Decluttering: Tips for Success

In my experience, most organization projects start with decluttering. But what does decluttering mean?

Taken literally, it means removing clutter. In the context of tidying and organizing, decluttering is the process of deciding what to keep, and what to discard. When you begin an organization project - whether that's your closet, your garage, or your files and documents - you need to decide what you're keeping before you can start to think about where you're keeping it and how you would like it to be sorted.

As a professional home organizer, a lot of my time with clients is spent helping them declutter. It may sound like a straightforward process, but it's easy to get sidetracked, or lose focus on which items you actually value, and start to keep things you may not actually want to hold onto. Sometimes, just having another person there to guide you and keep you accountable can make a huge difference in a successful decluttering process.

To get started, think about which space, area, or type of item you want to organize. For this example, we'll talk about clothes.

Start by taking everything out and putting it in a pile - the bed is usually a good spot for this so you have enough room to work with. If you have too many clothes or not enough time to go through everything, start with one category, like shirts, or athletic wear.

Pick up each item one at a time. If you're not immediately sure that it's something you want to hold onto, ask yourself a few questions:

• How often do I use this item?

• If I saw it in a store today, would I buy it?

• Does looking at it, touching it, or just knowing that I have it spark joy? (Read more about the KonMari method and the idea of sparking joy here)

• If it doesn't spark joy, does it serve a specific purpose, such as a raincoat?

• Does it need to be repaired? Do I value this item enough to go through the trouble of repairing it?

• If I had to move all of my belongings to the other side of the world next week, would this be important enough to bring with me?

Thinking about these questions can be helpful in deciding whether to keep or discard something.

You may run into items that you don't wear or use, but that are beautiful to look at, or hold sentimental value. Some organizers would tell you that you need to get rid of those garments, but I think it's important to surround yourself with beautiful things that you love. If it brings you joy, it's worth keeping!

In some cases, we feel obligated to keep something we don't like or don't use because it was a gift, or because it was expensive. In both cases, the guilt of having the item but not using it is weighing you down, and I promise you'll feel better removing those items from your life. If you feel bad about discarding a gift, try regifting it to someone else in your life who may appreciate it more. For items that were expensive, you can gift those as well, or sell them to someone who truly does want them. You can sell used or pre-owned goods on sites like eBay or Facebook Marketplace, or in person at your local thrift or vintage stores.

As you begin decluttering and decide which items you want to hold onto, sort things into these categories: keep, donate/give away, repair, and throw away.

Be careful with the "repair" category - make sure you're only keeping things that you either will repair yourself or will be able to pay someone to fix for you. If you've had items in the to-be-repaired pile for a while, it may be time to acknowledge that you will not put in the effort to fix them, and let those pieces go.

Items to be thrown away are anything damaged or stained beyond repair, or things that people don't like to buy used, like socks and underwear. That said, there are a few organizations that recycle or donate used bras.

For other textiles like sheets and towels that are harder to donate, try reaching out to your local animal shelter!

It can be overwhelming to take on a home organizing project and realize that you have a lot that you need or want to declutter, but once you get started and get a feel for which items are important and worth keeping, it will go faster than you think.

For help decluttering, or for more suggestions on where to donate or sell items that you no longer use, please reach out to me here.