What has been working for me:
1. I tackle one cupboard, drawer, closet, or shelf at a time.
2. Before opening it, I grab a pen and paper and try to remember what I usually take from that space. I write those items down neatly, for example grouped by category.
3. Then I open it and look for the items on my list. Those are the things I actually use (they’re the only ones I remembered were there) so they automatically go into the “keep” pile.
4. Next, I look at everything that’s left and give myself a little grace by allowing myself to keep one or two additional items that are genuinely useful, even if I’d forgotten they were there.
5. Everything else goes.

I love this method! The list makes the whole process so much easier, and it also helps me organize everything afterward.

What do you think? Would you try it out?

I hope posting these pictures encourage others. i like sharing, and I know seeing all your posts help me.

Today hired two organizers and spent 3killer hours in the florida heat of my garage. moved here in 1986 at 9yrs old. can't remember parents ever using the garage for a car.

bunch of junk stacked above our heads to start. found some brand new stuff. now i have so many empty containers, threw a lot of broken ones away, more books books books, found more baseball cards (kept) and my degree (trashed). More quilts and bears made by my mom to remember what she was like before dementia. did have a few boxes to keep, but also several marked to sell/donate. so many old computer parts and cables lol. four cd/tape players. few snes games, my nintendo dsxl i thought had been stolen. some pics from when i went to DC in high school (pics of me next to a beautiful reflecting pool before [redacted]).

still a ton of work to do. but it's been almost a year since dad died, and it means so much to see some progress in the house.

fyi dumpster bag not worth it. cost $30 and $100 to pick it up... I could probably put all this in the bins in 6-8 weeks... slow, but I thought it would hold more. I still have more trash!

ETA: oh I forgot to include the dumpster bag picture. well that's fun. idk how to add it now, but imagine it's FULL lol

This seems like a silly thing to complain about, but for some reason I'm having trouble getting rid of my baby stuff for the "potential second." My partner and I are blessed to have one amazing child already (truly, an amazing kid and a total joy in our lives) who is already almost five years old. I know our kiddo would love a younger sibling and we've been talking about it but we haven't been able to go for it because a wide variety of reasons I won't get into here.

Even so, I need to free up some closet space and just lighten the load in terms of the stuff we have, especially because we need to renovate our house to sell it (it's not the right house for us long term, and it needs a lot of work before we sell it--we want to downsize into something smaller and I do NOT want to rent a storage shed under any circumstances.) So this decluttering summer, I've started getting rid of things I was saving for the "potential second." (Note: I'm not pregnant right now, and probably won't be anytime soon.) Things like a nice clean diaper genie I was storing in the closet, a diaper changing pad, cute clothes and baby toys. I'm having a really hard time with this. Each piece I get rid of, it sounds illogical but it feels like, "Well, I guess we'll never have another baby now for sure--just gave away the diaper genie."

Seeing myself write it out, I know how stupid it is, but for whatever reason it feels that way.

Has anyone ever had the experience with decluttering the "potential future child" stuff? And did it feel like some sort of decision that you were making against your will even?

We lost a baby that had been premature, lived a little while, and died without coming home from the hospital. We have a bunch of pictures, a keepsake container that the hospital gave us, and some other "memory things." We also have three Christmas ornaments. We lost that baby 25 years ago now. We are in our 50's now.

I do not want my children that are left behind to have to face this stuff. I never ever look at this stuff. I have no desire for this stuff. I think originally, I kept this stuff out of guilt. Sort of like I have to keep it as some sort of way of honoring the child who died.

Can I get rid of this stuff now? Or will I feel awful about it later? I have been thinking about this for a while and I really think I just want to get rid of it now. Anyone have advice or experience? Thank you!

edited to add: the stuff I have been struggling with is a keepsake box, some pictures, footprints, the newborn cap, Christmas ornaments, things like that. The toys and clothes and such already moved on.

Just a reminder that most long-distance moving companies charge by either weight or exact volume. I spent three weeks aggressive decluttering our basement and closets before having anyone out for an estimate. I dropped a third of our stuff off at Goodwill and it massively changed our moving budget.

