20 Items You Can Declutter Right Now

I will admit I am a little obsessed with clearing out the clutter in our home right now. Over the years we have managed to accumulate an embarrassingly large amount of stuff we don’t actually need or use on a daily basis.

It took me a while to get over the whole “what if I need it later” mentality. Now that I am past that nothing is safe. I have had moments where I am tempted to just get rid of it all and then start again with ONLY the things we really need. Despite popular belief, you actually need very little.

I am discovering a lot of broken stuff that has been shoved into drawers or kept with the hope of one day being fixed. Who else does this? Something breaks and you put it on a shelf out of the way or hide it in a drawer and it never actually gets fixed but you also never really miss it.

Each time I clean out a room it amazes me how wasteful we are. We somehow managed to accumulate over 60 towels. Yip, you read right, we had over 60 towels. There are 6 people living in the house but who needs 10 towels? I also ended up donating over 30 mugs and found a stash of 15 3D classes.

It is actually pretty liberating getting rid of the clutter. It means we have space in our drawers and cupboards now. Each time I get rid of a load of stuff the house actually feels lighter.

I have put together a list of items you can clear out your house today. Just do it, I promise you you will feel better afterward.

Tupperware lids. What are you holding on to the lids for? If there is no container, throw the lid away or donate it.

Gift bags. I found hundreds of gift bags in various spaces in our house. They can be reused but unless you attend a party once a week do you need 100 gif bags? Recycle them, use in art projects for your kids.

The junk drawer. I can say with pride that we no longer have a junk drawer anywhere in the house. I sorted out the stuff we still used, put it back in its right place and tossed the rest.

Broken utensils. You know you have them. Tin openers that don’t open tins, peelers that no longer peel, knives with broken handles. Get rid of them!

Mugs/cups. How many of us get mugs at Mothers Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Somehow kids accumulate cups as well, especially when they are little. Before you know it you have a pretty impressive collection of mugs and cups that don’t ever get used.

Takeout condiments/serviettes/cutlery. We seldom get takeaway yet we still had tomato sauce sachets and sachets in drawers. WHY? Has anyone actually ever reused these?

Broken appliances. If it has dust on, you are not going to fix it. Donate it!

Old magazines. I do have a pile of magazines I kept. They have recipes in I know I will make and we do need some for school but it is a small pile that I go through regularly. Recycle old magazines, don’t let them collect dust and take up space.

Blankets and linen. This was another one of those things I had no idea we had an excess of. My mom has made us a stunning collection of quilts over the years, many were hidden under the pile of blankets we also had that we ever used. The kids each have a blanket they use, the rest are completely unnecessary, especially because we have all the quilts.

CD’s and DVD’s. This doesn’t really need much discussion. Keep your kid’s concerts and toss the rest because you probably don’t even have a DVD player in your house anymore.

Product samples. We had these all over the house. Samples of toothpaste, body lotion, perfume, shakes, shampoo.

Expired medicine. These should be checked regularly anyway.

Old towels. I mentioned we had a stupid number of towels but the kids kept using the same 4 which meant they started looking tatty and old. My mom monogrammed towels for all us so I got rid of all of the other towels and everyone now has two towels with their names on. And they now all fit in the chest of drawers we use to store them in.

Pens, pencils etc. The most frustrating thing about keeping all the old stationery is that when you need a pen you can never find one because they are all empty.

Broken toys. Toys, in general, should be cleared out every 3 months.

Makeup. Makeup has a lifespan and it is a lot shorter than you probably think. When I cleared my box out, I found stuff I never knew I had. Now I can see what I have and don’t end up using the same stuff over and over.

Jewelry. Obviously not the jewelry that means something but the costume jewelry that has discolored and all the single earrings.

Candles. If you want to keep the container the candle came in, clean it out and find a use for it. If there is no use, it must go together with all the burnt down candles.

Notebooks. WHY are you keeping all those full notebooks? Is anyone going to care you need to get milk and onions on Tuesday!

Cords. If you don’ know what it is for, you don’t need it!

Do you declutter regularly?

What are some of the things you have found hidden in drawers and cupboards?

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