The minimalists who say "nothing on the kitchen counter" "use internet for all recipes and information rather than books" are not the minimalists to listen to or support. The ones I listen to tell me "this is what I have chosen, but it may or may not work for you " "you need to find what works best for you and your family". I listen to people like Dana, Dawn, Cas and others who care about people and being a helper, not a dictator.

“They’re not the boss of you” 🙌🏼 If we didn’t love the sassiness, we wouldn’t watch, so be sassy 💋

Where would "I" look for it first changed my life entirely. Having the unsolicited advice of 4 older sisters and a type A mother.... the "should" was overwhelming. My house, my rules. Is definitely a game changer.

My vitamins are on my counter because if I don’t see them, I forget to take them. And besides that, it’s MY counter! Thanks, Dana!

👉"If you wanted your house to be a disaster, you wouldn't be watching this video." 👈 THIS STATEMENT is so filled with genuine love and passionate compassion!!!! 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

As a person who has 3 versions of the Betty Crocker Cookbook, I can attest the recipes changed over the years. I don't buy new cookbooks, but I'm not giving up my 1960's version w/ the butter! :)

I use the internet and print recipes because I NEED the hard copy. I love my cookbooks. Congratulations on being a best selling author!!

Just this morning, I said OUTLOUD... "Dana K White, I LOVE YOU!" because I've been decluttering without making a mess. Our brains are alike. Finally! I have found someone who thinks like me and now I know why I've always had such a hard time getting organized even though I've been decluttering for years. You are making a huge difference in my life. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

"There are not, rules, it is your house" this is how I felt when I heard, "Ideally one should have less than 45 books." Um, we home school, surely you mean less than 450. Lol And yes, we use the library, probably 15 books a week are library books and we still own a lot and donate a lot!

It’s easy to see why you’re a best selling author as I’ve listened to your book at least 4 times since purchasing it a short time ago (the 1st time, I listened all the way through…the 2nd & 3rd, as I decluttered…the 4th time, with a pen & paper)…There’s just so much great information! Your dishes & laundry tips? Genius! Your “container concept” approach? Brilliant! Not leaving destruction behind while doing all of this? Mind blowing! When it comes to decluttering/organizing, I’ve purchased the books, entered the classes, watched the videos…I’ve tried SO many things! Your methods, hands down, get the job done! Thank you for sharing that knowledge!

Think of yourself as a designer. The idea of choosing containers or choosing numbers of items to keep is the way homemakers define the limits they want in their homes. If I need space for bicycles and outdoor gear, then I assign space in the garage for those things. If I like crafting, then I set aside space for that. I recently bought myself a new dresser. I picked one that would fit under the window and that had five drawers. I decided I wanted five drawers so I could use one for nightgowns, one for underwear, one for specialty items (like swimsuits and towels), one for everyday tops, and one for everyday pants. This is working very well for me. I designed my laundry spot as three baskets under a desk. One is for light colors, one for dark colors, and one for whites. It works for me; I never have to sort. We need to make decisions about what we want to keep in our homes and how many of each we want. I am not a minimalist, but I've learned to consciously decide and plan what I want to have in my home.

“I’m 47 and I need my ceiling fan”. That’s sooo true, gurlll. 😂😂

"Crustify" deserves a spot in the dictionary.

You are the only person that broke my inability to "Get" the concept of decluttering/cleaning/tidying call it what you like. I have watched videos for months and while motivated to some degree or another I never understood it really. Because of you, I have managed to keep my dishes done daily and my sink is clean every morning when I get up. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being who you are. Your brain speaks to mine flawlessly. Also a huge congratulations to the smashing success of your book! 👏💯❤❤🥂💐

My mom gets upset when she goes to my sister's house and sees her mess. I always tell her "who cares! you don't have to live there". "Let her live the way she want's to and be grateful that your house is not like that."

Since I started decluttering with a hoard, I have decluttered and then organized small sections at a time. This means my containers may change over time as I find more items in the same category, or decide I can live with fewer items, so I save a few formerly used containers to switch things out over time. I celebrate progress and visible surfaces when I can clear a surface.

