Life Skills

Make Your Space Sacred with These Tips for Tidying Up

By Molly Holt

Decluttering doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Follow these tips and remember the Lord as you make your living space sacred.

The Lord has taught, “Behold, mine house is a house of order … and not a house of confusion” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:8).

We seem to have an inner longing for cleanliness and order. I imagine this longing comes from our Father in Heaven. When the spaces we find ourselves in are clean and beautiful, it can make us feel happier and more peaceful, be more productive, and better able to feel the Spirit.

From the beginning, the Lord commanded Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden “to dress it, and to keep it” (Moses 3:15). Today He wants us to take care of whatever space we occupy. But caring for our spaces can be overwhelming when we have clutter or poor cleaning habits.

To get started on making a sacred space, here are some tips on how to tackle these clutter problems.

Declutter and Find a Home for Everything

Sometimes it can be hard to keep things clean simply because you have too much stuff everywhere. Start by donating or throwing away items that you haven’t used in several months. For sentimental items that you really don’t need, consider taking pictures of them before getting rid of them.

While decluttering, make sure everything you own has a home—a place where it belongs. That might mean buying, building, or finding some organizing shelves or containers. Label the containers and use baskets to help you organize the contents of drawers. This will help you to stay organized and remember where things belong.

Now, decluttering and reorganizing can be overwhelming when there is a lot to do. Take some time making a list of projects, and pick one to work on at a time. Before you know it, your space will start to look better and better, little by little.

Make “Clean” a Habit

You can develop a good habit by cleaning small things throughout the day. It’s much easier to do these things in the moment than to regret not having done them! Here are some good cleaning habits to get into:

Make your bed every morning.
If you put something down where it doesn’t belong, put it away the next time you pass by.
Wash or put dishes directly in the dishwasher right away.
Put dirty clothes immediately in the laundry hamper.
Fold and hang up laundry immediately after it’s cleaned.
Make cleaning more fun by listening to a general conference talk or calling a friend.

Make Your Space Inviting and Restorative

Make your space a place where you want to stay, reboot, or be productive! This goes beyond cleaning. You can beautify your area by hanging up pictures of you with your loved ones. Include pictures of the Savior or your favorite temple. You could even make your own art or decor.

Your space can be special to you regardless of how fancy or big it is. If you take some time to make your space meaningful, you will naturally want to keep it clean and orderly.

Remember the Eternal Nature of “Clean”

Remember that it’s OK for things to get a little messy. We are only human, after all. But following these simple tips can help you get back on track and keep at it! The Lord doesn’t expect an extravagant, expensive, or gaudy house from you. But He does want a godly house for you—a house where you can feel the Spirit and feel at peace. He wants you to have a house similar to His, “even … a house of order, a house of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8). When we strive to create a house of God, we will feel the fruits of His Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (see Galatians 5:22–23).

And that’s worth tidying up for.