r/declutter

I used to sew a great deal - quilts, aprons etc. I eventually quit sewing but was left with two large totes of beautiful fabric. I thought so many times about getting rid of it but I would look at the fabric and put it away again. Today was the day though. I have been trying to clear a closet I use for storage and decided I was ready to part with it. Listed the fabric on Marketplace and it was sold and gone in a couple hours. I kept pictures.

This may be old hat for many of you, but this tip has saved me more times than I can count.

The target: an item(specifically one that isn’t trash and has objective value as its own item) that you know you should get rid of and don’t love anymore, but it’s a Gift/has sentimental value/used to be our favorite and maaaybe it could be again

The process: close your eyes and picture a person who would love this object. you can make them whoever you want. Maybe its an old lady who has all the other parts of this matching set of Little Angel dolls. Maybe its a teenager who is just starting to cultivate their style and is trying to find skirts just like the ones you wore as a 20 year old. Maybe it’s some weird funny fellow who collects ceiling fans and has been HOUNDING over this model and just can’t find it on eBay.

Now, picture them finding this item in a thrift store. Picture that old lady picking it up and peering at it. Picture that teenager trying your skirt on and goin “⭐️👅⭐️ I look so cool”. picture that odd fella giddily texting his Fans of Fans group chat that he finally found the c90XT with internal rotator socket.

If you could hand this person that thing, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you prefer they get joy out of this item that you’ve been holding onto out of a sense of dogged obligation, probably to an aunt who has no idea she even gave you that damn figurine? For every item that you’re sitting there laboring over, there is a human being in this world for whom it is special, exciting or absolutely life-saving. And sure, maybe that person won’t walk into that thrift store. But they’re definitely not going to walk into your closet. So go put it somewhere they might find it and hope that they do.

I’ve moved to mostly ebooks but have a small keeper bookshelf for physical copies of books I truly love.

My mom is a huge bookworm to the point that books have literally taken over her home. Over the past 2 decades, she has gifted me piles & piles of physical books. To be honest, I’ve never read any of them. They appeal to what she likes instead of my preferences. I absolutely understand the psychology behind her actions but the end result is my office has turned into the Guilt Book Room. I’ve been unable to part with any of the books because I feel like it’s a betrayal of her time/effort/love.

Today I went through every single book and ended up keeping 3-4 out of 100+. It was exhausting. I’m going to donate to a little library near me and the library. I feel fantastic seeing the cleared space but also very guilty.

What it says on the tin.

I have a bunch of haor ties/scrunchies that I don't have the hair for anymore but don't want to get rid of. I've downsized the collection before, but they still take up a lot of space in the drawer. I don't even know if I want to let my hair grow out again, because I prefer it shorter.

What do I do with them? I don't need them, I have no use for them...but what if???

I've moved from a 1 bed (55 sqm / 590 sqft) apartment to a 3 bed (80 sqm / 860) sqft apartment. I've been enjoying the increased space and I want to keep it that way!

In the process of moving, I discovered how much stuff I have. Yikes! It gives me stress to look at all the stuff I've accumulated. I decided before moving that I would put all my moving boxes into one room and declutter from there.

One of the movers gave me a tip to unpack slowly and declutter in the process. It's so easy to just hide things in cupboards!

I grew up in a household that accumulated a lot of stuff "just in case" but I'm trying to undo that.

Do you all have any other tips? I want to declutter soon but I don't want to rush the process. How can I plan my decluttering and make it a sustainable process if I have to take time for it?

Note: I live in Europe, if that makes a difference.

I have read post after post about decluttering, along with probably a million blogs, a good chunk of the self-help books, and watched YouTube for days. None of it seems to help.

I have always had a lot of stuff, I fully understand some of that is a trauma response (I have had a lot of therapy), as my family moved frequently right up until I moved out (when I got married) and sometimes moved without much warning. It was like I couldn't keep the place, but I could at least take my stuff. I also ended up in a line of work where being the handy person who always seems to have what is needed is highly regarded, and I love shopping and crafts and upcycling and projects (I can see potential/value in everything). You can probably see how this combination of circumstance is leading to disaster. It gets worse.