Omg that "if you haven't worn it in a year- get rid if it" rule lol Except I regularly start wearing things again that I haven't touched in YEARS. I have a skirt that I haven't worn in 2 years but that's happened several other times & then suddenly I started wearing it again all the time. About every 2 years I change my mind about liking pink. I just have long fashion cycles lol

LOVE the sassiness, not gonna lie. *I* have hand-written cookbooks of recipes I GOT off the internet, because I HATE scrolling thru a blog to get to the recipe. I HATE my screen timing out while I am making something. I enjoy not having my phone on and around at all times.

I plan to keep cookbooks as well as my stained 3x5 recipe cards. These recipes may not be on the internet but handed down from friends and loved ones.

I love my cookbooks with full color pictures. I don't want to keep touching my screen to see the recipe. I can write down my comments on the cookbook pages.

I feel like people who say 'just use recipes off the internet" have no idea what they are talking about. I have come across soooo many poorly written recipes on the internet. Everytime I come across another terrible recipe from the internet that did not turn out right I take great pleasure in shredding the piece of paper. Ina Garten, Cynthia Lair, and Mark Bittman have never led me wrong. You will have to pry their cookbooks out of my cold dead hands. : )

Dana girl, honey you just GO!! My vitamins are on my counter because if I don't see them I won't take them! ...prescription meds too, for that matter. And I have/keep cookbooks (and I don't cook if there's any way around it) because I'm old and would rather work from a physical book like I always have instead of from my phone AND because a lot of the books I use have handwriting in them... handwriting from my mom and dad who both passed 2 1/2 years ago, from my dad's mom who could cook the pants off anyone you'd care to put her up against, and from my mom's mom who liked cooking as much as I do, so you know if she wrote it down it HAD to be good. I'm just doing ME! With love from the Southern California desert, MK. ❤☀️🌵 P.S... my seam ripper, the only one I own, is in the garage. Make sense? No, but I can put my hands on it blindfolded in the dark!!

Congrats Wallstreet Best Selling Author! You certainly deserve it. Your explanations and thinking patterns are spot on for me💖

The container method and the 'where would I look for this first?' have been revolutionary for my husband participating more in our decluttering and home organization!

Yay! I am a slob in recovery and you are my hero. Thanks for giving me permission to do what works for me with my brain, in my house! You are such a huge encouragement to me. Thank you for your books and now your videos.

If I could get back all the time I've spent looking for stuff I've put in the "smart" place rather than the "realistic" place, I'd have a year of my life back.

I love having nothing on my counter. That being said, “I’m going to stop feeling like a failure when what other people say should work doesn’t actually work for me, and instead I’m going to go with how it works in my home” is such excellent advice, thank you!

I have cookbooks because those exact recipes are not available on the internet. Also, the internet can be unreliable. I think at the very least, everyone should have a Betty Crocker cookbook; it's got a little of everything in it, and lots of basic cooking rules.

My house is soooo much better than it was, thankyou for letting me understand how my own brain works, by the way myself and my brain are no longer at odds with eachother 🤣😂

"Because I want to and I have the space" and...might I add It's MY house ;-). "You are not the boss of me" was one of my favorite sayings back in the day :-) You are AWESOME!

I love sassy Dana! And regarding internet recipes, in my experience they are much more hit or miss than cookbook recipes.

Cookbooks are easy & quick to use. Online = down the rabbit hole 5 hours later. 🧐

My mother would simply say, "My house, my rules."

A reason that my parents' house is cluttered is because when my Dad tries to help, he "doesn't do it right" (according to Stepmom) so he gave up and my stepmom cannot keep it up on her own. Please speak to having it done is better than having it done "right." She watches your videos and I think we can get Dad to help again if she will accept the way he cleans.