So I've done very well over the last few years of staying at home/self-employment and 'working on the house'. We're fully done with decluttering and organizing all areas of house/garage in the next few days. I know we're never 'fully done' either - I will always need to declutter. But we're at a point where I don't need to 'work on the house' anymore either. Where I can host a party with one day's notice, or house inspection in two days, or maintenance/repair guy needs to come in right now. A very good place to be. It took literal years to get here though. And it helps we're hopefully moving again to a house of our own in the next 18 months.

What does maintenance mode look like for you? Daily chores, weekly chores, and then a once-per-month declutter and organize? Or something else? Basically, what do you do/plan to do when you're all done? What does the future look like for you?

Failure is part of life. Share your decluttering challenges and failures here. Examples include:

• Emotional clutter
• Not enough time
• Getting overwhelmed
• Routing (recycling, donating, trash...)

If you're just venting, or don't want advice, please let us know in your comment.

This is a low-stress place to share challenges and failures for those who might not want to create a new discussion.

I haven’t worn colored nail polish in easily 5-7 years. I do wear a clear coat and I have 1 bottle of that and 1 spare. When I did wear colors and shades, I did my nails weekly, I had about 150-200 bottles in various shades, some with sparkle, etc. I have already gone through them and thrown out the dried up or very thick ones.

Over the weekend I decided to start throwing out like 3-4 at a time. The polishes are still liquidy but the colors have separated inside each bottle. Some vigorous shaking would make the color what it used to be, but I still will not use the color. (It’s okay to include a few bottles in city trash where I live).

They have been stored all these years, even when I used them, in a hanging jewelry thing in my closet (looks like a shoe bag with smaller compartments. I plan to re-use this to organize my many hair accessories that I do use). I cannot believe what happened. I quickly randomly picked 4 bottles, saw them in daylight, put them in my trash can, and I felt something going on in my brain and heart that made me pull them out, wipe off the bottles and put them back again in the hanging holder. Ugh!!

Can I please get suggestions to harden my mindset and just get rid of these? Especially if you have personally experienced this. If I wasn’t going to reuse the jewelry organizers (2 of them, with pouches on front and back of each) I would just throw them all out at once for “chemical pickup”. The organizers were a little pricey, so I would rather not have to buy those again.

I guess I could list them on a Buy Nothing group and leave them in a box on my porch when the weather cools down?

Thanks for reading.

I live in a small apartment with the living room and bed room being just one room and wanted to rearrange my furniture. So i bagged everything up, put it into the hallway and kitchen and rearranged that room. Afterwards, I went through EVERYTHING before it was put back into my room and I decluttered so much stuff. I asked myself "If I move into a new flat, do I wanna take this with me?" The big black plastic trash bag was my best friend and it was so satisfying to see how much I could throw out.

That was my third round of decluttering in the last 12 months and I plan to do a final one before I move at the end of the year.

The most important thing I learned is that you cant declutter everything in one round. Just declutter every few months, and things you didnt want to throw away last year are easier to throw away

So I've been decluttering for weeks. This is my first major declutter. I'm doing everything at once since I just graduated, I'm unemployed, have time, and will move eventually once I get a job. It's so nice being able to open my closet finally, and it is satisfying that everything has a home. I feel so much lighter!

So my space is just a tiny bedroom. I'm on the last couple steps. I just almost finished purging my closet. Besides taking on under my bed, I just have my tshirts. I really want to finish my closet, but I have no space for all those shirts, since my closet is super tiny, maybe 2 or 3 square feet (I got super creative with it. Lots of stuff hanging on my doors and I got a couple hanging cubby thingies for shoes and clothes. Highly recommend for small spaces).

I probably have somewhere between 50-100 tshirts. They are taking up my entire couch in my room and I can't sit on it. They've just been there for the past few days as they are the last category of clothes to go through. The problem is they are so sentimental. I have a super bad memory and I always forget things until I look at the shirt. I get them from events I went to or they hold memories from special things. I just have no idea how to let them go.

I don't really have the money for a quilt or anything. Plus I don't want an extra thing I know I'm not going to use.

So my question is: how can I get the courage to undertake this and start getting rid of them? My friend said to just keep like 5 I wear, but I probably wear half of them regularly that fit but I don't have space for like 30 shirts, haha. Half of my shirts fit, and half don't. I gained a lot of weight recently but am planning on losing it again now that I graduated. My brain is telling me to just get rid of the ones that don't fit but then it's like what if they do fit soon or they hold memories too. I'm so stuck in a mental loop. I need help, haha.

