Home Declutter Checklist – 100 things to get rid of now

Inside: Your declutter checklist with 100 things to get rid of right now.

Deciding to start your decluttering journey will be the best decision you ever make. Honestly. Being surrounded by so much stuff all of the time has serious effects on your mental health and with the added dust that gathers in amongst it all, it is always a good idea to ditch the stuff! And having a declutter checklist can help you stay focused and get you started on your journey.

I have watched all of the tv shows, read all of the books, I am no Marie Kondo but I have managed to declutter my entire home top to bottom. Hopefully this home checklist can help you to do yours too.

Why should you declutter your home?

We are constantly growing as people, finding new hobbies, new styles of clothes, new tastes in decor. We are terrible for holding onto material goods ‘just in case’ or simply because we can’t bear to part with them.

When you factor in children, the amount of ‘stuff’ you accumulate seems to increase tenfold. Constantly growing out of clothes, shoes, toys – it all adds up and needs somewhere to go.

Of course, even as you try and get rid of things you have people gifting you more and more for birthdays and Christmas. And the more children you have the worse it gets. TV ads constantly telling us we need the latest thing – it is hard not to get sucked into it all.

We waste so much time tidying things away but if we just got rid of it all, there would be nothing to tidy away. Makes sense doesn’t it? Now is the perfect time to get started.

Effects on mental health

Clutter can affect your anxiety levels, sleep patterns, and ability to focus on everyday tasks. It can also make you less productive, making you turn to avoidance strategies such as snacking and watching tv.

We are all guilty of it, aren’t we? We have a long list of things to do but we go to the kitchen and fetch a snack before sitting down and binge-watching our favourite series instead. And yet we al complain of never having enough time to get things done.

Imagine this, if you had less stuff then you’d have less to tidy and therefore more time to do the things you really want to do.

Your house should be a haven, a place that makes you happy and calm, somewhere to relax and enjoy with the people you love.

So instead of lusting over beautiful homes on social media (and feeling bad that yours isn’t as lovely), invest in time in making your home a place to enjoy.

What does clutter mean?

verb
cover or fill (something) with an untidy collection of things.
“the room was cluttered with his bric-a-brac”

noun
a collection of things lying about in an untidy state.
“the attic is full of clutter”

In other words, it is the collection of stuff that you surround yourself with to create an untidy state.

“Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor – it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living”

– Peter Walsh

The decluttering process is deciding what items are unnecessary in your home, that make the house untidy and add to the overwhelm that you feel when you walk into a room.

What is the best way to start decluttering?

Making the decision to get started is the first step and the hardest part. And the sooner you start the better – research says that the longer you wait to declutter the harder it becomes to get rid of the things you own. Over 50’s are much more likely to struggle with getting rid of their possessions and will also be more likely to feel dissatisfied with their lives.

The thing to do is to choose an area to start with and not move on until you are completely satisfied with the results.

Good practices for decluttering

The easiest way to get rid of stuff is to look at each object individually. When you pick up an object, you need to really look at it objectively and ask yourself whether you love it or whether you’ve used it in the past year – does it spark joy?

More often than not, the answer will be no for each and that is why it has been at the bottom of that pile of junk.

Only keep items you love or that are useful. Discard anything that would be of no use to anyone and donate the rest. There are so many ways of giving things away these days – from selling sites, to charity shops to local swap groups.

How to declutter sentimental items

It is really hard to get rid of things that you’ve held onto for reasons personal to you. Whether they are clothes you wore in happier days, gifts that were given by loved ones or anything else that invokes a happy feeling. It is easy to hoard a lot of stuff.

But unless those items are being used or enjoyed regularly they are actually just added to the pile of ‘stuff’ that you accumulate over the years.

You have to be honest with yourself and remind yourself of this:

“Sometimes freeing the object and creating space will give you more joy than holding onto the object itself”

The memories created by the object can’t be taken away from you, so let someone else have the joy of owning it rather than hoarding it in a cupboard for nobody to enjoy at all.

And I can tell you thing, once you start letting go of items the process becomes so much easier and you feel liberated. You also come to realise that things aren’t what matter, the memories and people are the most important thing of all.

