You’re finally ready to live a happier and simpler life by purging your home of what you no longer need. You’re wondering, “How do I start decluttering?” You’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’ll go over an essential checklist for decluttering every room in your home. Whether you’re a hoarder or not, decluttering is a fantastic way to start fresh in a clean home. I’ve personally applied every single one of these tips when decluttering my apartment, and the results have been fantastic. My clutter-free apartment has reduced my stress, made me feel more appreciative of the simple things in life and has reduced my desire to go on spending binges.
In this article, I’ll share my firsthand experience around:
- Why it’s important to declutter
- The reason why you should invest your precious time to create a ‘decluttering your home checklist’
- How to go about decluttering every major room in your home
Read on to learn about how to create a checklist for decluttering your home.
Why Declutter?
Before you take the time to declutter your space, you need to have a ‘why.’ Why should you spend tons of hours of your precious time and invest in in decluttering? There are several reasons it’s a good idea:
1. Feel Less Stressed and Anxious
Choosing to have a minimalist, clutter-free will ultimately reduce your stress and anxiety. Whether you consciously realize it or not, the stuff you see in your peripheral vision contributes to your stress levels. If you have a lot of stuff around, your brain spends time processing information.
2. Reduce Decision Fatigue
When you reduce the amount of stuff you see and use on a day-to-day basis, you’ll feel a lot better. Think about it. When you own fifteen different black dresses, you’ll need to spend time deciding which dress to choose. On the other hand, if you only own two or three core dresses that look good, match different outfits and suit a variety of occasions, you’ll spend a lot less time putting together a look.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying fashion and stocking your wardrobe with several beautiful pieces you enjoy wearing. However, you need to draw the line somewhere. When you choose to lean towards a capsule, minimalist wardrobe, you’ll save time that could be spent on something else.
3. Be Happy With What You Have
Let’s face it – in today’s society, we are pushed to think that owning more means being happier. Even if it isn’t owning stuff, being a busy person who fills his or her schedule with activities is praised. On the other hand, if you drastically reduce your budget, you’ll be forced to get creative with how you spend your money. This may mean swapping out a dinner and movie on the town for an at-home version.
You are already fortunate to have so much. Anything from having clean clothes to wear, a fridge, pantry and freezer full of food and family and friends to lean on are things you shouldn’t take for granted. When you own less material things, it will be easier to be happy with what you already have. Your life before and after declutter and disorganization will be so much different – in a good way!
4. Appreciate Indulging in Life’s Simple Pleasures
To build on my point about decluttering help you become happier with what you have, this lifestyle can help you focus on low-cost or free activities. When was the last time you actually appreciated the sunlight pouring through your blinds, took a couple minutes to savor the fresh smell of ground coffee beans or intentionally enjoyed hearing the sound of your daughter’s laughter? When you have a clutter-free home, you’ll feel less stressed.
Take ten minutes every morning to take advantage of your decreased stress and focus on one or two of life’s simple pleasures. These entail anything in your life that bring you joy at a free or low cost. Some ideas you should consider include:
- Appreciating the sound of birds chirping on your front porch
- Enjoying the smell of freshly-baked cookies
- Savoring the feeling of sunlight pouring through your windows
- Taking time to appreciate the feeling of grass on your bare feet
- Feeling a sense of satisfaction after cooking and enjoying a delicious meal
There are hundreds of simple pleasures out there that you can try. Take an hour or two out of your day next week to sit down and brainstorm some ideas. Write them down in a journal, then commit to focus on one next week. Each week, add in one new simple pleasure to focus on. Before you know it, your life will be focused on appreciating what you already have!
Why Take the Time to Create a Checklist for Decluttering?
Ok – Now that I’ve covered the reasons why you should declutter, what about the actual task? Why should you bother creating a checklist? Can’t you just start cleaning? The truth is that planning properly will set you up for decluttering success.
In the same way that you invested a few hours of time to determine what simple pleasures you should focus on in your clutter-free life, take some time to determine what you want to get rid of. In an ideal world, you’d want a spick-and-span, spotless home or apartment from top to bottom. However, the reality is that it’s best to take it one step at a time. This is especially true if you’re new to decluttering. When you choose to declutter room by room, you’ll feel less overwhelmed. Additionally, you’ll be a lot more likely to stay on track.
Think about any goal you want to accomplish – let’s take the example of learning how to properly lift 20+ lb weights. When you’re just starting out, it’s going to be impossible and unsafe to try lifting 20lb dumbbells. You’ll want to start with the 2 to 5 lb ones and slowly build up. In the same way, when you’re decluttering, start small. Go one room at a time. Start with one room where you generally have the most clutter. Slowly work towards decluttering your entire home.
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Decluttering Each Room in Your Home
Below, I’ll go through a checklist and steps for decluttering every major room in your house. Before you start, take pictures of your rooms before and after they’ve been cleaned. Before and after decluttering pictures can help you see the progress you’ve made and stay motivated to keep on track with good cleaning habits.
Next, choose one room to declutter and slowly go room by room. I recommend starting with decluttering your bedroom. Why the bedroom? Generally, this is the room where one tends to acquire the most clutter. When your bedroom gets messy, you can just throw clothes in the closet or on the bed and close the door when guests come in. On the other hand, you may be more apt to keeping your living room clean, especially if you regularly host guests.
A Checklist for Decluttering the Bedroom
Step 1: Gather Garbage Bags, Donation Boxes and Storage Containers
Firstly, gather all the vessels you’ll need to declutter your bedroom. When you have tons of boxes, garbage bags and other containers on hand, you’ll be able to start sorting and determining which destination each item of clothing, shoe, piece of paper and other belongings you own should go right away.
