So you want to start decluttering your house? Here are some key areas that you can start on.
1. Get rid of clothes and shoes
For a lot of people, this will be their biggest area of weakness – I know it’s mine. I’ve accumulated years of bargains, things I’ve bought because I was sad or hand me downs. I’ve been leaning my wardrobe over the last year and whilst I’m never going to be the person with a capsule wardrobe I have been getting rid of things.
I go by this simple rule: If it’s something I genuinely don’t really like how it sits, doesn’t fit or I’ve got several similar items… then it has to go.
So what can you do with them?
- Use a charity bag if you get them posted through your door, or you can drop them off at a charity shop.
- Sell on Ebay
- Sell on Vinted (it allows people to sell, buy, and swap secondhand clothing items and accessories)
- Join a ‘clothes swap’ Facebook group. I’m on Great British Clothes swap which is an excellent way to sell clothes or swap to refresh your wardrobe and be sustainable at the same time.
Moving forward, try to limit buying anything unless you really need it, or it’s an extra special treat and you know you’ll wear it. And remember buying clothes doesn’t make you happy
Also folding clothes the clothes the Mari Kondo way means you can see what you have and you can’t stuff more and more clothes into your drawers as well:
2. Sell or give away your books
I know Kindles are becoming quite popular (and Kindle readers will probably self righteously tell you this isn’t an issue for them!) but I know some people love their collection of books.
I’m very guilty of this, I form emotional connections to books. But I’ve had to acknowledge that I have too many.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t keep books, but if it’s a book that you know you’ll never read again, it’s time to pass it on. Let someone else enjoy it.
- Sell on Ebay
- Join a facebook group to sell your books
- If you want to go for the easiest option, download Ziffit. You might not get a lot of money, but it will be the quickest way to get rid of your books.
3. Declutter your kitchen items
I’m always surprised by how cluttered people’s kitchens are. It’s easy to fill them with junk or useless gadgets.
Try to go through and pull out anything you don’t use:
- Recycle the odd tupperware lids
- Get rid of that awful mug
- Do people actually use all those spices?
This also works for food. You may well have random bits of food that you have collected and haven’t ever used. For me, that’s often food my in-laws have brought (and I can’t even read the label because it’s never in English). I feel bad, but I’m literally never going to use it. So what’s the point of keeping it?
- Donate what you can to charity
- Olio is a great app for giving away both food and non-food to people in your local area.
4. Time to go through your toiletries
Am I the only person who has a huge basket full of moisturisers that have been gifted to me over the years?
This is probably partly due to the fact I’m too lazy to moisturise. I realized recently I’ve lugged all these excess toiletries around for two house moves… for what?
These are things I don’t feel comfortable donating because they’re probably too old. So I’ve been forcing myself to moisturise every night, and slowly I’m getting through the pile.
I also keep a lip balm and some hand cream by my work desk so I’m using that every day. I’m slowly getting there.
If you have got a lot of toiletries that are unopened and in date then consider donating to one the schemes such as:
5. Organise your DVD collection
Even tho you might be watching most of your films and series on Netflix or Prime you might want to hang on to your DVDs.
If you do want to keep them as I do, get a portable organiser which looks simple and clean but can store up to 400 DVDs rather than having a million boxes all stacked up or overflowing a storage unit.
It might provide a good opportunity for you to go through your collection, put the DVDs you love in the organiser and then sell the others.
Again Ziffit or Music Magpie are easy ways to sell dvds – although you probably won’t get rich for this.
Be realistic on how you declutter your house
These are my biggest areas I need to focus on, but you will have other areas of weakness.
Just be realistic about where you’re tempted. I have a general ban on clothes, books, and cleaning items this year, this is where it’s easiest for me to spend without thinking and pile up an unnecessary amount of stuff.
I also have a checklist of questions I ask myself when decluttering my house which you might also find helpful.
Remember that following some nice minimalist Instagram accounts that you look at sometimes will help you to keep focused on your goal.