I have MS and had to realize years ago that my brain was no longer the brain I knew. But through yours, Cass and Dawn’s help (each individually) I’m slowly figuring out what works best for me. Thanks to you all!💕

Space bags take a lot of extra effort - they’re really only helpful for things that you rotate seasonally or never use (and if you never use them, do you really need keep them?) I could never be bothered re-sucking the air out if I had to open the space bag to get one thing out. Or I didn’t want to mess with them once they were sucked. They’re really helpful for spare pillows/comforters, or maybe puffy coats that you only wear for a few months each year.

I have bought so many book, even hired professionals at $400 a pop, but no one has gotten through to me like Dana K. White. I love the steps in her process (duh) and especially putting things where I’d look for them (and walking there IMMEDIATELY-no piles to put away later, which never comes). I love how she speaks, interrupts her thoughts with other thoughts. My husband has even noticed, complimenting me on my progress with getting stuff out the door to Hospice Resale Shop. Thanks for a method that works for ME.

The entire house is a container! When the kids left home, i downsized from a large 4 bed home to a small 3 bed home. I remember thinking i had made a horrible mistake, my house was too SMALL! Fast forward 10 years and MANY rounds of decluttering, it's nearly the right size. The house wasn't too small, i just had TOO MUCH STUFF!

You do such a terrific job explaining the way to get and keep a house under control, and I, for one, am grateful. At 74, I continue to sort and get our house further under control, that is, in a place I can better care for it as aging takes it's toll. Very important as housekeeping takes so much more time than it did in my younger days.

🎉 You TOTALLY deserve that Author Award!!🎉 Thank you for: your books, videos & Reality Checks!! ✔ 😊

Thank-you Dana. I actually calmed down during your video when you showed us your china cabinet and said, “I’m not a minimalist.” So helpful. I looked around and thought, “ Me either. Ok. What do I need to declutter to make our home comfortable, for my family, company and for me?”

Thanks for the vote for cookbooks (if you want cookbooks)! Not only do I strongly prefer to cook from recipes that are ink on paper (I print out recipes that I find on the internet), but I also seem to always change the recipes I find to make them taste better to me and my family, and I make notes on the paper/cookbook, so that I remember my changes. Digital recipes are just a hassle for me. I do use a shelf as a container for my cookbooks, so I don't have too many. Old cookbooks that I no longer use get given away. :D

I love Container Concept and I am loving the Take Your House Back course! Thank you! Thank you! One complaint: I have to measure my shelves and do math to figure out the bins to purchase. I hate measurement math! Lol! I’ve been giving my kids word problems like “if the space is 45x26x12, how many of these clear bins….”

I totally had your voice in my head yesterday when I was decluttering in my laundry room. My rag container was too big for the shelf it lives on and was creating problems with my laundry basket storage. I found a smaller container that fit the space, and pared down my cleaning rags to fit that container! Thank you!

I HAVE to have my vitamins out on the counter because I HAVE to take my vitamins and will forget to take them if they are out of sight. By: The Most Forgetful Woman on the Planet.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I must have a problem, I didn't notice ANY of those things! (Vitamins, dish detergent, or dog) Thank you for reminding us whose home it is and who ACTUALLY makes the rules! 😊🏠

I absolutely love Decluttering at the Speed of Life, and it's helped me tremendously. However, I'm still at the trash bag/recycle bag/donate stage but it's working well as I go through each room. I love, love, love the Container Concept, too. Thank you so much!

"They're not the boss of you" bwahahaha ❤❤❤ (btw that's my grandson's yt pic, he changed my pic and I don't know how to fix it 🙈😂)

I love how you addressed having stuff out that others wouldn't isnt a rule. The world is not black and white. I love that about you Dana. You acknowledge that the perfect place for something is where you look for that.

