12 Months of Decluttering

I was inspired by a Tiktok cleaner to start a decluttering challenge of my own. The challenge was: clear 10 things out of your kitchen. I want to expand on this, but not be so overwhelming as a Marie Kondo purge. Just a nice year long challenge to declutter our lives and our homes.

I will select one room or item to inventory and remove from your home. If you’re feeling super ambitious, definitely declutter until your heart’s delight, but if you want a slower challenge, feel free to follow along.

The 12 areas and items I’m going to outline below and the reasoning.

Attic: Get up there, pick a container you haven’t looked in for a long time. Chances are there’s things you kept for sentimental reasons or items you just weren’t ready to part with, take inventory and decide what is truly important to you and what can go.

Basement: Head on down to the cellar and take a peek. Pick a storage bin to sift through, check any leftover paint and make sure it’s not hardened, or maybe you never used the exercise bike you purchased years ago, there’s something down there big or small you can remove from your basement.

Bathroom: Empty out your medicine cabinet, the over-the-toilet storage, the bathroom closet, and under the sink. It’s amazing how much we store in our bathrooms that never gets used. Check those nail polishes, are they solidified? Toss them. The product you bought but hated, see if a friend wants it or if you can donate it to a shelter. Hair clips, headbands, etc. you will never wear again, good bye!

Bedroom: If you’ve done your closet and jewelry already, you might be wondering, is there anything else I can get rid of in my bedroom? Yes. Look in your nightstand top drawer. Maybe it’s an old work badge or a movie ticket, if you forgot you had it, don’t let those memories flood back and decide to keep it so you can forget about it for another year, toss it!

Books: Normally, I am not one to get rid of books. Most of the books I own I have read more than once. However, there are some exceptions and those books I never want to read again.

Boxes: Yet another reminder that you do not need your iPhone box, haha. Shoe boxes, present boxes, shopping boxes, etc. which are not currently housing an object for preservation or starge and you do not plan on using for gift giving, it’s probably safe to recycle it.

Decor: Wander around your own home. Do you hate a piece of artwork you have? Are only displaying something because it was a gift? Are you just using it to fill space? If you answered yes to any of these questions, remove it from your home decor. IMO, it’s better to have empty space to be thoughtfully filled rather than something that is no longer serving your home aesthetic.

Electronic/Tech Accessories: Holding on to a free pair of headphones? Or a charger for a phone you no longer have “just in case someone comes over and needs it”? Take a look at what you have been holding onto for any just in case electronic or technical need, if you haven’t ever needed it since you stopped using it, it’s almost certainly safe to purge it.

Jewelry: I’m not suggesting you start tossing your pearls out, nay-nay, but goodness get rid of that chunky bangle you wore to your senior prom. If you decide to get rid of any precious stones or metals that are not heirlooms you can pass on to a family member, definitely sell them yourself or back to a “cash-for-gold” type place.

Kitchen: We are all holding on to those items we might use or we registered for our wedding and never used or only used once (think fondue set). It’s definitely good to have multiples of some things, but others, you really only need one.

Office/Desk: Do all your writing utensils work? Are you hoarding papers you don’t need? Clear it out, it will make it much easier to find the important things.

Wardrobe: Closets, dressers, bureaus, check them all. There’s something in there you don’t use or hate wearing, get rid of it.

My list is currently in alphabetical order, but I’m going to declutter based on having a yard sale in June.

Month	Declutter Space
January	Attic
February	Basement
March	Kitchen
April	Decor
May	Bathroom
June	Books
July	Bedroom
August	Office
September	Wardrobe
October	Jewelry
November	Electronic/Tech
December	Boxes

My thought is anything worth selling will be prepped for the yard sale in June and if it doesn’t sell it’s getting donated. Ideally, I would like to remove at least 5 items in each category for a total minimum of 60 items, let’s see how we do!

What to do with your goods that aren’t legit trash, damaged beyond repair, or shreddable (sensitive documentation)?

Sell: Anything you have that you could make a bit of profit of, give it a go. Facebook Marketplace is great for furniture and other large items; Poshmark can be used for clothing, jewelry, accessories, and small home decor; and if you are so inclined have your own yard sale or buddy up with some neighbors or friends and have a bigger yard sale.

Donate/Give away: If you can’t sell it, donate it. If a friend or family member is moving into their first place any kitchen goods might help them out, shelters are also a great place to donate to, Salvation Army and other organizations are fantastic, and if all else fails there’s bins everywhere for clothing and books!

Repurpose: The crafters out there I’m sure already do this, but if you’re not crafty and want to repurpose items there are plenty of easy creations or new ideas or items just a Google search away. The simplest use would be turn old cloth into cleaning rags and you can get more complex from there!

Feel free to come along my journey of decluttering, or reorder the list to fit your needs. I also recognize not everyone has a basement or attic. Other ideas are: your storage space in your apartment building, your rental storage unit, the coat closet, the hallway closet, kids rooms, pet toys, and I’m sure many other spaces in your home I haven’t thought of.

I would love your suggestions in the comments! I’ll be posting my decluttering on my Instagram so be sure to follow me there as well. Good luck!

Cheers to a reduced clutter 2021!