Is ‘House Hushing’ the Secret to a Calmer Home?

Calm Your Space With House Hushing

Decluttering is one of the easiest ways to make any room feel calm and collected, which is why there‘s no shortage of methods to test out. We’ve previously covered the 10-10 decluttering method — designed to help you toss 100 items in 10 days — as well as the move-out method, where you decide an item’s fate by asking if you’d pack it in a hypothetical move.

But house hushing takes a different approach, acting almost as reverse decluttering. The method was popularized by author Myquillyn Smith, whose most recent book — aptly named House Hushing — is dedicated to decluttering and decorating with intention.

Rather than purging everything at once and risking decision fatigue, Smith’s method moves slowly, giving you time to figure out what you miss and what you’re ready to let go of.

House hushing involves removing all nonessential items from a space and leaving it that way for at least 24 hours. Starting from near-zero allows you to reset the space entirely. As you spend time in the pared-down room, you can soak in the calm and reflect on what you genuinely miss. From there, you reintroduce items intentionally, bringing back only what you truly need, want, or care about.

How To Put It Into Practice

Let’s use a living room as an example. You don’t need to move large pieces of furniture, but you can remove items such as throw pillows, vases, picture frames, and other decor that has accumulated over time. (This is also a good opportunity to deep clean.) Sitting in your barren living room, you can envision your dream space. You might realize you miss that one-of-a-kind vase from the craft fair or a sentimental photo from a family trip. But you’ll likely find that you can do without the silly knickknacks and impulse-buy throw pillows.

If an entire room feels overwhelming, try using house hushing to first tackle smaller surfaces, like a bedside table or a kitchen counter.