How to get started on decluttering your home

Where do you start on a big project like decluttering your house?

Choosing where to start

Maybe you already know the answer to “where”, because there’s one area of your home which is crying out for decluttering. If not, think about which area gives you the most pain. Are you ashamed to let visitors in the living room or the kitchen? Is the hall closet an avalanche waiting to happen? Does the basement or garage need a shovel or even a small bulldozer to get to the far side?

Another way of picking a starting point, especially if you can only work for short periods, is to work on a small, limited area you can finish quickly. Then it won’t overflow into the rest of the house. One drawer, one cabinet, one shelf or one box might be a good choice. You could also divide a larger area into sections or chunks and work on them separately

Tools and Equipment

Having decided which area to work on, you’ll need tools. First on the list are containers for the stuff you’ll be displacing. Plastic bins are great for things which need to go other places in the house, or sturdy cardboard boxes for objects slated for recycling or gifting. Large, heavy-duty trash bags for the junk are another important item. Maybe you’ll want gloves if you’re working in a dusty or dirty area like the basement or attic, and even a dust mask. You’ll probably want to clean this area once you’ve decluttered it, especially if there are nooks and crannies which haven’t seen the light of day for a long time, so make sure you have the cleaning supplies and tools you’ll need to use.

You may need containers for these categories:

• Keep (things which will go back into the space you’ve just cleared out)
• Trash (actual garbage)
• Recycle (glass, plastic, paper etc which can be recycled in your community)
• Give away (to the thrift store, neighbors, friends or family)
• Sell (if you have things which might be worth something at a garage sale or on eBay. Be practical here, though: most things are not worth the trouble and time to sell them).
• Elsewhere (things to be kept, but which don’t belong in this area you’re working on)
• Pending (things you can’t decide about. This should be a VERY SMALL category!)

Are you ready?

Then get started! You can read my other articles here on the Declutter First for more information, but the core concept is very simple: if you don’t love it, need it, or use it, let it go. You have the job of deciding the meaning of “love”, “need” and “use” for yourself.

Move the stuff out of the house

Once you have some full boxes and bags, don’t let things on their way to the thrift store or the dump hang around too long. Apart from the fact that the boxes of stuff are clutter in themselves, it’s too easy to change your mind and start pulling stuff back out of the box. If you have a lot of boxes, or large furniture to get rid of, some organizations will pick them up, so take advantage of that. Does your community have a day for putting out large items at the curb for pickup? Make sure you use it! Instead of piling boxes by the door to take outside, take them all the way out to the car so that next time you pass the thrift store they are ready and waiting to be dropped off.

More about de-cluttering your home