I used to search for the perfect, how to declutter your home steps and solutions. What I really needed was some new ideas for better action. If you can relate, these 10 gentle steps to declutter your home may be just what you are looking for.
It might be easy to find articles and information about how to declutter your home, but what about where to start? Or, figuring out how to declutter your home without getting completely overwhelmed and stressed out. I know, I know! The only way out is through but that doesn’t mean you have to push through at all costs. Believe it or not, you are allowed to ease through even when it comes to decluttering.
If I had approached my clutter with an all or nothing, let’s get this done overnight attitude, I am sure I’d still be surrounded by stuff and clutter. Going too fast and wearing yourself out in the process only adds to the stress and overwhelm. Instead of big answers to all of my big picture, how to declutter your home questions, I just needed somewhere simple to start. I needed tiny tasks!
How To Declutter Your Home
If you are wondering how to declutter your home, the best way is your way. Your way will probably be a combination of things you find inspiring or interesting (hopefully something from this article on how to declutter your home or this one) along with new decluttering ideas you discover as you go along.
You might find that Monday mornings are best, or Saturday afternoons. Maybe you decide to declutter one category of stuff at a time like toys or towels. You might start with nightstands or baskets full of blankets. The decluttering process that works best for you is the very best way to declutter your home.
I’m not surrounded by stuff anymore because I spent a few years getting rid of it. It didn’t happen overnight, or even close. Instead it was an inch by inch, step by step, and trinket by book by scarf process. Finally, it was mostly gone. I really enjoy having less stuff and more space. If you want that too, but are worried that there is too much to accomplish, use these tiny tasks and remember that how to declutter your home looks different for everyone.
How to Declutter Your Home with 10 Gentle (and Slightly Unusual) Steps
These 10 gentle steps will help you declutter your home but they might not be the recommendations you normally hear. That’s good news because chances are the normal recommendations weren’t that helpful. Or, they served a purpose at one point but now you need something different.
1. Create one little clutter-free space.
Identify one countertop or corner of a room to be your clutter-free sanctuary. Ask everyone in the family to commit to keeping that one space clutter free as inspiration for the next clutter-free space. This space can be as small as one kitchen drawer, or something like your nightstand or the kitchen table. Keeping one small area of your home clutter-free will ease anxiety and stress. This simplified space can grow as you let go of more and more clutter.
2. Make a junk box (then hide it).
Collect items from your bins, junk drawer, and from other areas around your house. These are items that you never use, don’t know how to use, or can’t identify. There may be lots of cords and cables in this junk box. The things don’t have to match or be in the same category of clutter.
Box them all up and set aside for thirty days. If you don’t miss any of it, say goodbye. Those thirty days will ease the stress of letting go when you realize you can barely remember what’s in the box. Schedule time to make a donation so this box doesn’t live in the trunk of your car.
3. Create a uniform to simplify your closet.
Instead of trying to declutter your closet, pick the few items you really enjoy wearing or the items you find yourself wearing most of the time and hide the rest. Actually remove the rest of the stuff from your closet for at least 30 days so you can experience less decision fatigue and sample simplicity. For more information on what you want or need in your closet, try Project 333. For extra support and accountability, try the Closet Declutter Hour.
4. Send 5 care packages.
Choose 5 books from your collection for 5 people you love. Write a nice note in the book and give the recipient permission to pass it on when they finish. Sign, seal, deliver. You’ll make a little room on your book shelf and make five friends smile. If you don’t want to take the time to send them, here are some good places to donate your books. Books were the last category of clutter to donate on my simplicity journey. I gave most of them to my local library because I liked the idea of visiting them if I wanted to.
5. Clean up your digital clutter.
The stuff on your digital desktop might not be cluttering up your home, but you may spend more time thinking about it than you want to. Clean it up and get rid of some of that mental clutter. For extra support and accountability, try the Digital Declutter Hour.
6. Start decluttering by adding a sticker to your stuff.
If letting go of your stuff seems impossible for any reason, use colorful labels to mark your stuff for it’s next destination. Start in one room and use green stickers for everything you love and want to keep and red for everything else. Ask a friend or family member to help you box up the stuff with red stickers. You may even want to use different colored labels to designated what you want to toss, sell, recycle or donate. Even though it may feel like you aren’t making immediate progress, by making the hard decisions first, the rest of the project will go more quickly.
7. Move the furniture.
If you have five people in your family and eight dining chairs, put three of the chairs in the garage. Move your bookshelf if you donated your books. If your kitchen table sees more mail than meals, move it out. Experiment to see what furniture is functional and what’s just in the way or there to store more stuff. If you have the space to keep extra furniture in the garage or another storage space, keep it there and bring it back for special occasions or when you have guests. You likely keep your seasonal decorations out of sight during parts of the year, why not other stuff? If you notice you never use the stored stuff, sell or donate it.
8. Declutter your grief triggers.
If you want to live a happier life, let go of something that makes you feel sad. From clothes that don’t fit to some sentimental items, releasing the things that weigh us down can make us feel light. Maybe the things that make you feel sad aren’t physical things. Let go of things like regret, guilt and unmet expectations too. This may not feel like a tiny task but sometimes letting go of something is just a decision. Haven’t you suffered enough by holding on to those things?
9. Get rid of things you thought you were “supposed” to have.
We often acquire things we think we are “supposed” to have. Or, that we should own as proper adults. In our first house we had at least 20 dining chairs (6 in the kitchen, 8 in the dining room and 6 on the patio) for 3 people. We owned what we thought we were “supposed” to own. Today we have 2 dining chairs for 2 people (picture here on Instagram) + 2 folded up in the laundry room for guests. Now we have what we want instead of what we “should” have. We’ve been here for 5 years and it’s always been enough. What do you own that you don’t want but thought you were “supposed” to have? Maybe it’s time to let go!
10. Make it easier to actually let go of your stuff.
Instead of finding the perfect place to donate your stuff, make it easier. Aside from tossing everything in the trash, ask yourself what the easiest solution is. You may decide to call your local donation centers and see if they offer pick up. Take pictures of your stuff and ask your friends and family if they want any of it. My favorite easy way to let go of my stuff is to put it out near the street with a sign that says, “Free” — and then see how fast it gets picked up.
Try these 10 gentle steps anytime you are wondering how to declutter your home. You don’t have to do all of them, but choose a few that resonate with you to be part of your decluttering routine. Add them to your list of simple ways to declutter your home and create a clutter-free life.