Bought my first house with my husband just a few years after we got married, finally a place that was just ours that no one could take away. Then he died (tragically) about four years later. All the existing "stuff" issues have been complicated by grief and loss (his, plus other close family and friends over the years). In all the clutter I see either a memory, or a project, or something that 'could be useful'. I just don't know how to get past all the feelings and make decent progress.

It is affecting my relationship and I am very much exhausted/depressed. I have also asked friends & family so (SO) many times to stop giving me "things" as gifts because once in my house I have a beyond hard time letting it go (it was a gift!), they say they understand but often persist because gift-giving is one of the ways people show their love. I don't want to be a minimalist by any means, but there is just too much stuff in the space and the mental noise is loud.

I am drowning in stuff and emotions and I am at a loss for what to do with either. If anyone has been in a similar place to this and made progress in decluttering/downsizing, how???

Thanks in advance for replies/kind words of support:)

I've been listening to Dana K. White while I do the decluttering work, and it's been very motivating. What books should I listen to next to keep this motivation going?

I’m the last on my side of my family, so there’s no one to pass family items down to. Hubby has a daughter, so his stuff is his stuff and his decisions. I’m down to one tote of family photographs.

I’m lucky enough to have a large storage room. Hubby has one wall of totes that are his stuff to figure out. Monday I pulled out the last of my totes and threw out one large garbage bag of stuff. Duplicate photos, blurry photos, photos of people I don’t have a clue who they are! One medium tote left.

I also threw out my two high school yearbooks. Not a bit of guilt there. Hubby did ask me to rip out the pages with my pictures so he can scan them to his Ancestry account (whatever). I don’t have fond memories of school. We moved every year or two, while Hubby has deep bonds with his high school friends.

Now for the “it was meant to be” part.

I pulled some pictures out of frames, and on the back of a picture of Dad and the dog was the dog’s AKC birth certificate: 8/17/1990.

I did this clean-up on 8/17/2026.

I’m taking that as the universe giving me a little nod that it’s okay.

I also pulled my paperwork out of the filing cabinet and will start a scanning project. It’s not a lot — maybe 2 inches worth of hanging folders. An old divorce decree from the ’90s, an old check fraud case, things like that. I could probably just shred all, but I’ll scan them first. I’m officially out of the four-drawer filing cabinet!

I had also brought home my Christmas decorations from work, and they had been sitting in a box on the floor for…this long. They’re now put away with the rest of the Christmas stuff.

I’ll admit it: I have two shelves of Christmas decorations, a box for a 7.5-foot tree, and a rolling ornament cart. Christmas this year will be a decluttering project. For now, it’s fine. The floor between the metal shelves is actually clear!

I do have a sewing machine I need to find a new home for. It might have belonged to Hubby’s mother rather than mine, and he says either way, he’s fine with it going. It’s an ancient Singer. It will probably go to the local no-buy group soon.

I also have heated seats for a sports car that I need to find a new home. That is in the works as well, if that person doesn't want they will be going in the trash week by week until pieces are gone. Yes I still have the sports car they fit, but I will never change out. I thought I wanted heated seats! (Hubby has all the original parts for my car as we did upgrades as well.)

We retired last month, and I’ve been carting around from various jobs an electric hole punch, pencil sharpener, stapler, labels, folders, notebooks…you name it. I put it all by the front door for someone from the no-buy group to pick up. He just started a new job and can use all of it. Perfect!

Finally, so the newly empty shelves wouldn’t immediately become cluttered again, I spread out our luggage on them. It’s actually easier to get to now, too.

It was a very productive Monday morning.

Apparently retirement means I’ve reached the “empty shelves, scan old papers, give away office supplies, and interpret dog birth certificates as signs from the universe” stage.

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.

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.

When I moved to this house, nearly 6 years ago, we had a lot of towels. A lot of linens. Too many. More than we could use, and more than we had initial space to store them. That first year, I started the household linens declutter plan.

