Start to organize your home with a printable declutter checklist of 75 things you can throw away now.
In May, we will have been in our house for 12 years. We moved in as an almost married couple and have since become a family with twin boys, two dogs, a cat... and a lot of stuff. Seriously, where did it all come from? I hate moving and have every intention of staying in this house until I am very old and gray, but I have come to realize that I have let too much junk accumulate here in the past few years. And now it is time to declutter the house and strive towards keeping it that way.
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I've been making great progress towards decluttering - I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and applied it to my bedroom closet, getting rid of clothes that I hadn't worn since before we moved here. And my twins helped me with a major toy purge before Christmas. And the lesson I learned from both of these projects? We haven't missed a thing that we've purged, and we are so much happier with what we have kept.
So now I'm moving on to a whole house declutter and I'm armed with a list of 75 things to throw away. These are things that everyone has lying around taking up space, making your closets and drawers crowded and unorganized. I guarantee that if you toss these things today, you won't miss them tomorrow (or a year from now). Ready to declutter your house? Let's get started.
75 Things to Throw Away Now to Declutter Your House
In the Kitchen
- Extra cups and mugs (how many can your household realistically use?)
- Plastic cutlery
- Expired food
- Unused plastic containers, especially if they don’t have a lid
- Multiple pairs of scissors (keep only two if you must keep multiple)
- Travel mugs that are ugly/missing lids/don't keep things hot or cold well
- Duplicate kitchen utensils
- Cookie cutters you don’t use
- Cake pans you don’t use
- Extra mason jars
In the Bathroom
- Makeup that has expired
- Outdated drugs or vitamins
- Excess bobby pins
- Dried up nail polishes
- Unused perfume or colognes
- Makeup you’ve never used
- Extra travel size shampoo bottles
- Curling irons or straighteners you don’t use
- Half used lip balm containers
- Expired sunscreen
In the Bedrooms
- Extra plastic hangers
- Socks with holes or without mates
- Old sneakers
- Jewelry you don’t wear
- Clothes that are more than 2 sizes too big or small
Paper Clutter
- Old bills
- Paychecks older than 2 years
- Old newspapers
- Ticket stubs
- Extra notebooks
- Old Christmas cards
- Old calendars
- Boxes
- Expired coupons
- Old day planners
- Take out menus (you can easily find this information online)
Linens & Decor
- Rugs or decor you don’t use
- Extra pillows
- Extra bed linens (you should have two sets per bed)
- Extra cleaning rags
- Tea light candles (use them or lose them)
- Knick knacks you don’t like or don't display
- Candles you don’t use
Technology & Entertainment
- Magazines (you can read hundreds of them online, some of them for free)
- Books you will never read again
- Old technology such as CDs, VHS tapes (especially if you don’t own a player), etc.
- Movies you won’t watch again
- More ear buds than you have family members
- Toys that never get played with
- Games with missing pieces
- Video games or board games you never play
- Cords that don’t belong to anything you currently own
- Duplicate power cords that never get used
- Travel alarm clock (use your phone)
- Old phone covers or screen protectors
- Stuffed animals your kids don’t love anymore
Everything Else
- Projects that are half-finished
- Old paint
- Old product boxes
- Matches you’ll never use
- Things you bought and still haven’t returned (take them back!)
- Loose screws, nuts, bolts, etc.
- Holiday decor you don’t use
- Old party supplies
- Old wedding favors
- Cleaning supplies you don’t use
- Flower pots (either plant a flower or toss the pot)
- Watering cans, if you don’t have plants or flowers, or if you have more than one
- Extra buttons
- Extra highlighters
- Samples of any kind that you aren’t using
- Tape measures (keep one and toss the rest)
- Miscellaneous ribbons or string
- Organizers that aren’t in use
- Keychains you don’t use
Get a Free Printable Declutter Checklist
Grab this free printable declutter checklist with all 75 things to throw away - it's a perfect match for my cleaning planner and will help kick start your home organizing. Simply download it by clicking the button below, print, and take it with you as you work your way towards a more organized home.
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