Are you wondering how to start decluttering when overwhelmed? We have got your back with our 31 ways to declutter your home and keep it that way. Your home is the space where you invest the majority of your time. Elevate your living experience by cultivating a clean and organized environment phyiscally but also mentally.
As the owner of a 1,200 square foot home, I understand the importance of utilizing your space to its maximum potential and the benefits decluttering can have on your mind and home. Living clutter free not only makes your home’s environment more pleasant to be in, it helps you function easier in the home.
In this blog post we will show you how to declutter your home in 31 days with a checklist, decluttering and organization tips for your home and what exactly you can declutter in the home. We broke down the easiest ways to declutter your home without getting overwhelmed.
This blog post is all about ways to declutter your home.
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Declutter Your Home Checklist
We have come up with a free downloadable declutter checklist that you can print or screenshot to make sure that your home is 100% clutter free. We recommend tackling one task a day so that it doesn’t get too overwhelming.
Best Book About Decluttering Your Home
Bedroom Declutter
First up in the decluttering process is your bedroom!
1. Sock Drawer
One of the easiest ways to declutter your home is going through each individual drawer of your dresser and or closet. For day one of our guide on decluttering your home we chose tackling your sock drawer.
Remove every single sock out of the sock drawer and make sure it has its match. Be sure to check your dirty laundry, clean laundry or laundry room for any stragglers too. This is a great time to throw out any socks with holes or major stains.
We suggest folding the matching pairs together or balling them up together so that they don’t get lost. If you are terrible with keeping up with your socks and always wear mismatched socks, then just buy the same exact socks in the same color and style and you will never have to worry again.
2. Underwear Drawer
After you have decluttered and organized your sock drawer, it is time to repeat the process in all of your bedroom drawers, specifically your underwear drawer.
Go through each pair of underwear and throw out any that have holes, stains, or just don’t fit you anymore.
3. Clothing Declutter
This is one of the most difficult and time consuming days in the decluttering process. Which is why we recommend it for a weekend or day off. The bedroom closet can sometimes be overwhelming, but with this system we have in place, it won’t be as bad as you may anticipate.
- Take every clothing item out of the closet.
- We suggest making these three piles or having three storage bins labeled with these three categories: keep, donate, sell.
KEEP: Only keep the clothing that currently fits you. Don’t keep the pants that are three sizes too small because you want to fit in them next summer! Keep the clothing you currently love and use on a regular basis. Anything that you love but isn’t weather appropriate currently, should be put in a storage container and stored away in a spot in the closet reserved for that specific season.
DONATE/GIFT: If you have clothing that does not fit you or that you don’t love as much as you used to, it is a great contender for a donation or gifts for your friends and family. Be sure to inspect the clothing for any marks, stains, or holes before giving it away to someone else. Anything clothing with holes and stains should be thrown out.
SELL: Rule of thumb, if any clothing items have tags on them and they have not been worn in more than a year, it is time to let it go and what better way to do that then to sell them. We love Poshmark for selling gently used clothing or clothes with tags that we have never worn.
Now that all of the items are divided into three piles, take a break and get ready for step 4 / Day 4 to transform your closet space.
4. Decluttering Shoes
Similar to the clothing decluttering process, take all of your shoes out of your closet and decide which ones to part with and which pairs to keep. If you have not worn them in months or years, then chances are you most likely won’t be grabbing for them anytime soon
TIP: Add under the bed storage bins for your shoes to maximize your closet space
TRY THIS SHOE STORAGE
5. Organizing the Closet
Now that the clothing is decluttered and organized into piles, you can start to put it back into the closet in a system that works best for you.
Take a look and make sure your closet space is being utilized to its full potential. Add any storage bins and extra hangers if needed to maximize your closet space.
We love to organize a closet by categories of clothing. For example, the top closet rack could be where you hang your “dressy or going out tops” and the bottom rack could be where you hang your sweatshirts and loungewear.
Take it a step further by color coordinating each rack. For example, putting all the black shirts together, white, brown and so on.
TIP: Use the same hangers throughout your closet to make it appear more organized.
