The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter

by Margareta Magnusson

2018

Status

Available

Call number

648.5 MAGN

Publication

Scribner Book Company (2018), 128 pages

Description

Home Design & Déco Self-Improvemen Nonfictio HTML:A charming, practical, and unsentimental approach to putting a home in order while reflecting on the tiny joys that make up a long life. In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called döstädning, dö meaning "death" and städning meaning "cleaning." This surprising and invigorating process of clearing out unnecessary belongings can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others have to do it for you. In The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, artist Margareta Magnusson, with Scandinavian humor and wisdom, instructs readers to embrace minimalism. Her radical and joyous method for putting things in order helps families broach sensitive conversations, and makes the process uplifting rather than overwhelming. Margareta suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you'd ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children's art projects). Digging into her late husband's tool shed, and her own secret drawer of vices, Margareta introduces an element of fun to a potentially daunting task. Along the way listeners get a glimpse into her life in Sweden, and also become more comfortable with the idea of l… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member isabelx

Sometimes I think it must have been much easier to live and die at the time of our ancestors, the Vikings. When they buried their relatives, they also buried many objects together with the body. This was to be sure that the dead would not miss anything in their new environment. It was also an

assurance for the family members who remained that they would not become obsessed with spirits of the dead and constantly be reminded of them because their possessions were still scattered all over the tent or mud hut. Very clever.
Can you imagine the same scenario today? With all the skräp (Swedish for “junk”) people have now, they would have to be buried in Olympic-sized swimming pools so that their stuff could go with them!

Swedish death cleaning is a way of decluttering your possessions in advance of your death, so that you do not leave it all for your heirs to do. If you do not want to pass on loved furniture or other items to your friends and relations now, you can make a list or label items with the name of the person you would like to have them after your death.

But if you're famous, maybe you shoudn't do too much death cleaning, or scholars won't have anything to work with when trying to write about you later on. Incidentally, I discovered that Ingmar Bergman thought about his death all the time, as is evident in some of his films, but didn't bother to do any death cleaning. In Stockholm we now have a huge Ingmar Bergman archive as a result.

Interesting idea. I must try it at some point.

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LibraryThing member Clara53

A remarkable, inspiring, and useful little book - especially for people over a certain age, myself included. I finished it in one afternoon. Unabashed frankness about the subject of death is so refreshing. The Swedish author makes such a great point, while reminding us a few times throughout the

book that she is between 80 and 100 years old! Great sense of humor too! Her suggestions on "death cleaning" (no need to be shocked at the phrase at all...) are so reasonable and completely up my alley. I agree with everything she says. Has to be done (for everybody's sake) - and better earlier than later. It's simply rude to leave a mess for somebody to take care of when we are gone - when we can easily do it the decluttering ourselves while we still can.

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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

Not nearly as practical-minded as "Spark Joy," this book is more oriented towards her memories with a few useful tips along the way, such as when downsizing, only keep as many place settings as your table will have room for. The idea of death cleaning is a good one though and when the time comes

for me to do so, I will only save the things that bring me joy or that I will definitely use again and again.

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LibraryThing member brangwinn

Clearly, I’m secretly Swedish. I’ve been death cleaning all my life. Sadly, as I try to give things away, people don’t cherish them as much, and I end up keeping too many memories.

LibraryThing member kittyjay

If you're looking for a how-to manual on decluttering your house in preparation of your own eventual demise, this is not that book.

If you want a book that has a strong impression of being a cozy chat with a grandmother who offers you tea and says semi-scandalous things while you chortle over a

biscuit, this is that book.

With a wry, sometimes delightfully passive-aggressive tone, Margareta shares her life wisdom with a gentle and often funny meandering book. The whole book was like wrapping yourself in a warm quilt and spending time with a loved one.

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LibraryThing member Mrs.Soule

This book is hilarious and fascinating. It's not just a book on getting rid of stuff you don't need so your relatives won't be saddled with doing it for you. It's about Swedish culture, raising a family around the world in the 20th century, and the Magnusson family. I read it in what my brain

thinks is a Swedish Grandma Accent and it made sentences like this, from the "If It Was Your Secret, Then Keep It That Way" chapter, the best thing ever: "Save your favorite dildo - but throw away the other fifteen!"

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LibraryThing member adzebill

Charming, meandering, and slightly dotty Nordic alternative to awful Marie Kondo.

LibraryThing member Course8

This gentle book tells gentle stories from the author's life and how death cleaning became important to her. She writes about how she came to understand the need for reducing possessions, particularly when she had to go through households after the deaths of several loved ones and when she had to

downsize and move to a smaller home. However she does not provide specific ideas, methodology or tips that are not generally known. The stories are interesting but the book was not useful to me. Some of her suggestions are counter productive. One suggestion that I particularly dislike is to give your unwanted items and knick knacks to others as hostess gifts or to relatives when they come to visit. It seems if you don't want to keep an item then you should not gift it to others unless they have specifically expressed strong interest in it. Otherwise you are just transferring your stuff to someone else's death cleaning pile. The truth that she tells is that if you don't do your own death cleaning and thereby show your heirs what is important to you then, once you die, it is likely everything will just be hauled away in a big truck because no-one will have the time or knowledge to winnow out the important items. The other truth she tells is that we should share our cherished stories now with our children and grand children rather than hope they will appreciate our items after we are gone.

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LibraryThing member omnomnomtea

Helped me to communicate with my grandma, who is a hoarder. Worth 5 stars just for that, but also a good read and as it says, very gentle.

LibraryThing member whybehave2002

I love to listen to books that will help me to be better at something and I love to do that while cleaning, thus this book called to me. I will say I was disappointed. Other than it being a spin on my quarterly big cleans, I really didn't glean any cleaning tips. These tips were more about the

emotional, or in this case lessening of emotions, when getting rid of things. I do this anyway but maybe others would find occasional learning moments in the book.

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LibraryThing member SGTCat

I enjoyed this. There's not much here that isn't common sense, but it's written very well.

LibraryThing member Fliss88

4 stars from me but not for the tips and advice. Decluttering has been done to death over recent years and Margareta Magnusson hasn’t really come up with anything new. However, the whole point of decluttering, to her mind, is to get it done so that the job isn’t left to your spouse or children

after your death! Very sensible idea if you ask me! My eldest daughter has already made comment to this effect “I’m going to have to deal with - all this - one day, you realise”. Don’t tell her I’ve told you this!

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LibraryThing member thewestwing

The book basically just says get rid of your stuff before you die so your loved ones/other people don’t have to deal with your junk. It’s very light on strategy. But it’s nicely written.

LibraryThing member jepeters333

In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called döstädning, dö meaning “death” and städning meaning “cleaning.” This surprising and invigorating process of clearing out unnecessary belongings can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others

have to do it for you. In The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, artist Margareta Magnusson, with Scandinavian humor and wisdom, instructs readers to embrace minimalism. Her radical and joyous method for putting things in order helps families broach sensitive conversations, and makes the process uplifting rather than overwhelming.

Margareta suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you’d ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children’s art projects). Digging into her late husband’s tool shed, and her own secret drawer of vices, Margareta introduces an element of fun to a potentially daunting task. Along the way readers get a glimpse into her life in Sweden, and also become more comfortable with the idea of letting go.

Show Less

LibraryThing member kayanelson

A quick cute read but it wasn’t filled with steps of how to do it like the Marie Kondo books.

LibraryThing member Laura400

Absolutely delightful. Not a how-to book. Feels like a visit with a witty, interesting, young-at-heart elder who loves to tell stories about her life. I listened to the audiobook, which was excellent.

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