You should have four separate, labelled boxes or bins where your belongings will be sorted:
- Garbage
- Recycling
- Storage
- Donations
For donations, you may want to create two separate boxes or bins: one for family and friends and one for clothing and other items that will be donated right away. Alternatively, you can keep one single donation bin. Invite your friends or family to sift through your used goods and pick out what they want before you bring it to the thrift store.
Step 2: Sort Through Each Your Drawers and Shelves
For the next step, you’ll need to open each closet door and shelf. Pick up every single item and ask yourself if you are using the item enough or if it serves a purpose. If you only wear a particular shirt once a year, do you really need it? Outside of keeping it for a special occasion, it’s probably just taking up space in your closet.
Deciding to Either Keep or Donate Your Stuff
If you’re still not sure if you should keep an item or donate it, take part in the closet experiment. This experiment is an ideal way to determine what you should keep and what you should throw out when decluttering your clothes. Hang up all of your items in your closet. Push all items to the left side of your closet. Once you’ve worn an item once, push it to the right side. After thirty days have passed, you should strongly consider donating all items of clothing still on the left side. The only exception to this would be speciality items you only wear on specific occasions such as a fancy dress for weddings.
Decluttering Shoes and Accessories
Do the same process for shoes and accessories as you did for clothing. If you have room, push all shoes to the left side of your closet, whether it be the rack or the floor.
Replenishing Your Wardrobe with Capsule Items
This step can either be done now or after you’ve decluttered your bedroom. After you’ve cleared out your wardrobe, you’ll need to make sure you have enough clothing to live! Stock a capsule minimalist wardrobe. This is a type of wardrobe where you stock your closet full of timeless, quality items that go well together. For example, a capsule wardrobe might have:
- Tank tops in white and black
- White and black t-shirts
- A black leather jacket
- A denim jacket
- A trench coat in tan or black
- Jeans
- Black heels or dress shoes
- Black dress pants
- A solid brown or black satchel or purse
- A wristwatch in a neutral color such as tan, black or brown
Take your capsule wardrobe to the next level by going to thrift stores before buying retail. If you’ve looked through your local thrift store’s shelves for capsule pieces but cannot find any quality items at a decent price, head over to the mall. Don’t be afraid to invest a little bit more money on quality items. Why? When you buy higher-quality items, they’ll last longer and you’ll generally save more money in the long run. You’ll also save time as you won’t have to go to the mall or other shop multiple times to replace the item that’s worn out.
Once you’ve stocked a core capsule wardrobe for every season, branch out. Try stocking a travel capsule wardrobe as well so you’re ready to go for your adventures. Say goodbye to overweight baggage!
Step 3: Declutter Other Bedroom Storage Spaces
After you’ve completed your closet decluttering process and have restocked your wardrobe, clean every other space in your bedroom. Go through every single item you own one-by-one – don’t just throw it out! Items you should go through include every single paper, receipt or stray sock. You never know what you may end up finding that you’ll actually need! Speaking from experience, when I declutter, I often find items that I need such as a receipt or warranty certificate. Get organized by investing in some folders and storage bins for papers.
If you’re not sure if you should keep an item or toss it, throw it into an ‘Unsure’ box. Wait 24-48 hours. After 48 hours have gone by, make a decision as to whether you should keep it or not.
Step 4: Clean Your Floors and Everything Else
Finally, clean every other space in your room. Buy some organizers, bags and baskets and label them. After every single item in your bedroom has a destination, it’s time to sweep, mop, dust and vacuum. Once your room is clean, breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the feeling of satisfaction from cleaning your room!
A Checklist for Decluttering the Living Room and Bathroom
Next, it’s time to move on to the decluttering process for your bathroom and living room. In the same way you cleaned your bedroom, start with one area of your living room such as the shelves or tables. Throw out any old magazines, notebooks and old pens that you don’t use or don’t work anymore. Don’t be afraid to dig in the couch and find those old coins. Go through every single drawer in your desk to find old candy wrappers and other junk.
Regarding decluttering the bathroom, a common item that people tend to acquire is old shampoo bottles. Go through your closet and under the bathroom sink to find these old bottles, any plastic wrap from toilet paper your bathroom, expired medication, old nail polish and more. Invest in some storage baskets and a shower rack for your toiletries. After you’ve cleaned out your bathroom and organized your toiletries, scrub down the shower and every other surface in your bathroom and clean the mirrors. Finally, sweep and mop the floors.
A Checklist for Decluttering the Garage and Basement
If you own a garage or have a basement, it’s potentially the space where you acquire the most clutter. Similarly to a bedroom, it’s really easy to just dump old junk in there, close the door and forget about it for months. In the same way you organized and decluttered your bedroom, it’s important to invest in storage bins for recycling, garbage, donations and organizing what you’ll keep. Afterwards, tackle your garage and/or basement one step at a time. Start with all of your boxes. Take out every single item and decide on its final destination. For appliances, decide as to whether or not you use it enough to justify keeping it. For example, if you have both a push mower and a riding mower, keep the one you use the most and donate the other one.
A Final Word on Creating a Checklist for Decluttering Your Home
Creating a checklist for decluttering your home and the actual cleaning process may seem overwhelming. However, if you take it step by step and have a goal in mind, you’ll be well on your way to a clutter-free lifestyle. Take it one step at a time, take breaks and reward yourself for your accomplishments with a treat. If you’re feeling up to it, challenge yourself to declutter in 30 minutes or less. Keep the big picture in mind of enjoying a happier, less chaotic lifestyle!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
