When you declutter your home, you declutter your mind. Get decluttering tips, tricks and an easy-to-tackle free printable checklist to learn how to declutter, efficiently.
My motto is sometimes simplicity is simply the best. I love the way our clutter free home feels. I find myself becoming overwhelmed when clutter takes over. It’s one of the many reasons I’ve embraced a minimalist lifestyle. Regular decluttering makes your home feel clean and calm.
What is Clutter?
Clutter is anything in excess or without a home, that consumes physical and mental space. When you declutter your home, you declutter your mind.
“Clutter is a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.”
– unknown –
Decluttering is the first and most important step to organize. I have created a free printable Decluttering Checklist and detailed my process to make decluttering effortless! First, a few tips!
Decluttering Tips
- Focus on One Area at a Time – If you tend to feel overwhelmed, start small and work your way up! Some areas give you maximum impact for little effort, which will make you feel accomplished and hopefully, snowball into more decluttering! Scroll down for a list of things you can declutter in minutes.
- Divide – Create trash/recycle/donate/relocate piles in that proximity to make decluttering quick and painless.
- Evaluate Need – Thoughtfully consider if you need each item. This is also applies when shopping to prevent clutter. If you do not, disperse it into your trash, recycle, or donate pile. If the item hasn’t been used in the last 30 days or up to one year for seasonal items, eliminate it. If you struggle to part with items, ask yourself “is it worth the space it consumes?”
- Relocate Seasonal Items – Keep seasonal items in a single, central location.
- Remove Trash / Recycling and Donations Immediately – Transfer your piles to your trash and recycling bins and place donations in your trunk. It gives you a sense of accomplishment while eliminating the risk that items will re-enter the home. This is essential if you’re going through toys!
- Designate a Space for Papers – Create a single location to collect mail, receipts, school papers, etc that you can go through and file as needed.
When You’re Decluttering, Ask Yourself:
- Have I used it in the past year?
- Will I really use it?
- Do I need it?
- How many do I have?
- Why do I own it?
- Do I feel obligated to keep it?
- Would I buy it now/keep if I moved?
- If it’s broken, why has it taken so long to fix? Either fix or eliminate.
- Does it make me happy?
Closet Decluttering System
- Eliminate – Quickly review each piece and eliminate pieces that are the wrong size or no longer fit with your style.
- Hang Each Piece in Reverse – Hang clothes on hangers, in reverse (thanks, Oprah for the tip). This helps you see what you’re wearing and what is stagnant in your closet.
- Hang Worn Items in Correct Direction – When you wear an item, return it to the closet with the hanger facing the correct direction. After 1-2 months, remove non-seasonal pieces that you have not worn.
Things You Can Declutter in Five Minutes
- Counter – Clear the counter with my Kitchen Counter Organization guide that helps you maximize space and convenience.
- Paper Catch All – Quickly look through filing into trash, recycling and items you need to make a priority.
- Medicine Cabinet – Remove expired medications, items that don’t belong and combine duplicates.
- End Table – End tables can become a catch all, but are as quick to de-clutter as they are to collect!
- Refrigerator – Discard expired items and anything that looks undesirable or hasn’t been used recently. See my detailed refrigerator organization guide for more!
- Pantry – Remove expired and stale goods, and combine packages, when possible.
- Nightstand – Pare down to the basics. Remove excess, papers and things you don’t need next to your bedside. See my comprehensive nightstand organization tips!
Decluttering Checklist
Print this ultimate checklist to declutter every space in your home!
More Inspiration
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Hi Julie,
I love your blog and check it often for updates. You’ve really inspired and helped me the past years. I was wondering if you have any posts on how you organize home cords and cables. I searched but I did not see anything specific on that. We just moved and now unpacking and I had no idea what a disaster all these cords would be. We have so many so I’ve gone through and at least got rid of half of them but now I don’t know where to put them or what to do with them? I googled a little to see if others had any posts and then I thought I’d better check your site because you always have the best, classiest organization tips 🙂
In the past, I’ve tried to organize cords in little clear containers and then in a basket or in another large container. Maybe I could try that again and do a better job with labeling so everyone knows where the cords are and where they go back to. Thanks Julie!
Hi Elizabeth!
I’m so sorry I missed your message. While we don’t have a post dedicated to cords, we do have an Amazon Gadgets guide that is very popular!
I hope that helps, good luck! And thanks for the kind words!
Julie
Your Declutter list is great, just what I need right now. However, I cannot print it out. Is there a way to do that? I did add it to my Pintrest website but it won’t print out from there either.
Hi Annette!
You can do it a couple ways. You can click and save on the preview image, and then print it as an image- but it won’t be quite as good of quality! Or, you can click through on the link above the preview, that link takes you to a dropbox file. Click the “download” button when you open up the link, and it should save it to your computer or phone. Print from there!
I hope that helps, and I’m so glad you like this list!
Enjoy,
Julie
Julie, What is the paint color on the kitchen cabinets here in this article? Thank you, Jean from Maryland
Hi Jean!
Thanks so much for your question. Our kitchen cabinets are a custom color to match our range, but you can find the paint code here: https://julieblanner.com/cream-kitchen-cabinets/
Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
Julie
Thank you Julie! I will certainly go check on that! May 2022 be the best year ever!
I would love to declutter especially with the New Year. Get a fresh start.
Hi Ellen!
I totally agree! It’s so wonderful to get rid of the clutter and start fresh for the year ahead!
Happy New Year!
Julie