We have lived in our house 35+ years. So.Much.Stuff. I have been working diligently at getting rid of stuff. Then life happens and I get sidetracked. I feel as though I have gotten rid of so much but there is still so much more. I have been in a decluttering mood and was working at it again the other day. 2 of my adult kids randomly stopped by at the same time. They were looking at the piles I had made: donate, keep, toss and undecided. They said this is a good time to tell you this:

WE DO NOT WANT ALL YOUR STUFF! If you are keeping something because you think we want it or it will hold sentimental value to us IT WILL NOT! Please realize that there is so much stuff in this house. We all work full time plus and have families. We don’t have months or even weeks to sort through all this STUFF that you have not been able to get rid of. All Dad’s tools that he thinks are so valuable WE DO NOT NEED, WANT OR HAVE ROOM FOR. Same with all your Christmas stuff, kids books you have saved for us, grandparents yearbooks or china that are all packed away and on and on. They said please realize that respectfully we will have to hire an Estate company. We won’t have time to do anything else. So complete strangers will be going through all this STUFF and just throw it away or sell it all for ridiculously cheap. If you think something is worth money then sell it and spend the money on yourself. For example, we are not going to have the time or space to price Dad’s vintage musical instruments and see what they are worth. They will just go to whoever for cheap or get donated. PLEASE just get rid of this STUFF!

It really made me stop and think. What or who am I keeping this STUFF sitting in boxes for???

I really need to start looking at things with a whole new mindset. I can donate or try Buy Nothing groups versus and estate company just throwing it in the trash.

So I've made a lot of progress over the past couple months. It's not 100% there yet, but it's at a point where I want to be able to say "good enough for now". Basically, everything is either put away on shelves in a way that fits the space, or roughly sorted in drawers or boxes in the closet temporarily so I can declutter one box/drawer at a time, and not have it out in the open in the meantime. I've been going through a couple boxes or drawers a week and paring down quite a lot.

However I'm still stressing about the stuff I do have on the shelves. I think it might be because it's not "done", or just perfectionism.

For example, I donated enough books so that the ones I have left all fit on my bookshelf. So I think I'm happy keeping this number of books, but my brain keeps obsessing over the fact that I technically could get rid of more, and it still feels like too many. But I don't want to be getting rid of things just for the sake of it. I'm keeping some books I read and enjoyed, some I haven't read yet but I'm slowly getting to them over the year. But my brain keeps second guessing if I really need to have them. I have OCD, so I think the thoughts are more due to that than truly having too much.

How can I get past this? It makes it really hard to just relax in my space and do things I enjoy in it.

I have been working on decluttering for the past year and have finally made what I think is a huge success. I filled half of an eight by twenty storage unit over the past year and had a yard sale yesterday and today. The vast majority of what didn't sell ended up being posted for two hours on a buy nothing group. At a set time the buy nothing option ended and friends loaded up three vehicles with almost everything else and took it all to be donated. I have an entire room in my house back and I half a half empty shed.

Bras and bodies age.

That's just a fact. The materials in bras do not improve over time, and often break down.

Your body changes. Even if weight goes up and then comes back down, the way it is shaped changes. This is especially true for breasts.

I pulled on a bra I had not worn in a year or so. I was grabbing the sundress it went with.

I got it on and did not like what it was doing for me. I had changed in the year since I had worn it. It also didn't look like the last year had done it any favors. Elastic wears out, even when you aren't wearing it.

I tossed it. I tossed the undies that went with it, as they similarly didn't work. I tried a bra that I had hoped would do the same job. The band didn't lay right, as I had changed in the 2 years since I bought it. It's beautiful, well made, and only worn once (meant to go with a special occasion dress), so I tossed it in the donate bin. I grabbed something else to wear and kept going.

Bras and undies wear out, even when you are not wearing them. Your body changes while you aren't wearing them. It's okay to just toss things that don't work. It's okay to just donate things and not have something in your drawers that doesn't serve you as you are now.

So this summer I have been decluttering.