I love your facial expressions. 😂 I run my dishwasher 2-3 times a day FULL. 🤯 (big family with one of us on a specialty diet) I’m still going to watch your dishwasher video even though I consider myself a dishwasher expert. 🤪

Gotta love the fan! I started menopause and hot flashes not long after we moved into our current home. I don't know what I would have done without the ceiling fan over our bed. I had that thing on even in the winter and was still throwing the covers off and on every 15 minutes. Luckily, it only lasted a couple of years or so. The fan survived and so did I. 😊 And so did the 3 fans on my desk at work. 😂

Congratulations on being a Wallstreet best selling author! I just finished reading Decluttering at the Speed of Life. In the hobby chapter, I was feeling a bit guilty for keeping art supplies that I'm not using now but hope to use in the future when I'm fully retired (only semiretired now). Today's video resonates with me, because it's my house, and if I have room for those supplies, I'm going to keep them, by golly!

The container concept helped me FINALLY get my front entryway shoe problem under control. There were always shoes laying around everywhere even though I had put a storage shelf there. The problem...there were more shoes than fit on the small shelf I put there, but I hadn’t realized it at the time. I pulled out all of our shoes that we wanted to keep and counted them. Then I actually found a shelf in my son’s closet that fit perfect there and all pairs of shoes would fit on. Now it looks great over there and is staying neat 😊.

Can we just talk about how much I love that you love your dogs so much? Even before we get to the clutter struggle, I can tell you are my kind of people, Dana!

I love what you said about rules. Your home should reflect you and keep you comfortable. We don’t need to keep house for others to judge us. I love your ideas. Congratulations

I'm sitting here watching the video and I look over and see my container that holds my washi tape.... and the box of new washi tape that doesn't fit in there. LOL I spent the rest of the time watching the video and sorting and purging so it would all fit in my container. I put the discarded (but perfectly good) washi tape in that box and put it in my donation bag. Success! I love this concept.

Love it..."they are not the boss of you. " my thoughts exactly!

I have my vitamin dispenser thingie on my counter. 🤷‍♀️ (The bottles are in the cupboard tho) I’m so glad you brought that up!! The “should/shouldn’t” word is ridiculous!! Here’s to all the creative brains!! 🥰

I gotta tell ya....the nail clippers in the kitchen make SO MUCH SENSE.😅 When I recently moved half of my music collection to the kitchen cabinets...because 1) I could use the kitchen table as space to work on music.... 2) I wanted music out of the bedroom....the keyboard out of the bedroom(which is in the front room, now)...The piano is another room... WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I REALLY LIKE it in the kitchen...it's more organized there....and, I'm HAPPIER with all that music, there. Great video...thank you🙂🇺🇸🙂

I think that’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard you say. “Your house, your rules.” Congrats Wall Street best selling author! ✍️

Some of my favorite recipes are from Cook's Illustrated. They're only available online behind a paywall. You better bet I'm keeping those cookbooks!

re: minimalism My mom and I were discussing this morning how we do not live minimalist lives (though we are paring down quite a bit). We: -- care for two single elderly women in homes (the paperwork is RIDICULOUS), --have a BUSY successful seasonal small business and work full time elsewhere out of that season, -- do a number of charitable activities, and -- help my sister with her three kids, etc. There is no time or energy for peacefully dusting our house, rearranging house plants, or choosing matching undergarments. It's all hands on deck, most of the time. The tide of stuff in our home and on our property rises and falls over the year. Rises until we beat it back down with an annual purge. Your take on a mid-range between out of control and minimalism is exactly what we are striving to maintain. Thank you for giving "the rest of us" a voice and validating how we live. 👍Liked and subscribed!

You are a butterfly! Of course your things you use often are on the counter! The people asking are surely crickets! 😂😉 Love you, your sass, and how much you help our family!

"Do what works for you." exactly.

Lol. I was just thinking this morning, "I need to move my vitamins next to my coffee maker, so I don't forget to take them." Put more vitamins and more dish detergent on your counter, girl! Also, I love sassy, Dana.

Congratulations!!!! You make perfect sense, why do we have to organize our clean our homes the way the norm says it's how to do it. You do what's best for your family and since I adopted this and stopped worrying what others say my family is happier and others are following 👍

I am strong believer in setting up your house up the way it will work for you, not where society says! My nail clippers are in a drawer in the coffee table. That is where we look for them.

