Your essential declutter checklist: 20 things to declutter today
One of the best ways to make decluttering your home feel less overwhelming, is to declutter small areas using a decluttering checklist.
If you’re ready to declutter your home, and are looking for some things to declutter that will make the biggest impact, in the smallest amount of time, then you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s the ultimate declutter checklist to get you started, which also discusses some of the benefits of decluttering, and some decluttering tips that will help you to become a decluttering pro.
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Benefits of decluttering
Decluttering is one of the best ways to create a more peaceful, less cluttered home, because it allows you to own fewer items that you need to store, clean, and organise.
Some of the benefits of decluttering include:
- Reduced stress levels
- You can quickly locate items
- You know what you own, so you won’t accidently buy duplicate or similar items
- It provides a sense of accomplishment
Decluttering tips
Once you’re ready to start decluttering, here are some decluttering tips that can help you.
Set decluttering goals
Before starting, think about how much time and energy you have to declutter, and choose areas within your home that you can declutter with the amounts you have.
For example, if you have 20 minutes to declutter on a particular day, then your decluttering goal for that day may be to declutter your make up or a junk drawer, because these areas are small, and can be finished in that timeframe.
Set a timer
Once you’ve decided what to declutter, set a timer for the amount of time you have to do it, to ensure that you push yourself to finish the area in time.
Turn off distractions
As you’re setting your timer, turn off any distractions that will pull focus away from your decluttering activities.
This could include turning off the TV, turning your phone notifications off, or getting your kids to play independently.
Decide quickly
As you’re decluttering, make quick decisions about what to do with an item, for example, will you keep it, donate it, sell it, or throw it away. If you’re unsure, then donate it.
Don’t clean and reorganise
When decluttering, stick to just decluttering. Don’t be tempted to also deep clean and reorganise the area you’re decluttering.
Cleaning and organising the area can be done at a later stage, you want to be able to use the time you have to focus on getting as much clutter out of your home as possible.
Things to declutter
Now that you know some of the benefits of decluttering, and have some good tips to start, here are 20 things to declutter today for a clutter free, and more simplified home.
Expired food
Sometimes even with the best weekly meal plan in place, you will have food that’s expired.
Taking some time to go through your fridge, freezer, and food cupboards, and throwing out expired food, or donating food you won’t use that’s within its use by date to a local food bank, frees up space in these areas, and allows you to see what you’ve got to cook with for future meals.
Cookbooks
Another food related thing to declutter are cookbooks that you’ve never used, or won’t be using again.
Dish towels
Whilst you’re decluttering expired food and cookbooks, it’s worth taking some additional time to declutter dish towels that you’ve never used, and throw out those that are badly stained, or frayed.
Containers with no lids
Recycling containers that have no lids is a quick and easy way to create space in your cupboard, and is a decluttering job that can be done in a really small amount of time.
Mugs, glasses, and plates
Another thing to declutter in your kitchen are mugs, glasses, and plates.
You can do this by donating mugs, glasses, or plates that you no longer use, or have duplicates of, throwing out any out that are chipped, or storing away seasonal mugs, glasses, and plates like Christmas themed ones, that you only use in December.
Kitchen countertops
Kitchen countertops can become cluttered very quickly, but you can declutter this area of your home by:
- Storing away small appliances you don’t use regularly
- Donating or recycling tools or gadgets that you don’t use, like rice cookers, popcorn machines, or garlic presses
- Throwing out items that no longer work
- Storing or donating utensils, crockery, pots, pans, and kitchenware you no longer use
Paperwork, stationery, packing boxes
Paperwork can very quickly build up in our homes, and can include things such as:
- Bills
- Junk mail
- Magazines
- Newsletters
- Newspapers
- Receipts
- School paperwork
When it comes to decluttering paperwork, I place all of my paperwork in this desktop paperwork organiser, which I go through every night and recycle what I don’t need, file anything that I’ve dealt with, and move anything I need to deal with to the front of the organiser.
If you have paperwork that you need for future use, but you don’t want to keep a hardcopy of it, take a photo of it and store it digitally.
You can also declutter stationery at the same time by throwing out pens that no longer work, and storing away duplicate pens, sticky notes, paper clips, and other office supplies.
Another related item to declutter are packing boxes.
It’s amazing how many packaging boxes we store in our homes that we’ll never need again.
