National Organising Week 2026: Overconsumption and Making Space for What Matters

National Organising Week 2026 focuses on overconsumption. Here's how buying less and making more thoughtful choices can help create a calmer home.

Jo de Serrano OBE DUniv

10 min read

Person holding colorful shopping bags in front of face
Person holding colorful shopping bags in front of face

Last Updated: September 2026

This week is National Organising Week, run by APDO, the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers, of which I'm a member. This year's theme is overconsumption, specifically “Making space for what matters.” It runs from 14 - 20 September, with APDO publishing information throughout the week about our relationship with consumption and the amount of stuff that finds its way into our homes.

It's a subject I think we need to talk about more. As a Professional Organiser, a lot of my job involves helping people decide what should leave their homes. But there's another question that's just as important and often gets overlooked: Why does so much keep coming in?

We live in a world where buying something new has become incredibly easy. We can see something on our phone, order it in seconds, and have it sitting on the doorstep tomorrow (or sometimes Amazon can even do same-day delivery). Things are bought because they're reduced, because they “might” come in handy, because replacing something is easier than finding the one we already own, or because we've convinced ourselves that this storage basket is definitely going to be the one that finally sorts the kitchen cupboard out.

One purchase doesn't create an overcrowded home, of course, but hundreds of small purchasing decisions over several years absolutely can. That's what I think makes this year's National Organising Week theme particularly interesting. It's not just asking us to look at what we own… It's asking us to think about what we're bringing through the front door in the first place.

Key Takeaways

  • National Organising Week 2026 runs from 14–20 September, and this year's APDO theme is Overconsumption: Making Space for What Matters.

  • Overconsumption isn't the same as the actual clutter... It's about buying and consuming more than we need or use, which can eventually contribute to cluttered and difficult-to-manage homes.

  • Modern shopping makes buying incredibly easy, from next-day delivery and one-click purchasing to constant sales, advertising, and discount codes.

  • Modern shopping also means you have to return the items you don’t want, and sometimes we just don’t get round to it.

  • Decluttering helps deal with what's already in your home, but changing what comes into the home can stop the same problem building up again.

  • This isn't about never buying anything or creating a minimalist home. It's about becoming more deliberate about what you buy and whether it deserves space in your home.

Contents

  1. What Is National Organising Week?

  2. What Do We Mean by Overconsumption?

  3. Why Is It So Easy to Buy More Than We Need?

  4. What Overconsumption Looks Like in Real Homes

  5. Why Decluttering Is Only Half the Answer

  6. What to Ask Yourself Before You Buy

  7. Making Space for What Matters

  8. Frequently Asked Questions

What Is National Organising Week?

National Organising Week is APDO's annual campaign, and this year it runs from Monday 14 to Sunday 20 September.

APDO is the UK's membership body for Professional Declutterers and Organisers, and I'm proud to be a member. During National Organising Week, APDO and its members share practical advice, ideas and real examples to get people thinking about their homes, their belongings and how they use their space.

This year, APDO is focusing specifically on overconsumption and describes the challenge as living in a world where acquiring more has become easier than ever. The organisation also makes the point that overconsumption isn't only about having too much stuff; busy lives, changing priorities, emotional attachments and habits built over many years can all contribute.

That's something I recognise from my own day-to-day work… I don't walk into clients' homes and find one enormous shopping spree responsible for everything in front of me, what I see is years and years of small decisions that have gradually added up. And I think that's a much more useful place to start the conversation.

What Do We Mean by Overconsumption?

Overconsumption and clutter aren't quite the same thing.

Clutter is often the visible end result, such as the cupboards that won't close, wardrobes where you can't see what you've got, worktops covered in things that don't have a home, and spare rooms that can no longer be used as spare rooms.

Overconsumption happens much earlier than this, it's the acquiring of things, such as buying more clothes when the wardrobe is already full, picking up another water bottle because it's on offer, ordering another skincare product because you’ve been influenced by social media, or buying another storage box to organise the things you already have too many of.

I see it when clients replace something because they can't find the original… I see that one a lot. If you don't know where the scissors are, buying another pair for a few pounds feels easier than spending half an hour looking for them. Then we organise the house and discover six pairs.

None of those individual purchases feels excessive at the time, and that's precisely why it's so easy for them to build up.

Why Is It So Easy to Buy More Than We Need?

Buying has changed enormously over the years... We don't necessarily have to make a conscious decision to go shopping or to spend money anymore. Shops follow us around on our phones, we're shown adverts based on things we've already looked at, sent discount codes because we left something in a basket and reminded that we only need to spend another £12.47 to qualify for free delivery, and then there are the sales.

I think “but it was reduced” might be one of the most expensive sentences in the English language… Something isn't saving you money if you weren't going to buy it in the first place.

We also buy aspirationally… The clothes for the version of ourselves who's definitely going to start going out more, equipment for the hobby we're absolutely going to take up, kitchen gadgets for meals we imagine ourselves cooking, and, yes, organising products for the beautifully organised person we're going to become as soon as the matching baskets arrive.

I'm a Professional Organiser, and I love a good storage basket, but even I will tell you that buying storage before you've worked out what you're actually keeping is usually the wrong way round.

Then there's convenience… When we're busy, buying another one can genuinely feel easier than working out whether we already own it and where on earth we put it.

And sometimes, those purchases, when they arrive through the door don’t fit, don’t bear any relation to the picture on the website, or you’ve ordered six different styles and sizes just to find the right one. And then sometimes, you don’t even send them back….

All of these behaviours are understandable but they're still worth noticing.

