39 Pro Tips For All Your Decluttering Woes

Is this your first time attempting to declutter? 39 pro tips for all your decluttering woes will help you from start to finish including where to get rid of a lot of the clutter you are discarding.

The most important part of your decluttering journey is to get rid of as much stuff as you can without overthinking. A great way to approach this is to decide what possessions you love and will keep. Now you don’t have to worry about making wrong decisions.

A lot of people worry about where to start decluttering. Choose the area that causes you the most stress and begin there.

There are many helpful suggestions in Easy Decluttering Tips for Dummies and Beginners.

Sentimental Items

If you tend to have trouble making decisions and are emotionally attached to your stuff leave this category for now. Decluttering sentimental things can be challenging to most, leave it for now and get some experience with decluttering all the other areas first.

Old photographs

Another place that trips people up is the accumulation of all the old family and friends photographs.

A lot of folks are scanning all their old photos because this reduces clutter and makes sharing favorite pictures with family and friends easy.

Kitchen

Many people start in the kitchen because the kitchen can be the hub of the home. To get the biggest bang for your buck clear off your kitchen countertops and flat surfaces! Only put back the things you use daily or often. This is the number one decluttering tip for the kitchen.

Tips & Tricks for Clutter-Free Kitchen Countertops offers a free Ultimate Declutter Dashboard!

For a quick start, check out this Kitchen Declutter Checklist | 24 Things to Toss & Organize!

Don’t forget the refrigerator and freezer! These are important parts of decluttering your kitchen.

Bathroom

Where to begin? The bathroom may be your catch-all for your medicines, toiletries, makeup, linens, and towels and this can get out of control quickly. Makeup especially can have some safety risks so be sure to go through your stuff and pull out your expired makeup. I got a nasty eye infection from contaminated mascara.

Bathroom Things to Declutter Today has a free Bathroom Decluttering Checklist!

Linen Closet

Some people like to store linens only in their linen closets. Some folks keep towels, light bulbs and batteries in their linen closets and some of us don’t even have linen closets, boo-hoo!

If these things are all jumbled together it is difficult to know what you have so begin by emptying the area, sorting and decluttering and then returning the sorted goods to the closet or area you use.

Bedroom

All closets are not equal. I could fit my entire home in some of the snappy walk in closets and rooms I see today. Many of us still have regular old fashioned closets and these can get filled quickly. There are a bunch of good tips in Top Tips To Declutter Your Clothes Closet Now.

I for one really feel the freedom of Capsule Wardrobes, full disclosure- I have never been a clothes hound.

Remember how much better decluttered surfaces look when you get to your bedside tables, and bureaus.

Laundry room

A simple shelving unit, if you don’t have a separate laundry room with cabinets, can keep all your laundry needs orderly and easy to access. Don’t overthink this.

Family room

This is a great room where we gather with family and friends. Get rid of all the non family room stuff that belongs elsewhere and consider some baskets to hold all the snuggly throws you use. It only takes a minute to fold the throws and put away to have a room that is clean and neat.

Craft room decluttered & organized

As an artist and craftsman, I can tell you organizing all these things makes a huge difference! I have different organizational solutions for everything, If you can’t see it you may be missing opportunities to incorporate all your gems in your designs.

Lots of room for creativity in storing crafts! Recycled cardboard boxes for yarns and rolled and stapled plastic sheets to sort colored pens and pencils.

Home office

Going paperless is the best way today. People of a certain age are still hesitant to go without paper copies of everything. The truth is we can access almost anything 24/7 now, making paper copies pointless. A good place to start is to sign up for paperless billing.

Phones, computers and laptops get cluttered too so remember to Declutter Your Phone and Computer for a Digital Cleanse

Organization reduces clutter

By introducing some simple organizational habits you can make your life so much easier, efficient and less frustrating.

The One Touch Rule solves a lot of the clutter issue.

Storage solutions to stay organized

There are so many cool multi function furniture pieces and storage solutions there is no reason to be disorganized today. None of these things will work though until you get rid of the bulk of your clutter. You don’t want to organize clutter, you want to organize the things you need and use.

Rigorous honesty to stay decluttered

Without making an honest appraisal of your possessions you will not get too much decluttering accomplished. Journaling is a great way to get in touch with reality. You need to honestly answer questions such as:

• Do I need this?
• When was the last time I wore or used this?

If you have reasons why you can’t declutter know that most of these are excuses. We all have and always will face obstacles in our life. Find the solutions. The top excuses why people cannot declutter are:

• no time
• chronic illness, ADHD, depression
• don’t know how to dispose of things
• don’t know where to start.

Do a time audit and find all the time you are wasting. When you reclaim that time you can apply it to decluttering. My friend Lindsay of Organize Your Online Business offers a free time audit.

Here is How People With Chronic Illness Manage Clutter.

Need help disposing of clutter? Here is your free Resource Guide on how to easily Declutter and donate most things, and often for free.

Minimalist living

Are you flirting with the idea of exploring minimalist living? There is a lot to be said for it. Minimalist living does not mean living uncomfortably. Many people have incorrect preconceived ideas of what minimalism is and is not.
Living minimally simply means living with intention, and without excess.

Keep in mind most of us only use 20% of our possessions 80% of the time. That is a whole lot of excess we are carrying around.

Happy Decluttering!