How to Have a
Good Death
the art of dÜstädning
Jemma Gardner
How to Have a Good Death the art of dÜstädning
Copyright © 2019 Author Name First Published in 2019 by VITA Publishing Printed and bound in the UK VITA Publishing VITA House, 1 Publisher Road London EC1 1AB www.vitapublishing.co.uk Content Credit: Margareta Magnusson, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, (2017). Rachel Connor, 'Swedish death cleaning: how to declutter your home and life', (2018) Available at: https://theconversation.com/swedish-death-cleaning-how-to-declutter-your-home-and-life-90253 Grace Beuley Hunt, 'Here's exactly how to Swedish death clean your closet', (2018) Available at: https:// www.purewow.com/home/swedish-death-clean-closet ISBN 1234567890
How to Have a Good Death the art of dÜstädning
Author's Name
Contents Introduction 2 Capsule Your Closet
5
Declutter Your Kitchen
18
Tackling The Bathroom
34
Out In The Garden
47
Up In The Attic
62
Digital Death
76
Document Decluttering
89
Minimise The Bookshelves
104
The 'Just For You' Box
117
Photographs And Other Sentimental Possessions
128
Introduction
döstädning / death cleaning The Swedish term döstädning (dö is death and städning is cleaning) means removing unnecessary things and making your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet. Döstädning advocates the proactive and mindful clearing out of possessions before death. The idea is that it saves relatives the onerous task of making decisions about what to keep and what to throw or give away. The simple fact is that we are all living longer lives. This results, of course, in more stuff. But it also means we have more time to get rid of things. We can start planning for our death by slimming down what we leave behind – shedding unnecessary objects in favour of what we actually need. It is the antithesis, perhaps, of the ancient Egyptian tradition of being buried with things that might accompany us into the afterlife. Death cleaning doesn't have to be done in one go. It's something to slowly chip away at over the years. Begin with the things you have in storage, hidden away in attics or garages. Death cleaning is a great chance to actually ask people if they want your stuff, tell your friends
and family when you're starting the process so they can feel free to come and claim things before you throw them away or donate them to charity. Leave your photographs, letters, and journals until last. As anyone who has ever tried to de-clutter can attest, it's all too easy to get stuck in a vortex of nostalgia and procrastinate from getting any actual tidying done. If you know what you'd like to be done with certain belongings after you die, tell someone or leave a note. Believe it or not, death cleaning does not necessarily have to do with your age or death – maybe you have to downsize your home for some reason, maybe you have become single or maybe you are moving to a nursing home- these situations tend to affect most of us at some point. Each section within this book will aid you in tackling the clutter that has no-doubt built up somewhere in every room of your home, using the concept of döstädning to simplify and soothe the process of minimising your possessions. Death cleaning is not about dusting or mopping up, it is about a permanent form of organisation that makes everyday life run smoothly.
2
Capsule Your Closet
The concept of the capsule wardrobe is all about refining your wardrobe to include only high-quality essentials that you can wear over and over again. That way you're not filling up your space with unnecessary clutter, which often makes choosing an outfit in the morning complicated.
First-time death cleaners should start with the closet, as it takes the least toll upon your psyche to work through. Nevertheless, decluttering your wardrobe can be a daunting prospect.You open the door, see an overwhelming amount of things and immediately close it again. Everybody is guilty of clothes hoarding one way or another. We all have those items in our wardrobe that we keep around even if we haven't worn them for years, telling ourselves we'll wear them eventually. If the number of these items is getting out of hand, then you may want to consider building yourself a capsule wardrobe. There aren’t really any rules to creating a capsule wardrobe, because everyone is different. Some people go extreme and limit their closet to 20 items (including shoes and accessories) for three months at a time. Some people need to go up to more like 50 or 60 because they have a lot of different scenarios in their daily lives that require different types of clothing. It’s less about the actual number, and more about being scrupulous about what is taking up precious space in your closet. Start by taking stock of your wardrobe as a whole, the colours lined up together, everything in one place. Only keep the things that you feel you will really wear when you look at your wardrobe in this way. The following tips will then help you to get started on downsizing your wardrobe. Purge Clothes By Category, From Biggest To Smallest Start editing down your bulky pieces first (like your coats) so that you become inspired by seeing the extra space you’ve created right from the get-go. In general when death cleaning, size really matters. Start with the large items and finish with the small...this will help you to not give up immediately. Adopt A Uniform—It Makes Things Easier The secret to an attractive, minimalist closet? Slowly giving away your random garments and, in turn, paring down your personal style. (Always find yourself in jeans and a grey sweater? Embrace it.) All garments should look good together, and you should be able to mix and exchange them with one another.
