I love a good declutter, and find myself decluttering certain areas of my home regularly.

When I declutter my home I instantly feel more relaxed, and I spend less time tidying up at the end of the day.

In this post I’m sharing 11 ways to declutter your home, which are 11 areas of my home that I declutter regularly.

I find that once these 11 areas are under control in my own home, I have more time to do the things that I want to do, instead of doing things that I have to do.

I hope that if you decide to declutter these 11 areas in your home, you’ll also feel more relaxed and spend less time tidying up, and more time enjoying your home life.

WHAT DOES DECLUTTERING MEAN?

For me, decluttering means removing any items from my home that I don’t love, that I don’t need, or that don’t add any value to my family’s life.

Anything that isn’t decluttered then has to be stored somewhere in my home where it gets used, and where it will stay until it gets decluttered at some point in the future.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DECLUTTERING?

Decluttering your home room by room, or decluttering a single room or drawer that bugs you to no end, means that you’ll spend less time at the end of each day tidying up, simply because you’ll have less items to tidy, and also because the items you do have, have dedicated storage solutions.

An added benefit of decluttering your home, is that more often than not it will be in a state you’re proud of when unexpected guests pop by.

The ultimate goal of decluttering is to have a home that makes you feel happy, relaxed, and stress free.

SOME DECLUTTERING TIPS

Before I go into the 11 ways to declutter your home, I have a few tips that I use when decluttering my own home.

Firstly, any type of decluttering system that you read about should be used purely as a guide. Only you know the best way to declutter your home, and what you do and don’t want to keep, as well as how you want to store any kept items.

I also recommend decluttering one room at a time, starting with a room that really annoys you. This means that you won’t get overwhelmed with the task, and also won’t end up having multiple rooms with decluttered items lying over the floor.

I also like to treat my decluttering activities as an on going process, decluttering each room of my home every couple of months. I even set reminders in my phone when it’s time to declutter again.

I’m also going to suggest some decluttering storage solutions throughout this post, but the best thing to do is declutter your home first, then think about storage solutions second.

11 WAYS TO DECLUTTER YOUR HOME

Here are 11 ways to declutter your home.

DECLUTTERING YOUR HOME IN ONE QUICK SESSION

If you have a few rooms that currently have items in them that don’t belong there, grab a box or laundry hamper, then go into each room and remove the items, then put them in the rooms they belong to.

Although you’re not removing each item from your home, I still consider this decluttering, as you’re removing items that don’t belong in a room, therefore, making the room less cluttered.

I do this form of decluttering whenever I leave a room, by taking anything out of the room that doesn’t belong there, and then putting it where it does.

DECLUTTERING THE KITCHEN

It’s very easy for the kitchen to feel over cluttered, simply because it’s an area of the home that we are in a lot.

I always start my kitchen declutter with the fridge, as due to it being quite small, I feel like it’s always cluttered and disorganised, which just makes me annoyed when I open the doors.

I schedule a fridge clean out once a month in my bullet journal.

When decluttering my fridge I take everything out of it and throw out items that are out of date, clean every shelf and door, and then put whatever is left back into the storage containers they belong in.

If you’d like to see more on my fridge declutter process, and the fridge storage solutions that I have in place, then please visit this post how to declutter and organise your fridge.

Another area to declutter in the kitchen is your cutlery and crockery supplies. Go through all of your cutlery and crockery and only keep as many sets as you really need, and donate the rest. I keep six sets of each, which is enough for Nick, Ryan, and I, and guests.

Slotted spoons, wooden spoons, measuring cups, saucepans, and the like can also be decluttered. Donate anything you have duplicates of, and recycle any items that are burnt, cracked, or damaged.

Store your most used items in a utensil holder, somewhere easily accessible whilst you’re cooking. Mine is right next to my cooktop.

Other areas of kitchen clutter include pots, pans, and plastic containers.

Recycle any pots or pans that are damaged, and then store the remainder somewhere that’s not on the counter top.

I store my saucepan lids in an over door saucepan lid holder, so they’re out of sight. I store my pans in a frying pan holder, hidden away in one of my cupboards.

