Things to declutter in your home
Sometimes you’re looking for something productive to do, and finding easy ways to declutter might be a high priority for you when your house feels a little overwhelming. We’ll talk about some simple ways to declutter along with this helpful list of things to declutter!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a commission when you make a purchase through one of these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, check out my disclosure.
Decluttering Made Easy
What are some easy ways of reducing clutter at home?
The easiest way to reduce clutter at home is to think of things you don’t really need anymore and that don’t require a ton of thought to get rid of. Not to spoil the list for you, but first up will be decluttering by throwing away expired food in your refrigerator.
This is an easy task that doesn’t take a lot of thought, and these are the things we’re trying to target with this list! We won’t be covering things that I call “sentimental clutter.”
The sentimental clutter would include anything that takes a lot of thought – something from a special memory, for example. Or a trinket from a trip you took.
We won’t be going through ANY of this stuff on this list – because once again, these are quick and easy things you can do when you want to feel productive and get rid of some EASY clutter!
A HUGE thing I’d like to talk about before we get into the list of things to declutter is this:
Decluttering isn’t always about throwing things away or getting rid of something. Having this in the back of your mind CAN make it a little easier to declutter. I talk about this, along with sentimental clutter, in my Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook.
My own personal definition of decluttering is this:
Either removing clutter from the home, or reorganizing/repurposing things to have a better flow and an appearance of less clutter.
So, with that in mind, you can rest assured that decluttering is about more than just throwing away things!
The list below will go through 25 EASY ways of reducing clutter at home!
Is it possible to enjoy decluttering?
You might think I’m weird, but I TOTALLY think it’s possible to enjoy decluttering! Sometimes throwing away stuff you don’t need anymore just FEELS good. Donating things you don’t need anymore ALWAYS feels good.
Plus, when I’m done decluttering, the space just feels so great and I feel much less stressed. Not to mention how productive I feel!
Sometimes I put on a show I like and have it on in the background while I declutter and organize. I usually pick something I’ve seen before so I don’t have to pay super close attention! Check out all of my Cleaning motivation tactics when you’re done reading this list!
List of things to declutter TODAY!
#1 Expired food in the fridge
How long has it been since you’ve gone through your refrigerator?
I generally toss things I KNOW are expired as I’m putting groceries away, BUT, sometimes there are things hiding in there that I don’t use regularly!
Go through the refrigerator and toss anything expired. For things expiring soon, move them closer to the front so you can keep it at the top of your mind when you open the fridge. That way you’ll be more likely to use it and not forget about it!
Don’t forget about the freezer, too! It’s so easy to forget to check for expired food in the freezer since frozen items tend to last longer!
#2 Expired food in the pantry
Similar to the refrigerator, but I think things in the pantry can be more easily forgotten (at least for me)!
To help me speed up this process, I made a pantry inventory. It seriously has changed my life. Not only has it made me more organized, but it has helped me save money!
A lot of times I’d make my grocery list while on my lunch break at work, and then stop at the store on my way home. And I’d end up buying stuff we didn’t actually need because we already had it! I seriously went through a period where we had so much pasta.
I’d also buy cinnamon around the holidays for baking, not realizing that I had PLENTY already at home. Let’s just say I won’t be buying any more cinnamon any time soon.
Basically, with my pantry inventory I just pull up an app on my phone, and scan through to see what we already have before I make my list and head to the store. I go into details about it in my post How To Make an Easy Pantry Inventory, and you can see the two apps I recommend and exactly how to make one of your own!
#3 Sauces & condiments from takeout and fast food
These little guys can really accumulate quickly, and often they take up some space that is fairly easy to forget about. Not to mention, being smaller and plentiful, they definitely add to the clutter!
You’ll get more next time you go to the restaurant, no need to keep them!
#4 Old and stinky dish towels
Sometimes your dish towels just need to be retired. If you have some that are perfectly good to still use, but are a bit stinky no matter how much you wash them, here’s something I tried that worked!
