This article was first published in The Island Eye.

I love my house – it is filled with love and laughter and friends. And then I open that closet in the hall, and I am reminded it is also filled with that box I never unpacked after our move, those housewarming gifts I’ll never use and that bag of pictures from college I keep meaning to sort through. Sound familiar?

In those moments, where all I really want to do is shut that door and walk away, I remind myself that what my home really needs is a HUG.

And when my clients get overwhelmed with their closets (or pantry or garage) and don’t know where to start, I always start with doling out HUGS.

HUGS is my favorite decluttering hack. It’s a system to help you separate your belongings from your feelings about your belongings and make objective decisions about what to keep and what to let go.

• Does the item make you HAPPY? 

  If not, you should donate it.  It doesn’t matter if it fits, if it still has the tags on it, if it was expensive, etc.  If it doesn’t make you happy, you should donate, resell, or gift it away.

• Is it USEFUL?

  The item should be useful and functional right now. If not, you should donate it. You do not need a backup toaster in the garage in case the current one breaks. You do not need eight phone chargers.

• Was it a GIFT?

  What you do with a gift is not a reflection of how you feel about the person who gave it to you. Full confession, I am the worst at this one. If the gift does not make you happy, donate it. If you won’t use it, you can purge the gift.  It’s OK.  Separate your feelings about the person from the item itself. (And no, you do not have to display the hideous vase just because Aunt Marge gave it to you.)

• Does it hold SENTIMENTAL value? 

  This is the one most difficult for most clients. And please know I am not saying you need to part with those truly special things. You can keep every piece of paper your child has ever written on.  But if you do, each should be proudly on display and not stuffed in boxes in the attic. If they are in boxes, pare back - pick a few favorites from each year and discard the rest.

Decluttering can be daunting. I always advise clients to start small. You do not need to organize the entire house all at once – start with one drawer, one closet, or one room. You will be amazed at what a HUG can do.