Young Woman Starting to Declutter Home
Organization Tips

Declutter Your Home Now: 15 Things to Toss Out Today

Young Woman Starting to Declutter Home

Feeling bogged down by clutter in your home? Worried that there’s no end in sight? While deep cleaning and an organization overhaul can be a significant undertaking, you can start to declutter your home simply by throwing out (or recycling) things you no longer need. It may be difficult to part ways with your belongings, but there are probably a handful of items lying around that are no longer of use to you.

How Should I Declutter? What Should I Toss?

If you’re unsure of where to begin, take a look at our top 15 things you can toss out (or recycle) to start decluttering your space:

1.) Receipts: Receipts seem to pop up everywhere – your wallet, purse, junk drawer, pant’s pocket, desk – the list goes on. If you are not saving these receipts for a specific purpose, recycle or shred them. If there is a reason they need to be kept, file them away in a handy, compact receipt organizer.

2.) Junk Mail: Do you sort through your mail every day? Or do you leave it in a pile to look at later? If you do the latter, you may be accumulating a stack of unread messages. So now is the time to go through the accumulating mail and recycle anything that isn’t of value.

3.) Old Makeup: Old makeup may not only be taking up extra room in your cosmetic case and bathroom drawer, but it also may be unsafe to use depending on its shelf life. Declutter your bathroom by using a makeup expiration guide to determine which items should be tossed out. If there are also items you rarely or never use, those may need to be discarded, too.

4.) Half-Burned Candles: How we love burning seasonal scents and hate parting ways with our half-used candles after that time of year is over. Often, we end up never reusing these candles either. Instead, we purchase new ones the following year. If your linen closet is overflowing with partially utilized candles, determine which you’ll use and which can visit the garbage can.

5.) Salad Dressing & Condiments: Ready to declutter your fridge? One of the most common places is our refrigerator door shelves and drawers. Inspect the expirations of your dressings and condiments, only saving those that are still within the usage date.

6.) Mugs: Too many coffee mugs with cheeky sayings? Travel mugs that are missing lids? Determine how many mugs you use and how many you have on hand. If you have an excessive amount, box them up to donate. Another option is to bring some into your office. Your office kitchenette’s cupboards may need a restock of mugs and cups.

7.) Souvenirs: Yes, some souvenirs are memorable keepsakes, but what about those old t-shirts you bought on a trip ten years ago? Or the bent postcards you thought you’d put in a scrapbook? If you’re not displaying a souvenir, take a photo and get rid of the physical item. If you’re unsure of whether or not to part ways with these travel mementos, including the 50 states’ worth of snow globes you’ve collected, carefully box them away and store them in a climate controlled storage unit.

8.) Extra Cords & Cables: Do you still have a Blackberry charger from ten years ago that no longer fits any smartphone you currently use? If so, it’s time to say goodbye. Go through any drawers or cabinets where you keep electronics and make sure the cords you keep on hand are for the items you currently own and use. Cable identifiers, which can be labeled to identify the device they power up, will help keep your must-have cords better organized.

9.) Pens: The junk drawer and desk may be teeming with pens (markers, highlighters, and more) that no longer work. Declutter time! If you have an extra fifteen minutes during a current TV binge session, test out all the writing utensils you have lying around. Whatever doesn’t work can go in the trash.

10.) Old Credit Cards: There’s no need to hang onto old credit cards. If they’re expired or for a store or bank that’s no longer relevant to you, shred them and properly discard them.

11.) Gift Wrapping Supplies: While having wrapping paper, bows, and boxes on hand are helpful, keeping anything that is not in good condition isn’t. Smushed bows, tangled ribbon, and crinkled-up tissue paper can be thrown out.

12.) Old Towels: Declutter your linen closet in a flash. Assess your towels to determine if they’ve seen better days. Look for fraying and rips, as well as discoloration and staining. If a towel has been thoroughly used, you might be able to repurpose it. Cut them up into smaller squares and keep them in the garage to utilize when washing your vehicles, bicycles, or even pets.

13.) Take Out “Goodies”: Over the past year, take-out food delivery has become more popular than ever. Many to-go bags include condiment packets, disposable utensils, and paper menus. We may keep these items on hand, thinking we’d use them again (wouldn’t those plastic forks be great for our next picnic?) – when in all reality, they end up crowding up a drawer.

14.) Greeting Cards: Everyone loves receiving a greeting card for a celebratory moment in life. But the question is – are you looking at them once the occasion is over? If you’re not, and they’re simply being tossed into a drawer or basket, determine whether or not you need to hang onto them. If the cards you’re keeping were for a significant moment in your life, find a nice card organizer or a scrapbook to display them in.

15.) Magazines: Magazine subscriptions can add up, so it may be hard to throw out all of those food mags you keep resubscribing to. If you’re never looking at them again, they can be recycled. If some articles or recipes are worth revisiting, cut out those pages and file them away in a file folder or recipe book. Every now and again, scan through the saved clippings to reassess whether or not you need to hang onto them.

Need More Space? Rent a Storage Unit.

No need to feel overwhelmed with the chaos clutter can unleash. By merely throwing out or recycling a few items in your home, you may feel the weight coming off of your shoulders. However, if there are some belongings you cannot say goodbye to, consider self storage. Whether you need a drive-up unit for easy accessibility or prefer climate controlled storage for particular items, Prime Storage has a unit for you. Find the nearest Prime Storage to you and begin your rental journey online today!

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Tagged as  Organization Tips