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50 Things to Get Rid of Today

The Keys to a Professionally Organized Space

The first step to any good home organizing effort is to remove items. This first step is called decluttering, and must come first. There is absolutely no sense is organizing items you don’t wish to keep, and so removing them from the space is where you should start.

A Cumulative Effect

Every time you leave home, you return with more stuff. Promotional items, receipts, bags from shopping—it all adds up!

As we go about our lives, leaving our homes and then returning with items, our homes can become a sort of dumping ground for stuff. It’s likely that you have a spot in your home (perhaps a kitchen counter or dining room table) where you set things down when you first enter. It feels good to unburden your arms, but these spaces become clutter magnets. If you are wise, you immediately sort these items into keep, trash and donate. However, they have a way of finding a semi-permanent place in our homes. This happens unless we are intentional about removing them, or never allowing them into our space in the first place.

Permission to Say Goodbye

Even a person most hesitant to declutter can find items that they don’t remember, have no use for, or don’t even like. I even hear clients say that certain items remind them of people they don’t like. If that’s the case for you, give yourself permission to remove these unhappy reminders from your space.

If you’re starting to declutter, here are 50 items I’ll bet it would be easy to let go of without much trauma or time spent on decision-making.

Garage

  • Equipment for sports you no longer play
  • Deflated balls
  • Excess beach towels
  • Outgrown sports equipment
  • Old paint cans
  • Unused picnic baskets
  • Old gardening supplies
  • Floor mats to sold vehicles

Kitchen

  • Dish towels past their prime
  • Duplicate utensils
  • Extra mugs
  • Unused water bottles
  • Take-out menus
  • Expired medications/vitamins
  • Expired food/spices
  • Food you won’t eat
  • Containers without lids
  • Lids without containers

Bedroom

  • Excess bedding or towels
  • Old pillows
  • Clothes that don’t fit
  • Mismatched socks
  • Jewelry you don’t like
  • Hats/gloves/scarves you don’t wear

Living Room

  • Games/puzzles missing pieces
  • Burned-up candles
  • Dingy throw pillows or blankets
  • Dead houseplants
  • Unloved decor
  • Books you’ve already read
  • Books you’ll never read
  • Old magazines

Bathroom

  • Old nail polish
  • Old perfume
  • Expired first-aid supplies
  • Styling products you don’t use
  • Mostly empty bottles

Kids’ Rooms

  • Outgrown/broken toys
  • Baby items
  • Old school papers
  • Outdated art projects
  • Party favors

Office

  • Duplicate desk supplies
  • Old mail
  • Receipts
  • Catalogs
  • Old phones/cords
  • Dried-out pens/markers
  • Used mailing envelopes
  • Manuals available online

Want to download this list as a PDF? Here’s a handy checklist for decluttering!

Think of all the space you’d create if you let go of all these items! You probably wouldn’t even miss them! What other items might it be time to let go of? By letting go of items past their prime, things you don’t love or stuff that causes you stress, you are making room for a more happy experience of being in your home. You’ll surround yourself with only what you love, what is useful and what makes you happy.

When you need help identifying areas to declutter, and eventually ways to organize what you decide to keep, reach out! We’re here to help at every step of the process and can provide expert help at unlocking the usefulness of every room in your home.

 

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