Peter Walsh, international declutter expert, is back. He appears on The Living Room (7.30pm, Ten) with our friend Barry Du Bois working hard to declutter and decorate the living space and bedroom of a small Sydney apartment – with our help of course! We talk to Peter about how to start the process of decluttering, and also asked him some questions about how to set up systems to keep your living space clutter free…

Have you ever encountered someone that you simply couldn't help?
There are varying degrees of help but I've been lucky in that there hasn't been anyone yet that I couldn't at least make a good start with. I learned long ago that you can't force anyone to change and so unless a person is ready to change and eager for help I'm reluctant to get involved.  When people embrace my process I've found that change happens quickly.


The challenge: a small Sydney apartment with a definite clutter problem.

What do you believe is the first step in clutter recovery?
Clutter is never about the stuff!  When someone is struggling with clutter it's always about some deeper issue: pain, loss, grief, abuse, poor self-image and so on.  To get out from under the clutter you have to look at these deeper issues.  The hardest first step is committing to a vision of the life you want to have. Once that vision is firmly established, and constantly reinforced, the question one asks oneself should be: Do the things I own help me create the life I want? This should be the measure for what stays and what goes from your home.  When one adopts this mindset clutter recovery can begin.


Peter and Barry with the delighted residents post-declutter. Visit The Living Room website for a photo gallery showing the transformation. 


Kids need boundaries, systems and routines.  Work with your children to create a 'family nerve centre' in your kitchen.  Wall hooks for each child's backpack, a cubby for their shoes, a shelf area for school projects and materials, and a large notice board that serves as a central location for important notices, upcoming commitments and family information. Agree with your children how the nerve centre will function and establish clear routines for where things go (there's and yours!) when a family member enters the house.  Working with your kids to establish the systems and routines will increase the likelihood that they'll commit and decrease the chance that you'll have to play the bad cop so much!


This may sound odd but the quickest way to avoid clutter accumulating – whether it's on your stylish coffee table or on the back seat of your car – is to stop using the word "later".  Clutter is decisions delayed and the moment you procrastinate: "I'll put that away later" or "I'll file that later" or "I'll sit that here and look at it later", that is moment when stuff starts to collect.  Stop saying "later" and I promise you your coffee table (and much more!) will stay clutter-free.


You can't make someone do something they don't want to,  unless you want to create resentment and anger.  If you want the hall cupboard clear, and your husband wants to keep everything in it, how about relocating everything in the cupboard elsewhere in the house – I can't believe I'm suggesting this! – so that you get a clear cupboard and he gets to keep all those things you think are useless.  Then, grab a good bottle of wine, find somewhere comfortable, pour yourself and your husband a glass of vino, relax and stop worrying about things that really don't matter!


The only things I think you should have in your home are those items that help you create the life you want.  Start with the vision you have for your life, your home, every room in your home and then ask yourself: Do the items in this room help me create the vision I have for this space?  If so, hold onto them.  If not, what are they doing in your home?



If you've negotiated to have a child (and I'm guessing you have!) then negotiating built-ins should be a breeze!  Sit down with your storage-phobic significant other and make a list of all the items that you (and he) think you'll need to use the storage area for.  Then add 10% and agree on the storage required.  However!  One of my favourite saying is "You only have the space you have", so you should agree in advance that the storage that you commit to is the absolute limit of the storage you'll allow yourselves.  No under bed storage, no boxes in the garage, no over-stuffed closets, no off-site storage unit!  Once your storage area is at capacity you have to let go of something before something new can come into the house! Calculate, negotiate, estimate, build, commit!  Oh, and congrats on the new baby!

Find out more about Peter at his website, where you can find out more about his books, DVD and app and sign up for regular newsletters.