Your humor and honesty are what we love best about you. Your son has got it too! Love it! You also have really good ideas.

Omy stars and garters! I've watched untold jillions of videos about housekeeping, decluttering, organization and all such like but NEVER have I been so delightfully entertained as this video played! I learned a trick or two and giggled aloud about vitamins on the counter and piles of stuff... I have been doing a bit of downsizing and nothing is more satisfying than donating...oh I don't know-- 4 boxes of CUPS at one time! I plan to fill 4 boxes of STUFF every week until I feel that I can croak and not leave a mess for those who are left behind. You, Clutter Bug and the Minimal Mom will continue to be my accountability partners. I will enjoy seeing the Speed of Life happening in my own home! And thanks for the giggles! You are a peach, Dana.

The container method changed my life. Lol. Sounds all dramatic. Something clicked and it changed my mindset. Just b/c something is good and useful and i like it doesn't mean i'm obligated to keep it. Put my favorites in first and anything else can go. I have been paring down in layers for a few years now and i switch up my containers often and even have a container of containers for that purpose. I love that it's all about my priorities determining what goes in each container. If i want my cats' medicine on my kitchen counter that's ok. If i want a chapstick in everyroom then so be it. My house, my container, my choice. Somehow seeing that in print in your book freed me to make better choices. Just about to peel off another layer.

Hands down the dishwasher tabs DO make a difference!! Same with laundry detergent! The money I save in not buying impulse items is used to treat the items I do have with the best care to keep them nice!

I love your honesty Dana! And of course your sense of humor is a given!!! We each have a level we strive for and that doesn't mean each of us are going to have totally clear counter tops. While I might like the look of bare countertops, I don't function at that level. I think this is what makes each of us unique. Thanks for continuing to share your honesty and methods that have worked for you. I have taken on the container concept and totally love it. Do I have it perfected, no but it's what I hear in my head as I tackle each area.

Dana has helped me so much.

Please, please, please make all your videos after 7pm, because I love your sass. 🤣😂 Keep doing you. I love my cookbooks.

Congratulations 🎉🍾🎊🎈. My Husband just purchased your 2 Awesome Audiobooks for me 👍🏻👍🏻. I found your channel last week and i watch your videos over and over and i never tire of them 👏🏻. My Husband caught me listening to Decluttering while working on the garage today. He said “How is it? Is it as good as the videos? I said “ Absolutely “. You voice seems to calm my nerves and i even try to fall asleep at night to your videos. I have barely slept since 2004 when our house lost its roof due to Hurricane Francis & Jean and we had looters. Any who, i just wanted to say how much I appreciate you and all you do to help us. You are the first person that i feel connected with and i watch a-lot of channels. So i am very excited for your next book and i am extremely happy for your Best Seller 👍🏻👍🏻. Thank you for sharing 👏🏻 Stay safe healthy and happy ❤️

Ohh yes to the video about getting the most out of your dishwasher!

You are my peep right down to the "sassy after 7" 😂! We keep our scissors in the kitchen knife drawer because it's a sharp objects & that's where our brain goes...& yes, our vitamins are on the kitchen counter too 🤓.

I 100% get the ‘I need my fan’ comment 😂. The container concept is excellent. As I have decluttered I have ended up with extra containers. I will be sending them away with my kids when they move out 😂.

I love this SO much. Perfect example is kitchen cabinets! Everyone puts stuff in different places, right? That doesn’t mean they’re wrong! They just like it set up differently than you! Such a great point…

Wow. You counter, your vitamins, your cookbooks, your house, your life. Nobody’s beeswax.

The only problem I had with the crate in the video: I wanted to see the dog. 😆

Decluttering at the Speed of Life absolutely deserves that notoriety! Congratulations, Dana! Thanks for the new vid.