I grabbed a bowl and some distilled white vinegar. I put the dish towels in the bowl and poured the vinegar on top, intending for them to soak for a few hours.
While vinegar has a strong smell, it is actually a deodorizer. I ended up completely forgetting about them, and they sat overnight.
The next morning, I put them in the wash like normal, and they came out smelling great!
Someone told me a long time ago that you shouldn’t use dryer sheets when you put the dish towels in the dryer, because that doesn’t actually help the scent. I don’t know if that’s true or if there is science to back it up, but it’s been a few years since I’ve used a dryer sheet in the dryer with my dish towels.
If you go through this process and your dish towels still aren’t smelling fresh, it might be time to get rid of them and buy new ones.
#5 Takeout menus
Almost all menus are online now – you can toss the paper copies! Honestly, these are just taking up valuable space and are just a quick Google search away!
Get your copy of the Ultimate Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook! The ebook has 7 chapters about decluttering, and the workbook has over 30 printable pages to help you make a decluttering plan and live with less clutter! Get it here!
#6 Old sponges
Sponges harbor all kinds of icky things we don’t need in our lives – disinfect you sponges or get rid of them! If you have a backup stash, you can feel good about throwing the old ones away and getting new sponges!
#7 Broken kids toys
Broken toys, games without all the pieces that you can’t play anymore, etc. If they’re not working or can’t be played with in their current condition, no need to hang onto them!
#8 Chewed up pet toys
Sometimes our pets just chew the life out of their toys. If it’s a favorite, try to repair it. Otherwise, you can definitely get rid of these!
#9 Old remotes you don’t need
I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of times when we get a new device, but we have an old remote sitting in a drawer somewhere.
Check all the places you might keep these old remotes and throw away any that don’t work for your current devices!
#10 User manuals for things you no longer have
This is the same as the old remotes – sometimes user manuals pile up and we forget to toss them when we no longer have the item anymore!
Sometimes we even keep user manuals for things we still have, but don’t really need the manual for.
For example, we have an air popper for popcorn, it has one setting, you simply plug it in. I don’t need the paperwork for this, if it goes on the fritz there’s not much to do about it!
#11 Candles with no burn time left
If the wick burns out within 5 minutes of lighting it, you can probably toss the candle!
If it’s in glass like Bath & Body Works candles, and you want to take the remaining wax out to repurpose the container, I have an easy trick for you!
Pop the (unlit) candle in the freezer for a couple hours. When it’s nice and cold, you can take it out and use a butter knife to (carefully!) crack the wax.
Once there are a few cracks in it, the wax will be easy to dump out into the garbage.
Then, just peel off the labels and wash it and you’re good to go with an empty container!
If you’re having a hard time peeling the labels off, I like to let it soak in warm, soapy water (just use your regular dish soap) for a while, and it usually helps the labels come off easier.
If you have the lid for the jar, you can find some really cute handles designed for drawers, and super glue them on the top of the lid – it really makes a cute accessory!
#12 Pens that ran out of ink
If it’s not writing well, out of ink, or really close to being out of ink – save yourself some future frustration and get rid of them now!
#13 Markers and highlighters that are drying up
I like to go through and open each marker and highlighter and do a quick swipe on a piece of paper and toss out any that are dried up or not usable anymore.
#14 Receipts in your purse and/or wallet
Oh boy, do my receipts REALLY pile up in my wallet!
Go through the receipts right now, make sure you don’t need them for anything, and then throw away what you don’t need.
To make it a habit, pick a day of the week where you will go through the wallet. Or add it to your 5-10 minute quick clean up daily routine.
#15 Extra office supplies
If you have so many binders, notebooks, etc. that you just don’t know what to do with them, consider donating them to a local school that might need them!
#16 Old air fresheners
If it’s not helping your house or car smell fresh anymore, or if you have a stash of old ones you haven’t gotten around to throwing away yet – toss them!
#17 Spam emails
I like to go through my spam folder every so often, in case I’ve missed a legit email that accidentally got filtered as spam. I do a quick scroll and then empty the spam folder.
