complete without them there?
   • There is no correct answer. And that’s okay.

Decluttering Tip #4: Give Yourself Lots of Encouragement!

It is not easy to declutter or downsize something that you really love. I’ve been finding it helpful to give myself lots of positive messages and focus on what I want my life to look like.

I envision my home being functional and beautiful, where plants add to the beauty without detracting from the functionality.

I remind myself that I am making that dream a reality by making hard choices and only keeping those plants that bring me the most joy.

Give yourself a lot of love, too! You deserve it.

The plants you keep will reap the rewards of having more time to care for them, more space to flourish, and more light to absorb. And you, too, will have more time, more space, more light, and a more beautiful home.

Reframing how we think about downsizing our plant collections is so extremely powerful.

Instead of telling ourselves that we are losing plants that we love, we tell ourselves empowering, truthful statements: I am choosing to keep what brings me the most joy and what will make my home into my favorite place to be in.

Here are some other empowering statements I tell myself:

I deserve a home that is clean and clutter-free.

I deserve a home that brings me joy and tranquility.

I am curating my collection.

I am refining my home and my plants.

I am creating a spotlight on those super special plants that deserve to steal the show.

Check out these 4 pictures of the same windowsill below. None of them are particularly cluttered, but which one is your favorite? And why?

I use visuals like these to inspire me in what I’d like to bring into my home and what I’d like to keep out.

As much as it pains me to admit, I enjoy the photos with fewer plants and more space and light between them.

Decluttering Tip #5 : Embrace doing these steps over and over again in the same location!

It’s okay if when you first start you find it very difficult to let go of many plants.

Cas from Clutterbug (who makes incredible content about decluttering and organizing) discusses that the more we declutter, the better we get at it. It is a muscle that gets stronger the more we use it.

After having spent A LOT of time over the past 15 months decluttering both plant and non-plant items, it has indeed gotten easier.

I make decisions about what to keep and what to let go of way more efficiently, and I am much more willing to let go of items because I see the immense value in having less.

As a result, I’ve decluttered the same spaces many times because it becomes increasingly clear what is meant to stay.

Decluttering the same spaces is similar to peeling an onion. I’ll let the fantastic quote below explain:

“Clutter clearing is like peeling layers of an onion. You do one pass and think that’s it, and then a few days, weeks, or months later, you do another pass and discover there is more you’re ready to let go of.”

Karen Kingston, Clutter clearing is like peeling layers of an onion, July 25, 2024

For many of us, downsizing or decluttering is a process where we will continue to change the way we see our home and change the way we relate to the stuff in our home, including our plants.

Each of us will move through this process at different rates. Making progress is where it’s at! You got this!

Disclaimer

This advice may not work for every houseplant grower, but it works for me and my plants!

If you do something different that works better for you, share it in the comments below!

That’s how we learn and grow as a community.

Related Posts

Decluttering Your Houseplants Will Make You Love Your Plants More. Here’s Why.

5 Reasons I Started Throwing Away My Houseplants (& Why You Might Want To As Well!)