3 Easy Ways to Start Decluttering your Home
My whole college career consisted of going to work and going to school which left me with a bunch of papers and clothes. I just accumulated a lot of STUFF and it kept on growing through the years. In efforts of making my apartment the home I want, today being the Day of No Clutter and spring right around the corner, here are three ways I’ve started the process of decluttering.
Throwing things Away
Class notes, irrelevant books, unnecessary paperwork, and clothes that I’ve been holding on to that are clearly damaged. These things were just taking up space for no reason. For clothes I’ve used the ‘if I haven’t used it in a year, toss it’ rule. I’ve also eliminated excess paper by getting electronic statements, automating payments and monitoring them regularly. If papers hold important information like addresses or account information, make sure they’re shredded.
Selling and Donating
For items that were pretty much new, I began to resell online. The process sometimes took entirely too long so giving away was the next best thing. I donated tons of dresses to prom projects and gave clothes to teenagers I was connected to. There were also options to donate to churches, homeless shelters, community centers and services like the Salvation Army.
Use Storage Bins
Storage bins are a gift and a curse. On one side they help with organizing, but sometimes items sit there for months and years for no reason. Try going through them at least once or twice a year to make sure you’re not repeating the same problem. These beginner steps have helped with getting rid of hair products, clothes, shoes, accessories and things I just don’t need. It has also made me more intentional about what to buy. Now to go through these electronics…
What are some other simple ways to start decluttering?
Great tips! Love the idea to eliminate excess paper by getting electronic statements. I absolutely hate having to store papers — feels like they can take up so much space!
Yup! Need to better stick to these tips. I’m about to leave school and don’t have the room for all of this stuff. Thanks for the tips 🙂
Omg yes, life gets so crazy and you don’t even realize how much stuff you accumulate. I think I need a monthly declutter session lol. Or I just need to stop being a shopaholic and give away things I know for a fact I haven’t worn. I always get that moment of “hmm this is cute, I might actually wear it” and never do lol. Great read!
I have a 2BR and it’s bugging me how many things I have. The clothes and papers are the biggest thing. I have TOO many dresses and shoes I’ve worn once or twice. smh
Great Post! I have tried to adopt minimalism as much as possible as of recently because of my smaller living space. My closet may be two feet wide if that which means I can only keep what I need and even some of those items MUST GO! I normally donate but became discouraged because of taking items to sell and not having much luck…I need to try again
This is good! I’m good at going on a throw away spree after a few years of holding on to stuff lol.
I need to be about that declutter life because I just have way too much stuff. Thanks for the reminder.
No problem. I have tons of spring cleaning to do myself.
I have been decluttering myself. I have tons of bags ready for the Salvation Army. Now I need to make time to drop them off.
Decluttering for me involves give aways and throw aways, but i think the best way to avoid that problem is not bringing in unwanted stuff at home, so i just buy what i actually need.
Yes! Since moving on my own, I’ve been much more intentional about what I buy. It helps save my money too.
I throw things away I hate mail and paper being stashed around.
Same here. I used to save tons of notes and now I’m like “toos it!”
I love giving and donating items though I have a hard time doing so with books. I make a point to declutter every 6 months.
I like the idea of reusable library where you can have books outside your home and people add/take books if they want. My neighborhood isn’t cut out for it though…
This was very helpful. I’m great at selling electronics I no longer need but always end up ‘stuck’ with everything else thinking “But, I NEED this” when in actuality it always sit years later after I’ve so-called de-cluttered things.
I’ve been good lately, but I love cameras and audio/visual equipment.
Clutter is my foe. I think my greatest way to declutter is throwing things out. It’s amazing how much ‘stuff’ my Kiddies can collect from different events at school, other kids and kids meals. I have been known to purge every few weeks and things may or may not always make the cut.
YES! I could only imagine if I had kids..stuff on stuff on stuff.
I try to maintain a minimalist space. Usually donating clothing to family or the goodwill is my purge. I’m not really one to hold on to a lot of stuff I throw things, recycle, or re-purpose them if possible. These are great tips thanks for sharing!
I purge my clothes on a regular basis. My crafting supplies and items are my purge weakness. I hold on to them tighter than other things.
I declutter by storing stuff that I am not using at the moment in cube storage, others I would just give away.
I need to throw away old school things for sure. I also need to donate some clothes.
OMG, I can so relate to the clutter. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I had to move and literally throw out tons of stuff because I refused to take it to the new place. Now that spring is on it’s way, it’s a great time to declutter! Thanks.
Selling and donating is definitely my go-to when I get the declutter bug! I love going through my closet and giving away clothes that I haven’t worn in over a year. Thanks so much for sharing your post on the Thursday Three Link-Party! I look forward to seeing your posts again in the future.
LiveLifeWell,
Allison