1. Immediately donate linens (towels, bedding) with any staining or disrepair to local animal rescue non-profit.

2. Immediately donate good quality linens that were the wrong size, or not matched to a set to charity.

3. Gradually, as we figured out decor, donate quality linens that we were positive we would not use as they didn't match the bedroom or bathroom. I made donations or gave away linens 2-3 times a year until the last 2 years, when we were finally down to just the sets we needed. That meant one set of linens per bed, and just enough towels for 1 week of use for the two of us, plus one set of towels per guest for the maximum number of guests we have in the house. 2 beach towels. And two towels for me to use for daily swimming. I cleaned out the bathroom linen closet, and put linens storage, contained, in each bedroom.

My partner wasn't sure about this. When he lived alone he had enough towels for a small army, which overtook a hall linen closet. He struggled with putting anything away. So the idea that we would wash bed and bath linens and immediately remake beds, or immediately rehang towels seemed odd to him. But it makes putting away the laundry a breeze.

We finally wore out the towels after four years constant use. I noticed fraying in the towels, bathmats and shower curtain in the last few weeks, and I ordered replacements. It happened all about the same time. The cost to replace all at once was minimal, after shopping deals. The bedding is still going strong. The worn towels will get repurposed for the shop and dirty jobs.

And I don't have clutter in any bedroom or bathroom closet.

Fabrics are consumables. And to me, it's satisfying to not have more than we need, use, or want.

1. gathered unused items to donate for door prizes for a mini convention : including two unused passport holders that have been lying around for several years

2)gathered up school supplies bought on sale but not used! Donated to Tiff's Treats which still is accepting donations for two free cookies

3)dropped off a bag of costume masks/supplies for Halloween recycling

I've been selling/giving away some of my items on marketplace and recently I posted about an old piece of furniture I was going to throw out anyways.

Well, anyone who replied has been giving me the runaround and it made me delete the post all together. The same thing happened with another post and I got quite upset with the man who was asking about it. Ended up selling to a nice lady who arrived within 30 minutes of me replying to her.

Definitely plan to get rid of the couch but might just throw it away or call a place where they'll come pick it up. When did marketplace get so bad? Like if you're asking about it tell me if you're going to show up or not. Even after giving the address they don't show up.

It's hot. A bit too hot for me to sit outside right now. Got a visitor who currently has control of the TV remote and there is only so much daytime TV repeats I can cope with out of politeness! Perfect opportunity to stop putting off the inevitable.

I've got to put away the washing I've just caught up on after the building works....but I'm determined not to simply shove the stuff 'out of sight, out of mind'. I have to sort it out as I go.

I'm doing it in stages as it's so hot upstairs but I'm on my first drinks break and I've already got a pile of 10 items that I've tried on and decided against keeping.

Little black dresses that wouldn't fit the brief anymore and if I need one in the future, I'd find a style that suits my 'now' body shape and size.....polka dots might be 'in' but not all dots are made the same (at least not for my backside!).....a dress that I looked at on the hanger and my first reaction was 'why would I buy THAT?'...

Next stage.....I think it's time to face the fact that the two dresses I've kept for years for 'parties' and felt a million dollars in.....let's just say that I'd be surprised if they could wrap around one leg anymore. I've realised that as sad as I will be to let them go, I feel sadder every time I see them in the wardrobe knowing that I'll never (EVER) be able to wear them again and I'd probably look very dated even if I did. I managed to let go of my old dinner service when we finished the kitchen work so this has given me the boost that I need to finally say goodbye to these dresses.

Tastes change, fashion changes and bodies definitely change (at least mine definitely has 🤣) I think that's the push I've needed to finally let go of some of this stuff.

I'm hoping that later today, it'll cool down enough for me to sit outside with a cold drink and my book....I'll have earned it by then.

Hope you're all having a nice day too.

I mentally map out what items I would want to keep, so I'm in my living room and thinking I should keep some basic stationery like scissors, tape etc. batteries, a few board games, my knitting and sewing supplies (which I've already decluttered and don't have a stash of stuff, I find a pattern then buy the materials and do it, but I have knitting needles and some other basic supplies) I've got a small selection of books on a shelf that I want to keep. So I decide to get rid of everything else that doesn't fit into what I've decided to keep. But then I go through my stuff and find spare screen protectors for my current phone, spare chargers and wires, handheld fans, cooling pads, kids craft items and I end up feeling like I should keep them. Does anyone else experience this?