The best thing to do to remove this type of clutter from your home is to recycle a box as soon as you’ve unpacked its item.
Digital declutter
Another area to declutter is your digital life, which includes apps, social media accounts, photos, inboxes, and computer files.
Here are some handy digital decluttering tips to get you started.
Missing socks
Throwing out socks that are missing their other half, or have holes in them, is a fast decluttering project that you can do when you’re really short of time, and will save you time getting ready in the morning by not having to find where the other sock has gone.
Shoes
Getting rid of broken or badly scuffed shoes, and donating or selling shoes that you no longer wear but are in good condition, can be something to add to your decluttering checklist.
Clothes
Decluttering clothes is a great thing to declutter, which you can do by donating or selling clothes, or your kid’s clothes, that are in good condition that no longer fit, or haven’t been worn in the past 12 months.
Towels and bedding
Another thing to declutter are frayed, stained, or worn out towels and bedding, as well as pillows and blankets that you no longer use.
Doing this will free up a lot of space in your linen closet.
Broken electronics
Broken or outdated electronics like phones, chargers, and kitchen appliances, take up valuable space in our homes.
Properly disposing of these items is the best way to declutter them.
Here is a guide on how to recycle electricals that will help you remove these items from your home.
Plastic bags and totes
Plastic bags and totes can accumulate in our homes, so recycling any that you don’t need is a great way to declutter them.
However, if you want to keep plastic bags and totes, you can store them in a plastic bag holder, which will keep them organised and contained, so they don’t create a large amount of clutter in your home.
Wallets and bags
If you have any wallets or bags that you no longer use, or that don’t suit your current style, donating or selling them is a great way to declutter them from your home.
Books
It can be hard decluttering books, especially if you really enjoyed reading them, however, decluttering books that you didn’t enjoy, or that you won’t read again, frees up a lot of space.
If you struggle to declutter books, an alternative is to declutter the hardcopy and instead purchase a Kindle and buy the e-book version of the book.
I’ve started to do this so I can still keep the books I love, but they’re no longer cluttering my home.
Colouring and sticker books
Other types of books that you can add to your decluttering list are kid’s colouring and sticker books that have no more stickers in them, or no more pages left to colour.
Toys
At the top of many mum’s decluttering checklist are toys, purely because they can be a constant source of clutter.
One of the best ways to declutter toys is to put all of your kid’s toys in one location, and make four piles – keep, donate, sell, throw out. Go through each toy and add them to one of these piles.
If you’re unsure about what to do with some of the toys, you can rotate toys instead, which means storing away some toys, then bringing them back out to play with after a period of time.
Expired make up
Another item for your decluttering checklist is expired make up.
As a guide, here are some makeup expiration dates:
- Lipstick 2 years
- Eyeliner pencil 2 years
- Concealer 1 year
- Eyeshadow 1 year
- Foundation 1year
- Nail polish 1 year
- Mascara 3 months
Exercise equipment
If you have any exercise equipment you know you won’t use, or haven’t used in a long time, it’s time to declutter it.
You can do this by donating or selling it, which will not only free up a lot of space in your home, but will also remove the pressure to use a piece of equipment that you don’t enjoy using.
A declutter checklist – a recap
Decluttering can seem overwhelming, but by focusing on small, manageable decluttering tasks, you can make huge progress towards a more organised and less cluttered home.
Some of these smaller, more manageable decluttering tasks include:
- Decluttering your kitchen by throwing out expired food, decluttering cookbooks and dish towels, recycling containers without lids, and throwing out chipped mugs, glasses and plates
- Storing kitchen appliances that you don’t use
- Having a system in place to deal with paperwork and stationery
- Throwing out socks that are missing their other half, and shoes that are beyond repair
- Donating or selling clothes, wallets, and bags that you no longer use
- Recycling packaging boxes
- Throwing out towels and bedding that can’t be used
- Properly recycling broken electronics
- Storing plastic bags and totes
- Donating books you don’t want to re-read
- Throwing out colouring and sticker books that have been used, and decluttering or rotating toys
- Throwing out expired makeup
- Donating or selling exercise equipment you don’t enjoy using
Tackling a few items from this decluttering checklist is a great way to start to simplify your home, and gain the motivation you need to continue on your decluttering quest.
What areas of your home are high on your decluttering to do list?
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