I tried the chaos decluttering method – it's brilliant but better for smaller areas and definitely NOT for the easily overwhelmed

It seems that these days, there are as many decluttering methods as there are people on the planet. Ok, many not that many, but decluttering certainly has been having a moment for the past few years.

The Chaos Decluttering method has been making waves lately, and I was intrigued by it because it sounds like the exact opposite of the meticulous approach advocated by decluttering gurus such as Marie Kondo.

I decided to try out the Chaos Method in my kitchen. I knew that the spice rack and main kitchen cupboard needed help by way of good decluttering tips, but I'd been putting off doing anything. I finally confronted my dread and here's how it went.

What is the Chaos Decluttering Method?

The Chaos Decluttering Method has been popularized by Kim Jones of Lock & Key Home. As the name suggests, this method is all about embracing the often-chaotic process of decluttering. Rather than worrying about where everything will go in advance, or how things will look, you just take the plunge and take everything out of every cupboard, drawer, basket and box in a target area and go from there.

The idea is that by being able to survey everything that you own at once, you'll be encouraged to finally make decisions about what to throw away and what to keep. We all feel a natural aversion to chaos in our homes: seeing everything just dumped together is, without a doubt, stressful. However, the chaos decluttering method forces you to confront this fear of overwhelm by pulling things out of piles and categorizing them.

Does this home organizing idea work? And how do other professional organizers feel about it? Let's take a deeper dive.

What happened when I tried Chaos Decluttering

I'll be honest and say that seeing the contents of my kitchen cabinet out on the countertop was, at first, pretty stressful. It turns out I had things in there I didn't know I had, including doubles and triples of the same pantry staples, and expired items. I would have kept them for many more months had I not just taken the plunge and taken everything out.

Seeing three half-empty packets of risotto rice was comical, as were the four different versions of cinnamon (ground, whole, powdered). Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the process, I felt empowered by the clarity it gave me.

It is natural to just shove things to the back of a deep cupboard when you feel like you're pressed for time. Giving myself the time to take in what I had made categorizing and organizing my kitchen cabinet a lot easier.

Image 1 of 3

After

Before

The method in progress

All prices correct at time of editing.

My final goal wasn't neatly categorizing everything by food type. Instead, I organized the different items based on what I reach for the most. I do a lot of baking, so the baking items all ended up on the middle shelf where they are within easy reach.

The breadcrumbs, lentils and pulses I use far less frequently, so they all ended up on the upper shelf. I now know where they are, but they won't be in the way as much when I'm trying to reach for flour and sugar.

Just going for it without thinking too much also gave me a good idea of what kind of kitchen storage ideas I now need. I will get several food storage containers from Amazon for the different types of flour and different grains I have. Without the Chaos Decluttering Method, I couldn't have known what or how many food storage ideas I'd really need.

My verdict

Personally, I think that the chaos decluttering method should come with a disclaimer. It does feel overwhelming at first, and the larger the area you decide to tackle, the more overwhelming it will feel. Focusing on a small area or decluttering room by room is a good idea. Unless you're working through a moving house checklist, in which case you could try and dump every single thing out of the moving boxes.

Under normal circumstances, though, the chaos method could become counterproductive if you attempt doing too much too fast. Professional organizer Tori Cohen believes that the chaos method could be suitable for those who are already an organized person and just lack time.

She warns, 'If you are a person who struggles with home organization in general, this will be completely overwhelming.' Tori urges caution and in employing the Chaos Decluttering Method if you are looking a method to declutter when feeling overwhelmed. If that's you, try instead the One-Touch decluttering method, or the Didn't Know method.

Tori is confident that while she likes the Chaos Method for herself, it might not work for the majority of her clients. She explains, they would take everything out and then walk away because they were overwhelmed. They would then be left in a state of permanent chaos until they called someone like me to help fix it.'

Only you know your personality type and how you cope with stress. Trust your gut: if you think it'll be too overwhelming, it probably will be.

The C.H.A.O.S method: a gentler alternative

Want to try something similar but with less chaos, and a more structured approach? I spoke to Martha-Carol Stewart who has used the C.H.A.O.S. method of decluttering since 2013 and recently published a book about it.

Martha's method stands for:

Categorize
Helpful or hurtful (a question to ask when struggling to let go of an item or not)
Action: Keep, toss, donate
Organize in bins
Simplify with labeling (to help your family know where things belong).

I liked how Martha's method only gets down to organizing things in storage binsavailable on Amazon as the fourth step. It chimed with how I approached decluttering my kitchen cupboards: get down to the business of sorting through things first, and think about storage later.

Martha's approach also has a solid, positive psychological component to it. Her advice is to 'stand with your back to the door and look at your house: is it peaceful or a living to-do list?' If it's the latter, it's time to do something. When it comes to making decisions about individual items, she recommends framing the choice as 'is this item helpful or hurtful', while bearing the bigger goal of a calm and peaceful home in mind.

The end goal isn't 'making yourself into a minimalist'. Martha is from Louisiana where, she says, 'we value tradition, legacy, and family.' If you truly love your grandma's tea service, keep it! On the other hand, if you're keeping your teddy bear collection purely because your eight-year-old self loved it, it may be in the 'harmful' category by now.

Meet our expert

Tori Cohen

Tori Cohen (aka ‘Tori the Organizer’) has owned a decluttering and organization business for more than eight years. From Los Angeles to New York City to Michigan, Tori has led her clients through the overwhelm of clutter to a more organized life. Aesthetics are important but Tori’s focus is on functionality and systems. 

Overall, I'm glad I tried the chaos decluttering method. I'm also glad I didn't go the whole hog and focused on a small area. I'm not the messiest person, but not the most organized either, and seeing huge piles of stuff all over my house would've overwhelmed me.

I think I might stick to Martha's mantra: I want my home to be peaceful and calm and when decluttering, will keep things that are helping me achieve this goal.

Next, delve into our H&G Decluttering Library, packed with methods we've tried, and loved. It's organized to help you pick methods based on the time or personality type you have.