Common Areas Of Your Home To Declutter

We all have a little more junk around our home than we’d like to admit. For some of us, the amount of stuff we have might start to feel crushing and unbearable. We all could stand to get rid of some stuff, and every one of us can benefit from getting rid of clutter that we don’t need.

Clutter is not only bad for your home, but also for your health! Clutter can cause stress and lead you to feel like your life is spiraling out of control! Here are some common areas of your home you need to declutter, and some tips on how to declutter them.

Pantry

While the pantry might sound like a prominent place to look for excess, this is the most common spot for forgotten clutter. You might be saying to yourself that there is only food in your pantry, but the truth is that if you were to take everything out, you would probably find expired food or food you don’t plan to eat! You may also see additional bins that used to hold these items as well. To declutter this space, take everything out of your pantry and go through each thing you have.

Bookshelves

Whether they only serve a decorative purpose, or you use them to house your massive library collection, they still need to be decluttered! Go through your bookshelves and evaluate your items based on the following:

• Books: If you don’t plan on rereading the book, get rid of it. If you haven’t read it yet, will you read it within the next year or can you check it out from the library if you change your mind at a later date?
• Decorative items: Do these things spark joy? Are you happy when you look at them or are they just taking up real estate in your home?
• Do you even need a bookcase to hold these items? Or do you own the bookshelf because you have these things?
• Storage files: Do you need to hang on to these? Is there a more logical place for them?

Shower

This one might sound silly, but I bet there is at least one thing you don’t need sitting in your shower right now! When I went to declutter my shower, I found not one or two, but four bars of soap in my shower! I guess I was wanting to try all the new scents I found! The truth is that our shower tends to collect shower supplies even if we don’t use them. Go through your shower and get rid of any half-empty bottles of shower supplies and slivers of bar soaps you won’t be using. If you don’t need four bar soaps in your shower at once, just move them to a storage location and use them up one at a time. It’s also time to throw out the old razors, scrubbers, empty sample packages and the rest of the items you no longer use or need.

Nightstand

This goes for both the top of the nightstand and the drawers within the nightstand. Our nightstands can hold a surprising amount of clutter! When it comes to hiding eyesores, we tend to shove these items in our nightstand, even if we don’t use them while in bed! Clear out your nightstand, and leave only what you need for bedtime in this area.

Pet Toy Bins

Wherever your furry friend holds their toys is probably a spot you need to reconsider. Our pets seem to get more toys per year than they could ever enjoy! Go through their toys and pare them down with just the ones they use. I promise you’ll be donating more toys than you think!

Toys

On the topic of toys, let’s talk about your kid’s toys. You’ll probably notice bins or areas of your home where toys seem to collect. This may be because of well thought out containers, or just where they happen to find their way to. Gather all of the toys together in place and go through them. You may find that these areas are unnecessary.

Stockpile Area

If you coupon regularly and have started building a stockpile, you may want to consider going through it. Make sure you aren’t housing any expired products or products you won’t use. Even if you got them for free, it doesn’t make sense to hold onto something you won’t use.

While some of these areas may sound like common sense, it is often these areas of the home that are forgotten! When you start decluttering your home this year, don’t forget to check these areas for excess as well.

YOUR TURN: Do your knickknacks spark joy? Are you happy when you look at them? Are there things you can let go of? Let me know in the comments below!

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