What is the ski slope method of decluttering?

When selling your home presenting a space that potential buyers can picture themselves living in is enormously helpful. This means ‘decluttering.’ We’re not suggesting your home is in any way overwhelmed with clutter, or needs a good tidy, of course, but simply that stripping out the more personal bits and bobs, photos, souvenirs, children’s artwork, china collections and stacks or books, magazines or whatever, will help people see a blank space into which they can place themselves.

When you’ve been living in a home for a number of years, things tend to stack up. Every inch of storage space is utilised, shelves hold not only books or photos, but the little memories we collect over time, and, of course, the stuff we want to keep, for whatever reason, but can’t find a sensible home for.

In some homes this can get a little out of control, shall we say. We visited a home recently that had such a vast stack of motorcycling magazines in the downstairs loo that if it tipped over it could have crushed a small child. Ask any buyer what is on their list of must-haves, and storage space will always be up there. Nobody wants a home where there’s no decent storage, and piles of ‘stuff’, and volumes of clutter, will certainly give that impression.

Whatever camp your home falls into, unless it’s strictly minimalist (and we can count on one hand the number of homes like this we have visited) a pre-viewing declutter is always a good idea. But where to start? 

How does the ski slope method of decluttering work?

A decluttering method currently gathering a rapidly growing fan base is the ski slope method. It’s designed not only to help you declutter, but to do it in the least stressful way possible, which we like very much! In short, the ski slope method, devised by therapist-turned-interior designer, Anita Yokota, starts with the idea that you work your way across a room like you would while skiing a mountain. You don’t need to be a skier to imagine this, we’ve all seen a skier swooping from side to side on a mountain, from James Bond to Ski Sunday.

Here’s how to follow the ski slope method:

1. Choose your room and set three boxes in the centre of it. Label each box with either: Keep; Donate; or Dump.
2. Mentally divide your room into four quarters. In a bedroom this might be a wardrobe, dressing table, drawers, bedside tables. By dividing the room into four parts, you are mentally shrinking the size of the job in front of you.
3. Start in quarter one. Be very firm that you do not stray out of quarter one and into two, three or four. In your chosen quarter, sort every item into Keep, Donate or Dump by walking only between that quarter and your three boxes. This is where the ski slope analogy comes from. A skier will only go in two directions on a slope; from side to side, gradually descending the mountain until their ‘job’ is done. 
4. Once quarter one is complete, commence with quarter two. Items you find in quarter one, that actually belong in quarter two, three or four, are moved to the Keep box, and then reallocated when you come to address that quarter.
5. Once all four quarters have been sorted, head straight to the charity shop and the bins with your Donate and Dump boxes. If you leave them sitting for a while, chances are they’ll hang about getting in the way and causing more clutter.
6. Come home, make a cuppa and pat yourself on the back.

By dealing with one room at a time, one quarter at a time, you give yourself an efficient, relaxed and effective approach to doing a job you know needs doing, but is too easy to put off.

Stop procrastinating, take to the slopes!

Eddie – Friday 17th February 2023 – (Picture used from Torbay Road, Chorlton).