Declutter checklist: 100 things to declutter right now

Not sure where to start? I’ve compiled a handy decluttering checklist of things to get rid of right now.

Living room

1. Old electronic cables and chargers

2. Old mobile phones

3. DVDs that nobody watches anymore

4. CDs that nobody listens to anymore

5. Puzzles / games that nobody plays

6. Excess recipe books

7. Fake plants that look tired

8. Books you won’t read again

9. Old cushions

10. Decor that adds nothing to the space

Kitchen & laundry room

11. Takeout menus you never use

12. Cleaning products you will never use

13. Broken crockery

14. Excess plates and bowls

15. Excess water bottles

16. Unused utensils

17. Scratched pots and pans

18. Expired food

19. Excess mugs and glasswear

20. Excess Tupperware

21. Excess teatowels

22. Unused small appliances

23. Blunt knives

24. Serving dishes that never get used

25. Old placemats, napkins and tablecloths

26. Fridge magnets

Home office

27. Old bills – time to go paperless!

28. Kids’ artwork – take a photo instead and only keep the favourites.

29. Excess stationery in your junk drawer.

30. Gift wrap you will never use

31. Birthday and Christmas cards that mean nothing. And be ruthless with those that do.

32. Old magazines

33. Old textbooks

34. Email subscriptions you no longer want (unsubscribe at the bottom)

35. Files you no longer need on your computer

36. Photos you are hoarding on your hard drive – delete the excesses

37. Old contacts on your phone

Bathrooom

38. Broken / unused makeup

39. Dried up or unwanted nail varnish

40. Old perfume / unwanted perfume

41. Excess toiletries you will never use

42. Mouldy bath toys

43. Old sunscreens

44. Old medicines that have expired in your medicine cabinet

45. Used up gift cards and unwanted loyalty cards

46. Excess reusable bags and plastic bags

Bedroom & linen closet

47. Unwanted handbags

48. Uncomfortable shoes and shoes you’ve not worn in the past year.

49. Socks and tights with holes in them

50. Underwear that has seen better days

51. Ill-fitting bras

52. Clothes that don’t make you feel good

53. Best clothes that realistically you won’t wear again

54. Hats, gloves and scarves you no longer wear

55. Coats and jackets you don’t wear anymore

56. Swimming costumes you won’t wear again.

57. Excess sunglasses

58. Glasses that no longer fit your prescription

59. Broken jewellery / single earrings

60. Costume jewellery you no longer wear

61. Mismatched/ broken hangers

62. Outgrown kids clothes

63. Pjs you never wear or that don’t fit well

64. Excess hair bobbles and clips

65. Bedding that is never used

66. Sheets that are worn or discoloured

67. Lumpy pillows

Playroom

68. Broken toys

69. Finished / unwanted colouring books

70. Dried up pens / glue

71. Excess colouring pencils

72. Damaged books

73. Toys that are no longer used

Outdoors

74. Garden furniture / decor that is broken or unwanted

75. Rusted garden tools

76. Old plastic plant pots

77. Children’s play equipment that they don’t use anymore

78. Unused tools and hardware

79. Old paint you won’t use again.

Random bits and bobs

80. Old receipts

81. Old keys

82. Manuals

83. Spare buttons

84. Anything you just don’t like anymore

85. Boxes from items you’ve bought

86. Memorabilia that isn’t lovingly displayed

87. TV shows / movies you’ve recorded on your tv box

88. Dead plants

89. Holiday decor that doesn’t get used

90. Christmas decorations

91. Old rugs that you won’t use again

92. Old towels

93. Hobby supplies you no longer use

94. Candles that have burned down

95. Unwanted gifts you won’t repurpose

96. Exercise equipment you won’t use again

97. Chewed dog toys

98. Anything waiting to leave the house

99. Anything you just don’t want anymore

100. Anything in the car that isn’t vital

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All of these things are relatively easy to go to right now and start to sort through. You just need to dedicate the time to get the work done.

It is not an easy task to start and at times can become overwhelming, but it is such a worthwhile job and will get easier as you go along. Just keep reminding yourself of the end goal – to have a clear and stress-free environment in which to live in where everything has a proper place.

You’ll feel like you live in a new home!

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