When it comes to keeping our homes neat and tidy, we all have our own methods of organizing. Trouble is, we don’t often stick to them, and before you know it, our spaces quickly become cluttered again.
I’ve been guilty of always picking things up, and dumping it in another (random) area where it doesn’t belong. Be it my favorite cardigan hanging over a chair for days, or my hair styling products on a bookshelf, it’s easy to accumulate mess.
And while I’ve tried plenty of organizing tricks from KonMarie to the interesting 27 Fling Boogie technique, I'd still struggle to keep on top of the clutter.
But that was when I finally decided to try the strange-sounding, ‘FhiFho’ decluttering rule to see if it would do the trick. While this isn’t a new hack, the FhiFho method is a simple, no -fuss way of making sure everything is in its rightful place, and helps to reduce the amount of unsightly clutter.
So what is the “FhiFho” method?
The FhiFho method is an abbreviation for 'full hands in, full hands out', and is essentially, a clever mantra experts say will make it easy to instantly relocate items.
The idea is that you enter a room with a handful of items that belong in that area, and then take out a handful of items that don’t belong in the space when you leave that room.
The idea is that you enter a room with a handful of items that belong in that area, and then take out a handful of items that don’t belong in the space when you leave that room.
That way, you won’t have any ad hoc items cluttering up a space that’s not suitable for them.
What’s more, this is a great way to instantly deal with the mess head-on, without procrastinating or leaving tidying up for another day.
The FhiFho decluttering method can be applied to organize many areas around the home, including the living room, bedroom and even children’s rooms — where you’ll often find the rogue toy or device lying around.
With all that said, here’s what happened when I put the FhiFho decluttering method to the test in my living room.
I tried the FhiFho decluttering method
If there’s one room in our home that seems to be the dumping ground for my family’s items, it’s the TV wall shelf in our living room.
From USB cables/chargers and old receipts taken out of bags, to cosmetics and hair styling products, these would often end up left on the shelves (usually forgotten about).
Soon enough, my well-curated shelves were turning into a dumping ground for random items — creating an unsightly mess.
Following the “FhiFho” rules, I started collecting all the USB cables and chargers to put in their rightful place inside the TV wall cabinet.
I put my son’s game console accessories away, and grouped the endless, remote controls in a storage box to leave on the shelf.
After focusing on the items that actually belonged in that space, I then took out what didn’t belong there — and there were many!
Random stuff including my laptop, hair brush, lipstick, letters, and my Bluetooth speaker had to go. I immediately returned them to their rightful place, and it only took a matter of minutes.
It seems as though the FhiFho method made decluttering seem less of a chore — when forced to put things away. The result? A clutter-free shelf that looks tidy and minimal.
What’s more, I was able to use this method to declutter my kitchen cabinets by getting rid of all the non-essential items like plastic lids from takeout containers, to cookware that were either damaged, outdated or haven't been used in years.
Verdict
Although the FhiFho decluttering method sounds like common sense, it does force you to act quickly, especially if you are collecting a handful of items to relocate.
In that sense, this makes it far more effective than just going through items one at a time, or on whatever day I feel like it!
In addition, your newly-refreshed areas will look less of an eyesore — just don’t get back into the habit of adding mess to it!
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