5
Bribe Friends Into Helping You Closet-Cleanse You may want to talk to someone who isn’t family and doesn’t have a sentimental connection to the items you want to get rid of. Preferably they will think differently from you, and that is good, that will help you look at your work from fresh angles. If An Item Has No ‘Worth’ To You, Toss It If you pick up a pair of wedges you haven’t worn in six months—and have zero clue when or why you bought them, you can pretty much guarantee you won’t miss them down the road. Make Sure You Have A Solid Organization System In Place Everything should be easy access and at the ready—even and especially if this means installing a closet organization system. Give everything a place and you won’t feel angry, irritated or desperate when leaving the house. And for a change—and as an added bonus—you may also arrive on time. Think About The Aftermath Of Your Death The idea behind death cleaning is that it just isn’t fair to leave a mess behind for your loved ones to sort through. If you don’t clean, once you die there will be a big truck that takes all the wonderful things you have straight to the dump. No one will be happy about that. Don't Just Throw It All Away Anything still in good condition can be sold on second-hand websites such as eBay or Depop. Spend time taking high quality photographs, writing clear and informative descriptions and picking a fair price; you will be surprised at how much money you could get for some of those long forgotten pieces. Donate To A Better Home If you have items left over, or find online selling too much of a hassle, donate your unwanted clothes to a charity or thrift shop, they'll be grateful for new stock and who knows – you might have exactly what someone else was looking for! Just don't forget to make sure that every item is in a clean and acceptable condition before making your donation.
7
5 basic capsule items ◆ A White Blouse. A smartcasual piece that will never go out of fashion. ◆ A Flattering WearEverywhere Dress. Perfect for work, weddings and brunches. ◆ Black Ankle Boots. There's nothing more versatile than a pair of black ankle boots. ◆ Your Favourite Blue Jeans. From skinny to boyfriend-fit, pick what suits you. ◆ A Slick Coat That Smartens Up Every Outfit. Opt for a neutral colour for easy everyday-wear.
Declutter Your Kitchen
Kitchens are often the most cluttered room in the home, full of gadgets and tableware we hardly ever use. When decluttering them, you'll need every scrap of space and all your mental energy, so begin with a clear deck and the tools you'll use to do the job. We tend to spend an awful lot of time in our kitchens cooking, eating and socialising. The kitchen has so many different types of items stored in it. You can choose to declutter your kitchen by focusing on one type of item at a time (cutting boards, glassware, utensils, bakeware) or going by zone. Start By Editing Your Crockery Rid yourself of anything chipped or that just doesn’t feel right, such as unsatisfyingly small mugs or wine glasses that are too chunky. Get pleasure from using your best rather than saving it for a special occasion. Also, if you wash up regularly, rather than gradually filling the dishwasher, you’ll discover you don’t really need fifteen dinner plates. Realistically, all you need in your kitchen is enough for a daily meal, plus a couple of spares in case of breakage or visitors. Clear Some Space For a clear counter, get rid of any clunky (and barely used) gadgets taking up unnecessary space If you only use them rarely, put them away inside cabinets or in a utility room. If you don’t use them at all, donate or recycle them. It’s all too easy to hang on to gadgets you don’t need because you think you might put them to use one day, so be ruthless. Resist The Temptation Try not to accumulate so many of said gadgets in the first instance. Resist the temptation to buy every must-have device linked to food fads. Think: do you really need that spiraliser/bread machine/ juicer? Go old-school and stick with using the oven, a frying pan and cafetière. Don't Stockpile Don’t stockpile food, so plan meals and buy what you actual need a couple of times a week. Use ingredients up before getting more, so embrace those neglected lentils festering in the cupboard by looking up some soup or dahl recipes to make a meal out of them. Keeping everything clearly labelled in Tupperware boxes can help you keep track of what you have. Sort through jars and tins that may be lurking at the back of a cupboard, how many are still in date?
