Do you look around your home and see clutter everywhere?
You know you need to declutter your home, but you’re not sure where to even start. It all seems important.
Every room you walk into is a mess.
Well, today I’m going to share five areas in your home that you should start and five areas you should avoid starting in.
You don’t have to do these in any particular order. Pick the one that feels the easiest to you.
The key to getting started with decluttering is to begin with an easy win. The places I recommend should be pretty easy areas to make decisions about your things.
Plus they are areas in your home that you use on a regular basis. So you’ll see the difference that decluttering makes right away.
Here’s where to start decluttering:
1. Your Kitchen Island or Countertop
Your kitchen island is probably a clutter magnet in your home. Mail gets stacked there. When you come home, you put your keys and purse there.
Your kids drop their toys and paperwork on the kitchen counters. Shopping bags get left there.
Bags of chips, bread, and cereal boxes sit on the counter taking up space.
And then by the time you need to cook dinner, you have no counter space to actually make dinner. So start there.
Throw away trash. Put things where they belong. Store the food in your cabinets. Take off anything that doesn’t belong there.
2. Food Storage Containers
Another easy space to declutter is your home is the food containers. You probably have way more than you need.
Throw away containers with no lids. Throw away anything that is broken or warped.
If you have containers that you never use but are still usable, put them in a donation box and give them to someone who could use them.
3. Mugs and Glasses
If you’re like me, you have a big mug collection and way too many plastic glasses that you’ve collected from various events and restaurants.
Most of these are not sentimental. So that makes them a little easier to declutter.
I do caution you, that if you have some sentimental mugs, then don’t declutter those.
Get rid of any mugs or glasses that are chipped or broken. Keep the glasses and mugs that you use on a regular basis and ones that you use when you host guests.
Donate any glasses or mugs that you don’t ever use and are only taking up space.
4. Bathroom Cabinet/Medicine Cabinet
Take everything out of your bathroom cabinets. If it feels overwhelming to do all of your cabinets, just do one cabinet or drawer at a time.
You probably have trash in these cabinets that can simply be thrown away. Get rid of any medicines that are out of date.
If you have toiletries in your bathroom that you won’t every use, get them out of there.
5. Linen Closet
Most people have way more towels and bed sheets than they actually need.
If your linen closet or drawers are overflowing, this is a great place to start decluttering.
The last place that is pretty easy to make declutter decisions is your linen closet. You probably have towels, wash clothes, and sheets that have holes in them or are worn out. Those are easy to get rid of.
Where Not to Start Decluttering
Now that you know where to start decluttering, let’s talk about the areas in your home that you should not be decluttering at first.
You may eventually get to them, but please, don’t start with these!
A) Your spouses things
Under no circumstances should you start decluttering with your spouse’s belongings. Ask me how I know. Ahem.
Seriously though, think about it the other way around. Would you like them to go through your things and decide that certain things need to go?
Even if you’re more organized and willing to let things go than your spouse, you should not start with their things.
You will hurt your relationship and the trust they have in you.
Instead, focus on your belongings. You can still talk to your spouse about decluttering, but don’t pressure them. Let them make those decisions.
B) Kids’ Toys
Kids’s toys multiple very quickly. It seems they are always bring home new toys or little gadgets. It can feel overwhelming.
There is definitely a time for decluttering your kids’ toys, but don’t start there.
Let them see you decluttering other areas of your home first. Take them with you as you donate bags of clothes or housewares to people in need.
Explain that you are letting things go that you no longer need so that you have more room in your home.
This will introduce your children to the idea of decluttering and make it easier when it’s time to declutter their things too.
C) Sentimental Items
If you’ve experienced the death of a loved one, you know how hard it can be to get let go of sentimental items.
Take the time you need with these things.
Do not start with these items, or you may end up quitting your decluttering journey because it will be difficult to make decisions about these things.
Also, a lot sentimantal items are stored away in closets, attics, or garages which are out of the way generally.
You will notice more of a difference in the areas mentioned above that effect your daily life.
After you’ve made space in other areas of your home, it will be easier to go through the items in your home that bring up memories.