‘Swedish death cleaning’ trend takes internet by storm’

The practice of Swedish Death Cleaning has taken the internet by storm since becoming the subject of a new television series that looks at the importance of decluttering homes.

The custom is not about cleaning everyday messes but rather focuses on adopting a way of life that will allow your day-to-day operations to run smoothly.

Despite its seemingly morbid connotations, the goal of the practice is to rid your home of unnecessary objects once you reach the end of middle age so that no one has to do it for you after you pass away.

The cleaning method, coined by Margareta Magnusson in her 2017, has been widely discussed in the new Peacock TV series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.

Magnusson explained: “Death cleaning isn’t the story of death and its slow, ungainly inevitability,” she explained. “But rather the story of life, your life, the good memories and the bad. The good ones you keep, the bad ones you expunge.”

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Swedish Death Cleaning derives from the principles of minimalism, which encourages people to declutter their living space from unnecessary objects. 

Elsewhere in her book, Margareta advises: “Visit [your] storage areas and start pulling out what’s there. Who do you think will take care of all that when you are no longer here? 

“Life will become more pleasant and comfortable” if you get rid of some abundance, she explained, “mess is an unnecessary source of irritation.”

The theory has scientific backing, as several psychological studies have proven that women who live in decluttered spaces have higher lower stress scores.

In one study, a group of 60 women who were asked to describe their home environments found that those who considered their space to be more cluttered has higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

It also transpired that these women had lower moods compared to other women with homes that were more cluttered.