Get your copy of the Ultimate Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook! The ebook has 7 chapters about decluttering, and the workbook has over 30 printable pages to help you make a decluttering plan and live with less clutter! Get it here!
#18 Delete phone apps you don’t use
Our phones can really accumulate a bunch of apps! If there are apps you haven’t used in a while, or used once and didn’t like it much, go ahead and delete it!
I also like to go through and put my apps into folders. I have a folder for all my shopping apps, one for grocery apps, one for survey & extra money apps, and so on.
It really helps keep my phone clutter-free!
#19 Unsubscribe from emails you don’t read
If you have a Gmail account (I can’t speak for other email providers), Google has made this easier for us!
It notices when you haven’t opened an email in a while from a certain sender, and it will ask you if you want to unsubscribe. Any time this notification comes up, choose whether you want to stay subscribed or not!
I also like to try to go through my emails every morning and unsubscribe from things right away if I know I don’t read the emails much from that sender. It does take a few extra steps than just deleting the email – but you’ll save time overall by not having as many to delete next time!
#20 Extra plastic bags
Do you keep your bags after grocery shopping? If so, you might not be using them at the same rate you’re gathering them! Why not downsize them?
At the very least you should find a good storage solution to help reduce the appearance of clutter, like this!
Or get rid of them all together and buy some reusable bags like these!
#21 Junk mail
I am THE WORST at going through the mail. I talk about this problem of mine in the Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook, but I’ll give you a little background on it:
I go to the mailbox, grab the mail, do a quick scan for bills or anything I might need right away, and if I don’t see anything I just toss it on a table and forget about it.
Seriously, this SHOULD be such an easy thing, right?! Why don’t I see the junk mail and just throw it away right away? I couldn’t tell you, but I’ve started using a habit tracker to check off every day I do this simple task.
Check out everything that’s included in the Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook here!
#22 Old magazines
Are you going to read them again? Do you need to save a one recipe from one? If so, take that page out and put it with the rest of your recipes, and recycle the magazine!
#23 Put in a load of laundry
Clutter doesn’t just mean getting rid of things! I talk about this a few times in my Ultimate Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook.
Sometimes getting rid of clutter means putting things away, tidying up, or reorganizing.
I think the word “declutter” can feel overwhelming sometimes because we automatically assume we have to throw away things – but that’s not always the case!
Anyway, putting in a load of laundry and picking up all the stray pieces of laundry around the house will DEFINITELY help your clutter-free mindset!
#24 Do the dishes
A sink full of dishes can be stressful! Do the dishes or load up the dishwasher and your kitchen will definitely feel like it has less clutter!
#25 Put away finished laundry
Once your laundry is done, put it away and you have a job done! It feels so good to accomplish something, and you’ll feel less cluttered because you don’t have a wash basket full of things!
How do I declutter my purse? (BONUS!)
Decluttering your purse can sometimes seem like a daunting task. The best way to go about it is to take things out one by one, and then deciding if it’s something you need to keep, doesn’t have to be in your purse, can be thrown away, etc.
Then, put the items back in your purse one by one. Use the pockets to your advantage!
I highly recommend getting a purse organizer. This is my favorite purse organizer – especially for tote bags – and I go through it in more detail in my post about How To Organize Your Purse with Pouches!
Declutter One Thing A Day Checklist
If you’re looking for a 30 day declutter challenge, I have you covered there, too! You’ll get a FREE printable with one thing you can work on decluttering each day. At the end of 30 days you’ll feel so much more organized!
Grab your 30 Day Declutter Calendar below!
What to declutter next…
When you’re looking for a next step, you can get the 30 Day Declutter Calendar above…or you can get your Declutter Planner!
The Declutter Planner is an ebook & workbook that will help you declutter you entire home and help you make plans to help keep it from getting so cluttered again!
Get your copy of the Ultimate Declutter Planner Ebook & Workbook! The ebook has 7 chapters about decluttering, and the workbook has over 30 printable pages to help you make a decluttering plan and live with less clutter! Get it here!