We moved into this house in 2024 in the middle of my MA. Then I worked summer school while we had construction happening. Then we went on a long vacation. Then school started again (I am a teacher with a minimum commute of 1 and half hours). Then I got pregnant and was a useless lump lol. Then we had a premature baby.

Now with a 1 year old, I am finally getting rid of crap.

Well what do we do with it? I post it on facebook market place and nothing. Even if its free! One was a nice TV stand shelf thing. I ended up having the dump truck come and get it. Now its baby items... No one wants it...

But id hate to donate it. Would like some money to put back into house.

So what do I do?

Share your wins here - big or small. What did you declutter this week? Examples include:

• Digital Clutter: emails, digital photos, digital music or video collection...
• Storage: cupboards and closets, drawers, storage boxes...
• Toys: ether for your child, or your own that you've been hanging on to.
• Spaces: kitchens, workshops, hobby rooms, storage lockers...
• Routing: sending items to where they need to go, like donation centres, trash, or recycling

This is a low-stress place to share wins for those who might not want to create a new discussion.

I moved countries a year ago and had to give away a lot of my stuff in the process. It was stressful and I wished so much I had done this way ahead of time, rather than saving up clothes and knickknacks for ‘just in case’. I am more conscious of what I buy now, but old habits have a way of creeping up.

I got a few things to make my space feel homelier and one of it is a candle I ordered whose scent I absolutely hate. It gives me a headache and I’ll probably never use it. But I can’t bring myself to throw it away because I just got it, and it melted on the way and I tried to fix it so it looks too messy to give someone. I could do with some tough love to just say goodbye without regretting too much.

I had some health issues that spanned several years and I was low energy and sedentary as a result. I’m finally feeling like I am getting back to myself and excited to refresh my environment but MY GOD I HAVE ACCUMULATED SO MUCH!!!! I don’t even know how, or why but I have duplicates of things and too much in each room. I’ve always been a staunch minimalist with a small doomsday prepper cabinet—but even that has been organized and well maintained! I used to regularly deep clean and purge and I’m really seeing the danger of not doing that.

Just posting for support and accountability!! I will post progress periodically.

Right now my plan is to do one room at a time and when I get overwhelmed I tackle something small that I can complete. For example my bedroom is a nightmare but I was able to conquer the guest bathroom and that felt like a win!!

Would appreciate any tips or words of encouragement!!

🙏🙏🙏

Please can someone help me with this... I have no idea how to start decluttering this 'category" of stuff.

I am a hoarder and I'm in burnout recovery (mental health and PTSD and untreated ADHD plus lots of other stuff).

I'm a very deep&emotional person at the best of times... I have been through a lot and I struggle letting go.. or feeling safe to even start trying...

I do a lot of writing (journaling over the years) that has helped me a lot to get through a lot of things... This bag here I could literally just put in the bin without looking at it - but I can't do it. I want to go through everything and check/make sure what's there... But then I know I'll be keeping hold of it for however much longer. 😖

But *ugh* it just feels impossible! For someone who isn't a hoarder/has emotional, mental health stuff, I know this probably seems absurd 😔

Today I finally took a bunch of old electronics to a return point where they will be appropriately disposed of. I know this sounds like a small thing, but for me it's an accomplishment.

I get nostalgic and attached to things. So as I was standing there with an old modem in my hand, I was actually considering whether I should take it home again. Or at least the charger? Or at least the ethernet cable?

I took a few deep breaths and put it all in the collection box and went home empty-handed.

Feeling very proud of myself and just wanted to share.

Wishing everyone good decluttering energy!

I can't tell if I should get rid of some things that I have. Things like rarely-used beauty products, coffee table books, art supplies, one off objects for sports or art that could be useful /etc.

The thing is, I technically have space for them. They are in boxes in cupboards and not "in the way" and nothing is overflowing or a pain. I am stuck on what to do. I've got the time to go through this stuff now which is why I'm doing it, but I'm also suffering from depression so I can't quite tell if my thoughts about "I'll never use it again" are in fact true, or just depression talking.

Anyone relate?

Hi folks As the title says my microwave caught on fire tonight. All is ok, I removed it from my house before it burst into flames and called 000.

