There no shortage of advice available on how to turn your home into a tranquil haven with a good clear out, but now a new book has revealed how to declutter your home and, crucially, make sure it stays that way.

In her new book A Life Less Throwaway Tara Button reveals the secrets to living an uncluttered life surrounded by things you love and truly need and how to avoid buying more stuff that you really don't.

The Londoner set up Buy Me Once in 2016 - a website featuring a curated selection of durable goods that promise to last a lifetime - inspired by her own experiences of streamlining her possessions and making what she does have last longer.

And in her book, she reveals how taking stock of your possessions by taking a photo of everything you use over a two week period will help you identify what you truly need in life.

'Imagine only having the things around you that you love, that you trust to work and that you want to keep forever?' she said. 'How much more nourishing is that than piles of "well, I liked it in the shop" and "it will do for now"?'

Here Tara reveals the step you need to take to declutter and feel happier for good.

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In her new book A Life Less Throwaway Tara Button reveals the secrets to living an uncluttered life and buying less (stock image)

Step one: The two week challenge

The challenge was inspired by what minimalist Ryan Nicodemus put himself through in 2010. He put everything he owned in carefully labelled boxes as if he was moving and then took back out only the things he needed to use, one by one.

After Day 10 he didn't need to take anything else out. Eight per cent of his possessions were still in the boxes. He sold or donated all of them.

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Packing up all your things might not be viable, so there's a workaround.

Commit to taking a photo of every item you use for the next two weeks, or putting a sticker on it. It will feel weird and inconvenient at first, but keep going. Set reminders on your phone if you keep forgetting.

At the end, look at your collection of photos or stickers. This is your A-team stuff - the swat team you need, no matter what.

Now notice what you haven't used. This will be important for the next stage, the actual decluttering.

Londoner Tara Button, set up Buy Me Once - a website featuring a curated selection of durable goods, from beauty products to clothes, that promise to last a lifetime

Step two: Start with your underwear drawer

Tara recommends starting with an easy win and then applying the same tactics to the rest of the house.

There are only two rules: Keep only the items you'd be happy to reach for first, and remember that nobody needs more than two weeks' worth of underwear.

Everyone has a bunch of 'not quite right' smalls that sit in the back of their drawers waiting for the glorious day that all others are in the wash. This may sound slightly fascist but you must reject these weaklings. I suggest you should have nothing but A-team underwear.

Pay attention to each item. Have a little feel. If you don't like its texture, it's gone. If you like it but there's a hole in it, put it in a fixing pile to be dealt with at the end of the process.

Put rejected underwear straight into a fabric recycling bag and put it by your door ready to be taken away.

How to deal with things you might use 'one day'

Once you've identified your essentials there may be items that aren't everyday essentials, but you do intend to use in the future.

These might be craft materials, musical instruments, gym equipment or something you were hoping to build.

These items should be given a chance, but a time-restrictive chance. Given them a use-by date six months, a year or in exceptional circumstances, two years away.

If they haven't been used in that time, they go. Put a reminder in your calendar on those dates, and on a date one month before to warn you these things are about to expire.

Step three: Follow the formula

This is how you will approach decluttering the rest of your things.

Gather everything together and examine or try on each item, but not for too long. If you can't decide what to do with it in a minute, it goes.

Find your A-team items, which you always call on, you can see yourself using long into the future and that make you happiest.

Beyond your core items make sure everything works really hard to justify its place. If you're unsure, err on the side of getting rid.

Duplicates or items that perform the same function can go unless they are part of a set or work uniform you wear or use regularly.

Sort the leftover items into fix, recycle or donate boxes. Very little should become landfill rubbish.

A Life Less Throwaway: The lost art of buying for life by Tara Button is available from Amazon for £9.09