This is something I noticed when I almost bought something online yesterday. lol A lot of companies make it cheaper if you buy more than one of an item. You often need to in order to get free shipping as well. Or there is the autoship thing people get hooked into for the lower price and forget to cancel (me). No wonder people are drowning in stuff!

I realized the stuff I almost bought is nice, but I need to use up what I have first. Last time I had to throw some out anyway because it expired. The images in my head of the stuff I've had to throw out helped motivate me not to buy. Tired of throwing money away.

I'm currently reading "Danshari The Japanese Art of Decluttering Your Space to Transform Your Life" by Hidrko Yamashita. It is helping me to shift my opinions about "stuff" and begin seriously decluttering for an eventual move to a new home.

Last week I decided to put the new mindset to the test and pulled out all of my shoes from 6 different locations in the house, including my closet, the coat closet, and small rugs near the garage entrance & back door where shoes are left when we enter the house. All of the areas were overflowing and not organized in a meaningful way. We have a designated shoe rack in the new house that I will share with my husband, so I needed to think through the future use of that space.

I'm happy to say that I donated a good number of shoes, but I trashed even more.

1. Shoes deteriorate even though you are not wearing them. The material used for the inner lining cracks and flakes, so if you wear them you wind up with pieces of the lining on your feet and the floor when you take them off. So many people in this sub mention clothing and shoes they are not wearing because they WFH now. Unless your shoes are leather outer & inner, you may find this same situation. I had to trash several pairs of shoes that looked fine on the outside, but the insides were in bad shape. I'm old enough to remember when everyday shoes were made with better quality materials and sometimes you even had the heels repaired because the shoes had lots of usable life left.

2. I found that grouping shoes according to their use / social situations was the best way to evaluate them. Looking at dressy shoes all together allowed me to whittle down to only a few pairs that I would really wear to a wedding or something similar. This was surprisingly easy after eliminating the deteriorating ones, and a few that were a color that I rarely wear anymore. I didn't even need to try them all on one last time!

3. I watched a video where after sorting shoes they looked at the similarities and tried to learn from that. For example, are all the favorites similar in style, heel height, or color? When I sorted by use, i realized that once I find something I like (that also meets my need for arch support) I tend to purchase several pairs from the same brand. This is easy for me because I know they will feel comfortable and they will get a lot of use. My problem was that I didn't discard the first pair (which was already looking a little shabby) when I purchased pair #2 & #3 & #4. Of course I wore the newest pairs most often and the older ones were hardly used in the past year. So sticking with a known brand / style is a good idea for me, but I need to force myself to discard the older ones.

4. Now, a week after the shoe purge and storing them by use / social situations the biggest difference is in the ease and functionality of my shoe wardrobe.

Leaving the house for errands? I can look at two shelves in the coat closet to select my shoes. I know they are all functioning, comfortable, clean and ready to go.

Selecting a dress for an upcoming wedding? I can pull out the bin with 3 dressy pairs from the top shelf of my closet and select the best option.

I also feel like some of the shoes I kept will get worn more often because they "made the cut" and by positioning them on a shelf with other shoes for the same uses, I'm giving them equal status, rather than having them scattered in different areas.

Next up, finishing the Danshari book and evaluating clothing categories in a similar way.

I think going through the process and pain of decluttering is making me enjoy shopping less. Going through the following:

• the pain of taking returns to the store, some of which were too late to qualify for a refund
• the hassle of finding the right or best way to dispose of things
• the hassle of taking stuff to the donation center, recycling center, etc.
• the hassle of selling certain things
• the hassle of going through and sorting stuff and seeing how much I haven't used
• noticing and thinking about how much money I've spent compared to how much I've made

I think doing all this stuff has helped me be better about shopping because I see the possible cost of it like how it can clutter up my living space or lead to more chores to do. I think watching and listening to decluttering videos and podcasts has also had an effect on my thinking and helped me a lot.

I don't know if the title of my post captures how I feel exactly. I can still enjoy going in a store or browsing online and looking at stuff, but I'm not as motivated to buy the items because I know I can make do with what I have. Maybe I'm becoming more minimalist? Or more conscious? I used to just shop a lot out of boredom, but now I try to do other stuff like read free books or go on walks or save money for fun events. Having a job and work to do also helps.

Anyway for me this feels like a success. lol