18
Enhance Your Organisational Skills The key to organisation is stocking like for like together and in a logical fashion. Keep baking products or ingredients for dishes you regularly cook in the same place. Keep things close to where you use them – for instance, spices near the hob and sharp knives in easy reach of your favoured worktop spot. Make Items Multi-Purpose So You Don’t Double Up Why not use a cake-stand to store your fruit, a colander to steam vegetables, folded tea towel rather than oven glove, or wooden chopping board not trivet to protect surfaces. Tackle That Tupperware Got a drawer or cupboard that’s been overtaken by Tupperware? Start by binning anything which doesn't have a corresponding lid. Remember most items can be stored in a cling-film covered bowls and even liquids like soup can be frozen flat in plastic food bags. Dispose Of Your Disposables You are likely to find that you have far more disposable plates, cups and cutlery than you need, and even more plastic bags. Only keep as many as you genuinely need and chuck the rest. It's a small thing, but it'll save your family some time sorting through it in the long run. Pass It On Make this a special occasion by inviting your children and grandchildren over to bake some delicious treats that you can all enjoy. Whilst they are there, start to discuss what you want to happen to your things after you have passed – ask them if there are any specific items which they would like you to pass on to them, making decisions now will save any disagreements between them in the future.
5 items to cut down ◆ Mugs. Lots of us could happily halve the amount of mugs we
have and still never be short of a cup.
◆ Crockery. Try bringing out your special plates and getting rid of the rest. ◆ Utensils. Realistically, you only need one spatula, ladle etc. ◆ Tupperware. Tubs and boxes seem to multiply of their own accord. Start by throwing away any that don't have a matching lid. ◆ Gadgets. When was the last time you used that slow-cooker? If the answer is longer than 6 months ago, it is time to say goodbye.
19
Digital Death As more and more of our lives are logged and lodged online, it is becoming increasingly important to keep track of the digital legacy we will one day leave behind. If you don’t make the decisions about what to keep or discard online, then ultimately others will need to. When you are gone, it is likely that your family will want to access your online data, in order to transfer files, close accounts or memorialise your social media pages. But this is no straightforward task, given that more and more of our data – photos, letters, memories – as well as actual things – music and books – exist in digital rather than analogue form. And as more of our lives are recorded virtually, chances are our relatives might not be able to access it. If we don’t make the decisions about what to keep or discard – whether actual or online – then ultimately others will need to. If we don’t leave clear directions about where to find our digital content, it makes things tougher for everyone. You might not realise it, but you don't own what you have downloaded. Instead, you have purchased a licence that means you can listen, watch or read that material for the rest of your life, but when you die the licence expires. In the past, many people bequeathed their record collections to music-loving friends or family members. In some cases, they would even calculate the value of these items and leave an equivalent amount in cash to siblings or relatives. The knowledge that, in digital form, these items will have no value after you die can therefore be hard to swallow. So, What Can You Do? The easiest way to help your loved ones is by keeping a book of passwords and important information which will help them access your online accounts and digital assets when the time comes. Some companies allow family members to shut down or memorialise accounts, such as emails or Facebook, however digital assets such as music and books can be trickier. If you wish to pass your digital legacy down, relatives must be able to log into your accounts and change the personal details to their own. Finally, try to keep up to date with any online balances that need paying – such as subscriptions, downloads or fines – or family members could be inundated with outstanding fee reminders in the future.
76
“Death
cleaning, it’s not as scary
as it sounds”
–
Isabelle Smith
Hygge and Lagom are so last year. Now it’s time to embrace döstädning or ‘death cleaning’: the art of shedding unwanted clutter to make life as joyful and easy as possible. This Swedish phenomenon encourages you to organise your affairs and evaluate the most important things in life. From clearing out the kitchen cupboards, to determining the fate of the family heirlooms, death cleaning can be used to make the later years of our lives as stress-free and productive as possible. This unique and practical guide offers helpful tips to simplify the transformation of your home into a serene and organised haven. Mastering the art of Swedish death cleaning will change the way you live your life and experience your death.