TRY THIS STORAGE SYSTEM FOR YOUR CLOSET
6. Nightstand Declutter
Now that your closet and drawers are clutter free and organized, it’s time to go through your nightstand both inside and outside. Take everything out of your drawers and throw out anything you don’t need or find a place for items that don’t belong in there. Remove everything from the top of the nightstands and wipe it down.
TIP: Take this opportunity to clean any mirrors in the bedroom and wipe down your furniture, light fixtures, and other surfaces.
Bathroom Declutter
Next step in decluttering your home is organizing and decluttering the bathroom.
7. Medicine Cabinet
Go through your medicine cabinet and throw out any old prescription medicines you may have and expired over the counter medications. Take this time to wipe down and clean the cabinet inside and outside.
8. Makeup & Skincare Collection
Makeup and skincare products expire too and it is important to toss anything you believe may be expired. Get rid of any skincare or makeup products that did not work for you or that you don’t use.
CHECK OUT THIS MAKEUP EXPIRATION GUIDE:
9. Under the Sink Cleaning Products
While you are in the bathroom cleaning and decluttering, be sure to take a look under your sink for any old and unused cleaning products that can be tossed. Throw out any old toilet brushes or grout brushes and replace them as needed. Maximize the space under your sink by adding an under the sink organizer to double your storage space. We have these sink organizers in both of our bathrooms and it is impressive how much more you can fit with this system!
TRY THIS UNDER THE SINK ORGANIZER:
Kitchen Declutter
Now that your bathroom is decluttered and tidy let’s move into the kitchen for the biggest decluttering transformation!
10. Refrigerator Cleaning and Declutter
First, empty out the entire refrigerator and wipe down the shelves and drawers. Next, look through your dressings and condiments to be sure that they aren’t expired. Toss any foods that were used for one recipe and never used again. Be sure to check the dates on your produce and dairy too.
TIP: To make your fridge look and feel decluttered at all times, toss any packaging that comes with your food like cartons, plastic bags, etc.
11. Pantry Clean out
Remove all goods from your pantry and wipe down the shelves. Throw out any expired canned goods, or goods that will expire soon and you know you won’t be using.
If you have any plastic containers with sugars, flours, etc, be sure to check to see if those ingredients are expired too. You can also donate any unopened food you don’t want to the church or families in need.
12. Cookware Decluttering
Look through your pots and pans for any pots that are chipped or damaged. Throw out any tarnished baking sheets too. Be sure that the lids to your pots and pans match up and have a partner and if they don’t then it’s time to let them go.
TRY OUT THIS POTS AND PANS ORGANIZER:
13. Tupperware Organization
Take out each Tupperware container and lid and look for any without a pair. Throw out those plastic takeout containers and any damaged items. Donate any extra containers that you don’t need or use on a regular basis.
TIP: We suggest storing these Tupperware containers with the lids on them to ensure you can always find the lids for them. We also buy the same brand of glass Tupperware so that the lids can be swapped out for different containers.
14. Unused Appliances
Check your cabinets for any unused kitchen appliances that could be gifted to someone else or donated. Items like crockpots, air fryers, or bread makers are a great place to start. Not only do these items take up a lot of space, but they can also make a kitchen feel cluttered.
15. Cleaning Products You Don’t Love
Look under the kitchen sink for cleaning products that you’ve tried and didn’t end up loving. Organize and wipe down the cabinet to make sure it will look and feel clutter free. Don’t forget to purchase an under the sink organizer for your kitchen sink too!
16. Unused Travel Tumblers
We have all become tumbler obsessed in the past few years and it is important to donate or get rid of any tumblers we don’t use. These travel cups take up space in the kitchen cabinets that could potentially be used for storage space for other items.
17. Spice Rack
Take out every single kitchen spice and look through them for expiration dates or any empty containers. Be careful with the spices that may have been poured into labeled spice jars because it is harder to know if they are expired or not. When in doubt, throw it out!
18. Junk Drawer
We are all guilty of having that one (or two) junk drawer in the home. Empty this drawer out and take everything out. Put things in their designated areas and neatly organize the rest of the miscellaneous items that don’t have a home.