What Overconsumption Looks Like in Real Homes

Overconsumption doesn't always look dramatic… Often it's completely ordinary. I regularly find duplicates during client sessions - toiletries, cleaning products, stationery, kitchen equipment, chargers, children's craft supplies, bags for life, and clothes that serve almost exactly the same purpose.

Sometimes clients are surprised by how many of something they own because they've never seen all of them together before, as they have been dotted around the house… That is one of the reasons why gathering categories together can be so useful, and eye-opening. If you've got one water bottle in the kitchen, one in the car, two in a gym bag and another four at the back of a cupboard, you don't see yourself as someone who owns eight water bottles… Until we put all eight on the table, side by side.

The same happens with food, toiletries and household products. If you can't see what you've already got, you're far more likely to buy it again.

This is where organising and overconsumption are closely connected. A home that allows you to see and find what you own makes it much easier to stop buying duplicates when the urge comes.

Why Decluttering Is Only Half the Answer

Decluttering can make an enormous difference to a home, but it can't solve overconsumption on its own. You can remove ten bags of clothes from a wardrobe in a day, but if another ten bags worth come in over the six months, and nothing else goes out, eventually you're right back where you started.

That's why I'm much more interested in creating systems that last than producing a perfect before-and-after photograph… Once we've worked out what somebody actually uses and wants to keep, we can then give those things sensible homes. That means they're easier to find, easier to use and easier to put away. It also means you can see what you've already got before you buy another one. Visibility of what you’ve got is key.

The aim isn't to stop shopping completely… It's about breaking the automatic cycle of buy, store, forget, buy again.

What to Ask Yourself Before You Buy

I'm not suggesting standing in the middle of a shop interrogating yourself for twenty minutes over a new pair of socks, but for non-essential purchases, a short pause can be useful. What’s even better is not going into the shop or browsing the website in the first place if there is nothing you actually need. That’s when temptation hits, and you end up spending money on something you didn’t need.

Before buying something, ask yourself:

• Do I already own something that does the same job?

• If I own one, do I know where it is?

• Where will this new thing actually live?

• Am I buying it because I need it, or because it's on offer?

• Would I still buy it at full price?

• Am I buying this for the life I actually live, or the life I imagine I might live one day?

• Could I borrow, rent, or buy it second-hand instead?

• What will happen to it when I no longer need it?

You don't need to ask every question every time. Even asking one can interrupt an automatic purchase long enough to decide whether you really want it.

I'd also recommend trying a waiting period for things you don't need immediately… Put it in your online basket and leave it there for 24 or 48 hours, and if you still want it afterwards, fine. But quite often, you won't and you might have even forgotten about it. And turn off those annoying reminder emails which tell you that you have something in your basket. Better still, unsubscribe from all companies that are trying to sell you something. In the UK and EU, GDPR rules apply and every marketing email should have an unsubscribe link, or an easy way to unsubscribe. Do yourself a favour and unsubscribe from them all, your inbox will be easier to manage, your home will feel freer, and your bank balance will thank you too.

Making Space for What Matters

I like APDO's “Making space for what matters” message because it isn't about minimalism. I'm not interested in telling people how many pairs of shoes they're allowed to own or that every surface needs to be empty. If you love books, and it is something that you will come back to time and again, or has a sentimental value, keep your books. If clothes bring you enormous joy, have clothes, as long as they fit, look good on you, and you actually wear them. If your child adores crafting, I'm certainly not going to suggest confiscating the glitter, although I reserve the right to put it in a box high up, for supervised play only. Glitter is lovely, but not when there is a whole tube of it in your carpet.

The point is to make conscious choices about what deserves your money, your space and, ultimately, your attention. When a home contains less of the stuff nobody particularly wanted in the first place, there's more room for the things people actually use and care about.

That's what making space for what matters means to me.

During National Organising Week, APDO is publishing daily content around overconsumption, and its Sustainability Special Interest Group is also hosting a free online session, Less Stuff, More Life: Eco-Friendly Decluttering, on Thursday 17 September at 7pm. The session is open to everyone and will look at making more thoughtful choices about what we buy, keep and let go. And if this week's theme has made you look around your own home and realise that rather a lot has made its way through the front door over the years, don't feel you need to deal with all of it this week.

Start by noticing:

• What are you buying?

• What do you already own?

• What keeps multiplying?

Sometimes understanding how things are getting into the house is just as useful as deciding what needs to leave.

FAQs

What is APDO? APDO is the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers and is the UK's membership body for Professional Organisers. It was founded in 2004 and now has members across the UK and internationally. I'm an APDO member myself.

What is National Organising Week? National Organising Week is APDO's annual campaign. In 2026 it runs from 14–20 September and focuses on overconsumption under the banner “Making space for what matters.”

Does overconsumption mean I need to stop buying things? No. This isn't about never buying anything again or feeling guilty every time you spend money. It's about noticing purchasing habits and making more deliberate decisions about what comes into your home.

What's the difference between overconsumption and clutter? Overconsumption is about purchasing and using more than we need, while clutter is often one of the end results. You can declutter what's already there, but looking at what you're buying can help prevent the same volume from building up again.

Where should I start? Try one category that tends to multiply quickly, such as toiletries, water bottles, cleaning products, or clothes. Gather what you already own and look at it together before buying anything else in that category... You may be surprised by how much is already there. Unsubscribe from marketing emails and don’t go into the shop unless you actually need something.

Can a Professional Organiser help with this? Yes. A Professional Organiser can help you work through what you already own, decide what you want to keep, and create systems that make those things easier to see and find. For me, the aim isn't to tell you what you should own; it's to help you create a home that works better for the way you actually live. That includes reinforcing some of the points raised here.

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