Love You and your open honesty! You are a girl after my own heart. People either love us or hate us for saying how it is. Keep it up. ❤️

We are finally at the tail in our decluttering process now we are containerizing the hell out of my house I’m taking all the things upstairs to ““ minimalize my house so it stays clean and neat and easy to clean up and there’s no more mess and everything that can go down into containers are going to because I have a massive basement and I’m just going to put them all on shelves I’m going to label them and when the kids need something they can go down and get it come up use what they need and then take it down by 930 every night before bedtime that way we don’t have the insanity of a messy house anymore and we are containerizing the whole damn house I’m loving this concept because whatever fits in a container and stay what can’t fit in containers Hass to go

Here’s how my mind works: It would be hysterical to see a video showing someone with a giant mixing bowl of pens they want to keep neatly organized in rainbow-etical order. Then watch as she attempts to place it on a tiny shelf. The absurdity is hilarious, and yet that attempt also kinda illustrates my delusions when trying to “organize.”

I ❤️ sassy Dana 😊 Thank you for the no nonsense approach! I'm finally making my house work for *me* because *I* live here! ME.... Not anyone else! If it works for me then it's fiiiiiiiine!

OMG Best video ever! “They’re not the boss of you” or in shorter terms ... u do u! Love it! And the dog crate...priceless! Still laughing...

A year ago when I watched a video of yours and you spoke about “putting things where you will look for them”….IT CHANGED MY LIFE! So often I would “organize” and then I couldn’t find things and would end up BUYING something again that I already had. You saved my sanity and my budget. Have a wonderful New Year 🤞🏻🙏🏻🤞🏻.

I love your sassiness and I love Reid’s credits at the end of your videos 😂😂😂

I tore out the pages from my cookbooks of the recipes I actually used (gasp!) and put them in a binder in sheet protectors. One cookbook instead of many, less clutter

Before I watched this today I had just moved my husband’s vitamins to the shelf above his to go coffee cups. Lol last night we had discussed moving them to where he would see them as a reminder! But not out the open because I’m a ladybug 🐞

I like my cookbooks, I have special notes in them and I don't have to wade thru loads of marketing and space interruptions I love my cookbooks, greasy, sugary, bar-b-que and tomatoe stained.

I love the way you think, Dana. We are all different and have our own ways of decluttering and organizing. No one can regulate the way we set up our homes. By the way, the only reason that my vitamins are not on my kitchen counter is only because I have room in a drawer. And I'm keeping my cookbooks, too! 😀 Keep doing you, sister! Cheers!

I have nail clippers in the "junk" drawer in the kitchen and another set in the bathroom. I use them both ALL the time! My husband does not understand the ones in the kitchen but it makes sense to me... and evidently Dana too!

Dana, you ruined my plans to have tons of help unpacking when we move later this year. I need to put things where I would look for them first in the new house. Instead, I'm getting a babysitter so I can put things away where I'll be able to find them.

Thank you for this message at the end. It’s about making your home work for you and your family. It’s not about having a picture perfect home.

I am soo glad I found you! I absolutely relate to ALL of these things. I'm still on step one of washing dishes daily. Still a struggle...but getting better. I'm so thankful that you are helpful and not judgemental!!!🥰 Also love your "crustify" comment.

I am trying your container method now, and WOW - does it ever make sense! I'm using it to manage my inventory space/office/ craft room right now. In the midst of a big clean up (I mentioned your method on my channel, hope that's ok!). Accepting the fact that I have a small, rural home in Montana and cannot fit as much as other people with larger houses can. A real eye opener - though in reality, I should've realized this sooner, lol. Thank you so much!

Good for you! Put things where you can find them. I decluttered my bathroom and found 8 extra tweezers in different places, all places that I would not have looked. I also had the two pair in the place that I knew where they were all the time. I also don't like being told what to do or how to do it. lol

I can not express enough how much I LOVE your videos!!!! I learn so much AND I feel so much better about myself because I relate to almost everything you talk about. Thank you so much!!! Congrats on your award. BTW..... I totally love your sassiness. I’m the same way... 😝 Again THANK YOU for all of your videos 🥰