TRY THESE ADJUSTABLE DRAWER ORGANIZERS
19. Freezer Wipe Down & Clean out
Remove all of the food from your freezer and wipe it down. Inspect the frozen food for freezer burn or damage to the packaging. Throw out any food that has been in there for too long or that you don’t intend to eat.
Declutter Your Home: Miscellaneous
20. Bills/Paperwork
Time to tackle that pile of paperwork you have laying around. Throw out any expired coupons or old mail that is no longer relevant. Toss old calendars and notes that are no longer useful. Organize your important paperwork into labeled folders.
TRY THIS TO GET ORGANIZED WITH YOUR PAPERWORK
TIP: We suggest taking a photo of any paperwork that you aren’t sure you might need again, this way you at least have a way to look at it if it gets lost or thrown out. For maximum decluttering, buy a scanner and scan important documents into your computer to declutter your home.
21. Toys/Playroom
Inspect the playroom for any damaged or broken toys such as markers without lids, dried out play dough or ripped stuffed animals. These are great items to throw out and declutter your space.
Next, search for toys that your kids no longer gravitate towards or even touch. Donate these toys to kids in need, it will make your kids and yourself feel great about decluttering the playroom.
If you don’t have children, this is a great opportunity to declutter your craft station or any hobby areas you may have in your home.
22. Loose Change
We are all guilty of leaving loose change everywhere in the home! Collect all the change and put it in a jar or piggy bank. If you are organized and already have a coin jar, this is your reminder to go and get cash for your change.
23. Electronics & Cords
Look through your home for any stray cords, phone chargers, or wires that you might have laying around. Throw out any damaged wires or any wires you don’t know what they belong too. Take this time to throw out any boxes for old phones, old phone cases, and old phones that you will never use.
24. Sentimental Items
After a loved one has passed, it is extremely difficult to part with their items or any sentimental items. We don’t think you have to throw them all away, however keep just one container of items that have meaning to you.
If you have a lot of trouble parting with sentimental items, consider gifting them to other family members instead of throwing them out. This way you can hold onto their memory without having all the clutter in your home.
25. Books
Books can take up a lot of space and make your home feel cluttered. Sort through your bookshelves and look for any old textbooks, old books you don’t plan on reading again, or any damaged books. If the books are in good condition, try selling them or even donating them to others.
Once your books are decluttered, organize them by putting them in a bookshelf or even a floating shelf if you’re limited on space.
TRY THIS BOOK ORGANIZATION IDEA:
26. Batteries
Look through your home for any loose or damaged batteries. Throw out any old batteries (responsibly) and consolidate the remaining batteries in a designated storage area. Use this opportunity to refresh the batteries in your remotes and gadgets by swapping out old batteries, ensuring optimal performance throughout your household devices.
TRY THIS STORAGE SOLUTION FOR YOUR BATTERIES:
27. Holiday Decor
Look through your attic or storage areas for your holiday and seasonal decor. Throw out any damaged Christmas lights or seasonal items that have been damaged by the weather.
Donate or sell any holiday decor items that are gently used. Facebook Marketplace is a quick and easy way to sell or give away home items without even leaving your home.
Living Area Declutter
Last but not least let’s clean out your living area!
28. Candles
Look through your living space for any candles that are almost finished or empty. Donate or gift any candles that you no longer love or use.
29. Linen Closet
Take everything out of the linen closet and wipe down the shelves. Throw out any damaged or stained towels or bed sheets. Be sure to keep only what you need to function in your home regularly and donate the extras. Keep in mind that you don’t need 20 towels for two people in the home.
TIP: Cut up old or stained towels and use them as rags for cleaning and projects around the house.
30. Unwanted Home Decor
Sort through your home for any unwanted home decor that no longer matches your home’s style. Donate the home decor to Goodwill or post it on Facebook Marketplace to make some extra cash.
31. Unused Remotes
If you have remotes laying around your home that you no longer use or don’t know what they belong to, this is your sign to throw them out.
This blog post was all about ways to declutter your home.
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