55 Easy Things to Declutter Right Now
Want to start the New Year with a decluttered home?
The thought of decluttering can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to start. But it doesn’t have to be.
To get started decluttering, look for items that are: duplicates, unused, broken, missing pieces, or just no longer loved.
It can be fun! You get to become like a detective in your home, looking for things you no longer use, need or love.
You can designate 15 minute chunks each day to declutter. Or, just start picking things up during the day as you walk through the house.
The trick is to change your mindset in two ways. First, believe you can live in a decluttered home (you absolutely can!). Second, put decluttering at the forefront of your mind and you’ll begin to notice the things in your home that can go.
The quote “Whatever you focus on will grow in 2020” is spot on. If you keep decluttering at the front of your mind, it will happen.
Ready to get started?
Here are some ideas of things you can declutter today in different areas of your house.
Kitchen
1. Extra coffee mugs
2. Spatulas (Do you really need more than one? Try living with only one for a month and see.)
3. Food storage containers with missing or broken lids
4. Old medicines or vitamins
5. Shopping bags (buy reusable ones)
6. Expired food
7. Freezer burnt food
8. Stale pantry items
9. Expired spices
10. Water bottles (especially ones that leak)
11. Kid’s sippy cups (how many do you really need?)
12. Cookbooks you never use (bookmark online recipes instead)
13. Take out menus (you can find them online)
14. Small appliances you never use
15. Expired or unused cleaners
Office
16. Old magazines
17. Receipts that are no longer needed
18. Old calendars
19. Old greeting cards (take a picture of them if you still want the memory but not the actual card)
20. Expired coupons
21. Old batteries
22. Broken pens and markers
23. Unused cords
24. Digital clutter (photos, emails, old texts, unused apps)
Living area
25. Vases
26. Extra flashlights
27. Objects missing parts (like the digital photo frame from 10 years ago that you still can’t find the cord to)
28. Papers that you no longer need (shred or recycle)
29. Books you’ll never read again
30. Candles (excess or burned-down)
31. Unused exercise equipment
32. Broken tools
33. Hobby items you don’t use
34. Old DVDs or CDs
Your closet
35. Shoes you don’t like or no longer fit right
36. Winter clothing (do you have extra hats and gloves that aren’t used?)
37. Clothing you no longer wear or love (Hang all your clothes the same direction. Then change the direction of your hanger once you wear a piece of clothing and hang it back up. By the end of the month, see what hangers haven’t flipped the opposite direction. If you haven’t worn these items in a month, do you still need them?)
38. Broken Jewelry or jewelry you never wear
39. Purses you don’t use
40. Manuals for products you no longer own
41. Wire hangers (most dry cleaners will take them back)
42. Broken sunglasses
Kid’s stuff
43. Toys your kids don’t like, don’t play with regularly, or have outgrown
44. Kid’s old school papers from
45. Excess artwork from kids (have your children help take pictures of them on your phone first to save the memory if they want to)
46. Clothing you kids don’t wear regularly
Bathroom
47. Extra towels
48. Old make-up
49. Dried up nail polish
50. Old lotions
51. Expired sunscreen
52. Expired bug spray
53. Old prescription eyeglasses
54. Old travel sized products
55. Old samples of skin care products
Get started today! Your life will feel lighter for it. And with less stuff in your home to manage, you’ll have more time to focus on what matters most.