I'm right in the middle of a 2 week long whole house declutter. Two main thoughts hit me in regards to decluttering. The first is I haven't got to my paperwork purge yet, but because of previous decluttering I know exactly where it is and its ready to grab and go. The second is my entrance/exits was completely accessible and unobstructed. I had also completed the deep clean of the kitchen countertops, behind and around the appliances including the microwave yesterday so it was easy to turn off the main power unplug the sucker and get it the hell out of my house after i heard the strange pop sound and smelt smoke.

The microwave itself was gifted from a family member and was ancient. They're actually trying to offload a "newer" 20+ year old microwave to me. After I called to tell them what happened she still tried to convince me to take her microwave. #^#%!%%@%& I just can't except these hand me.downs anymore, family member will just need to deal with the feelings around tossing things. I have my own executive dysfunction to deal with 😮‍💨

I am stuck in an endless loop with these thoughts. I’ve declutterred so much over the years and now I’m down to the small fiddly things or things that hold emotional value but I honestly am resentful over keeping just because I’m sick of stuff.

I tend to declutter in waves so spaces gradually get better, but I have ASD, ADHD, and PMDD so I get really hung up on everything having a designated home. I also don’t know what to do with some of the stuff that I don’t want but don’t want getting thrown at donation centers or in the garbage (think things that end up in the little “buy a bag of random things” at value village).

I also have the “but I might need this random drawer pull or art supply or piece of fabric” thing going when I wouldn’t even notice if I didn’t own it. The issue is I’ve regretted throwing things out or donating in the past.

I’m just so sick of shuffling the same stuff from one space to another (half empty spray paint, random tapes, silly little toys) but I feel like I’m stuck with it all. I’ve given myself permission to just throw it out but I don’t know what the mental block is.

Edit: y’all are so helpful, seriously, thank you! I’m going to slowly start tackling this so my brain can feel calm again

I almost feel guilty for not doing this the rest of the year but I realized it’s been so easy to just buy disposable beverages and takeout- with that not available I’m finally using up my pantry and teas, vitamins, and supplements! And saving $! Anyone else doing this too?

Help!! I am helping an elderly relative sort and downsize. She has been doing great, we made it through books, papers, knicknacks, all of the kitchen. She did her clothes on her own.

She has no cognitive decline but has had multiple joint surgeries and has severe arthritis. I am her "hands and body". But i see a looming issue. And i do not know how to navigate it.

She used to be an artist. Drawing, painting and hung stuff in a gallery or two or more, i have no idea, before they moved multiple atates to be near family as they age. Hence the downsizing. They did not clean out before moving ao i am helping now.

She has a room of boxed art. Yup. Whole room. This is very much her identity. She can still draw and paint but not like before. She does small pieces and needs a desk/small painting area.

I have donated about one day a week (my friday off) for a few months now. At the beginning we inventoried the artwork. We are now getting down to the point where we will be left with that room, which is needed for use, not storage. We set a 6 month window to downsize and unpack for them.

The problem is her art. No one she knows wants it. She was... Prolific. Most family already have a piece or two. We have two ofnher pieces and they are lovely, but... Large. People only have so much wall space.

She has a mix of sunk cost in it (the cost of canvas, frame) and personal identity because she created it.

Help. How do i help her let go? It is blocking her being happy here and doing the stuff she used to do but the emotional side i need help freeing her.

I *know* that i am just the hands and feet to move stuff but there will be a point where i am asked what to do.

*Edit*

A couple of questions keep coming up.

1. She still does art and this would be space for her to do art.

2. The pieces are large and framed. Think costco tv boxes i am inventorying for her. The room is, tight.

3. She still wants to do art, she is doing smaller pieces now so frames cannot be re -used but she still makes and it brings her joy. (Or was before the move itself and wants to after we make this space available for her)

4. I am not a decision maker. I am an encourager, point in a new direction-er, drop ideas-er, and mover and lifter and hauler.

5. The artist herself is not in a facility, she has reduced ability in hands and shoulders not brain or mental capacity. (This is why i am once a week going over there and spending a few hours moving boxes for her to sort and then taking whatever is designated from the previous weeks sort to thrift, consignment (clothes and some furniture so far) etc. she is still a character and all herself. Family is respecting her decisions so far that i have seen.

Also- you guys are awesome!!!! So many really good ideas. I am, slowly, going to mention these, yes i took notes, to her immediate family and to her so they have some tools to help with the massive amount of art.