For plastic containers, recycle any that don’t have lids, or that don’t have bottoms, and that you have duplicates of. Then put the rest away.

DECLUTTERING CLOTHING

Decluttering clothing is a fantastic way to lessen the options you have to choose from each day, making your getting ready time more efficient.

If you’d like to learn how to declutter your clothing, then please visit this wardrobe update post.

DECLUTTERING CHILDREN’S CLOTHING

I find that the best way to declutter your children’s clothing is when they’re just about to outgrow the clothing they currently have.

When Ryan’s in between sizes I empty his entire wardrobe, and donate anything that only just fits, doesn’t fit at all, or that he has duplicates of.

DECLUTTERING CHILDREN’S TOYS

I have dedicated areas in Ryan’s toy room where his toys go, which I’ve detailed in this post toy room declutter and toy storage ideas.

A great way to declutter your children’s toys is to go through each area of their toy room and put any toys that they no longer play with, that aren’t age appropriate, or that are broken or missing pieces in a garbage bag.

Anything that’s not broken can be donated or sold, and anything that’s broken can be recycled or thrown out.

Decluttering your children’s toys regularly hopefully minimises the number of toys that find themselves in other rooms.

DECLUTTERING PAPERWORK

Paperwork build up is something that’s just started happening in my home, and I don’t like it.

We’re in the process of selling our Melbourne home, so I’ve been putting signed contracts on top of my sugar, tea, and coffee canisters, which are next to my toaster.

I chose this location as it’s somewhere that I see on a daily basis, so I thought that it meant I’d be motivated to clear it away regularly, so far it hasn’t.

So, if there’s paperwork that you’ve yet to deal with, or that can’t be recycled or filed away just yet, like my paperwork, then the best thing to do is find a way to store it neater.

In my case, I’m still going to store it next to my toaster, but instead of piling it up, I’m going to purchase a letter holder, which is just the right size not to take up too much counter space

Once you’ve dealt with the paperwork, you can then recycle it or file it away, keeping paperwork clutter to a minimum.

DECLUTTERING BOOKS

I love reading, but don’t have a bookshelf in my current home.

If this is the case for you, or if you have limited space on your bookshelf, then my advice is to only keep books that you’d read again, or borrow books from the library.

DECLUTTERING YOUR CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Children somehow accumulate a lot of books, I suspect the reason this happens in my home is because I get sick of reading the same books over and over, so buy Ryan new ones to keep things interesting.

A great way to declutter your children’s books is to regularly go through them and donate any that aren’t age appropriate, that your child no longer likes, or let’s face it, that you don’t want to read anymore.

DECLUTTERING JEWELLERY

To declutter your jewellery, go through your jewellery and donate anything that you no longer like, or that doesn’t go with anything that you wear.

Then for the items you want to keep, think about storing them in a wardrobe hanging jewellery organisers.

DECLUTTERING YOUR BEDSIDE TABLE

I try to keep my bedside table as clutter free as possible, by having bedside tables that have drawers in them.

The only thing I have on my bedside table is a photo of Nick and I, an alarm clock, and the book I’m currently reading. Everything else can hide away in the drawers.

DECLUTTERING YOUR LINEN CUPBOARD

The only storage cupboard I have at the moment is the linen cupboard, which is taken up by the boiler, so there are only two shelves in there that I can use for linen and towels.

To ensure that your linen cupboard stays clutter free, only keep enough linen and towels that you absolutely need, and only keep pillow cases that go with a number of different duvets that you have.

Anything else can be donated, and any damaged linen can be given to someone who is able to fix it and loves it.

TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME

Decluttering your home should be enjoyable, and make you feel much better about your surroundings.

Take it one step at a time, treat it like a marathon, and not a race.

It’s not something that has to be done all at once, it can be something that you tackle regularly so you are constantly only keeping things, and bringing things, into your home that make it a place of relaxation and serenity for you and your family.

Once you start decluttering your home, you may feel inspired to keep going, it is definitely an addictive activity, as the end result makes you feel so much better about your surroundings.

What areas of your home need decluttering the most, and how do you plan to declutter them?