"The anti-clutter nags conflate two distinct forms of materialism. In behavioral psychology terms, 'terminal materialism' refers to..."

"... acquiring and valuing an object purely for its intrinsic properties — like a fancy new iPhone (that will inevitably become obsolete). The worthless-looking junk we hang on to often exemplifies 'instrumental materialism,' valued for its connection to another person, a place, a time in our lives, a meaningful affiliation. These can take obvious forms — a wedding ring, a crucifix. But they can also be as eccentric and inscrutable as an abundance of paperweights or a ceramic leprechaun."

Writes Rob Walker in "Clutter Is Good for You" (NYT).

Walker quotes a book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halton that asserted: "We began to notice that people who denied meanings to objects also lacked any close network of human relationships."

A disturbing challenge to minimalists!

But minimalists — like Marie Kondo — don't oust all the objects, just the ones that lack enough meaning. The ones they keep are especially meaningful. If the objects you keep in your life really do correspond to the people you keep in your life, then we're not talking about "lack[ing] any close... human relationships." It's just about the size of the crowd, and one might have fewer, deeper relationships.

In any case, the Csikszentmihalyi/Halton quote is about denying all meaning to objects, but the declutterer is finding the items with the best meaning, the meaning you want most present in your life. So I think the difference isn't about meaning or meaninglessness, but whether you find more meaning in crowds of people/things or you find more in less.  

Walker continues: "For nearly a decade, I’ve taught an annual workshop on writing about objects for the Design Research department of New York’s School of Visual Arts. Scores of participants from around the world have invariably chosen subject-objects that most of us might dismiss as clutter — a coffee mug, a lighter, a poodle-shaped stick pin — and yet the tales they tell about them are deeply meaningful and serve as a helpful way for the students to introduce themselves."

Well, that suggests a de-cluttering tip. When you pick up each item, to decide whether to keep or oust, instead of asking the Marie Kondo question — Does this "spark joy"? — ask Walker's Design Research question — Could I write an essay about this?