Lot of people have the tendency to hoard commodities, hoping that it will be of some use someday! Unfortunately, that someday never comes & there are lot of things to get rid of in your house.
‘Elizabeth Larkin’ writes, (author of an article – 30 Items You Can Get Rid of Right Now. Published on thespruce.com) One of the biggest reasons people hold on to clutter is because of inertia. Once you bring something home, you forget about it, think you might use it “someday,”
Then people struggle with overloaded closets, often running out of space for new clothes, shoes and bags. There are office spaces that are loaded with piles of books and files that have been hogging dust for years. There are storerooms with outdated gadgets, broken memorabilia, chipped idols of deities etc. What most people fail to understand is that there is a need to declutter their homes in regular intervals so that their home does not turn into a dump yard!
The pandemic has taught some wonderful lessons and one of the greatest lessons taught is that of sharing. In this way many turned to their attic and closets and resorted to giving away things that were of little to no use for them.
You might be a disciplined and organised person, but it’s very easy for clutter to take control of your house. Sticking around to huge piles of papers, damaged electronics, and undesirable clothing not only leads to distress but also eats up the space you need for the things that matter to you. Taking out just a few hours to get rid of the items you no longer need, can bring you the sense of relief and calm you’ve been longing for. Here’s to know how to get rid of clutter:
Things to get rid of in your Kitchen
If you want to know how to declutter kitchen, below are the points to know:
01. Plastic Containers – Unless you need to take food with you to your workplace, trash the ones not required. Especially the ones without lids.
02. Receipts and menus–In the world of the 21st century, where you get everything at one click on your smartphones, extra menus and receipts should be trashed to avoid clutter.
03. Unitaskers – One-time use gadgets are a big no.
04. Expired Pantry Items/Medicines – Every item loses its flavour after six months, be it spices or staples. Do not keep medicines that have passed expiry date.
Things to get rid of your Home Office
Here’s to know how to declutter home office:
01. Newspapers/ Magazines–All old newspapers, magazines shall be recycled, or your favourite clipping should be filed. ‘Liz Kane’ says, (an author of the article – How to Get Rid of Stuff around the House. Published on budgetdumpster.com). Almost every family has a stack of old magazines hiding somewhere in their living room. Unless a magazine holds some historical or sentimental value to you or your family, there’s no reason to hang onto it.
02. Pens without inks–Any stationery item which is empty and cannot be used shall be trashed.
03. Old Cell phones – Outdated cell phones shall be donated or trashed.
04. Last Year’s calendar – Recycle the old calendars after noting down the important dates into your new ones.
Things to get rid of your Closet
To know about things to get rid of your closet, we have points below:
01. Mismatched Socks–Keep a small container for mismatched socks in your closets for a month. If the pair is not found, reuse the socks for other purposes or donate it to poor
02. Old Shoes/footwear – The pair of old footwear that are no longer used or do not fit or have lost sheen should be discarded immediately.
03. Accessories you never wear–Organize and store the ones you wear and donate the ones you never wear.
04. Broken Sunglasses/Old Spectacles – You always think that you will buy the kits to fix them but you end up not buying them, so throw them. Similarly, those spectacles which are not according to your current “eye number” have no reason to be there.
05. Old towels and beddings – Old linens can gladly be donated to animal and healthcare centres.
Things to get rid of your Bedroom
Know about how to get rid of things from your bedroom from here:
01. Bedside table junk–Old prescriptions or medicines in your bedside tables are just increasing the clutter.
02. Old clothes–Ill-fitting clothes or torn ones but your favourite ones can be reused for other purposes or donated for better use. Especially the old underwear that is causing your skin allergies shall be thrown away.
03. Broken hangers – There is no good reason to hang on to the hangers that do not hang anymore.
04. Old pillows – The bedroom can end up into a sea of old and deflated pillows that need to be thrown. These can be donated for better use anytime.
Things to get rid of your Living rooms
Here’s to know about things to get rid of your living rooms:
01. VHS tapes and DVDs–Everything these days can be streamed upon your gadgets easily. It is time that you got rid of the old DVDs and disks.
02. Old board games–All the board games with missing pieces are just junk lying there and eating up the space in your house.
03. Remote controls – Chuck out old and unhandy remote controls when you buy new devices for your house.
04. Phone books – It has just become an old directory and an artefact these days. The phone book directories just eat up the space when you can easily look for any contact number on the web.
Things to get rid of your storage areas and garages
Let’s learn about Things to get rid of your storage areas and garages:
01. Crafting Supplies–The supplies from your five years old project is of no use now and shall be trashed without a say.
02. Cards–Greeting cards are outdated these days. People send wishes through social media and digital cards are the trends being followed. Pick the ones that have emotional value attached to it and bid good bye to the rest.
03. Old costumes – Costumes that you wore years back are just lying in the storage units now and creating a mess. Get rid of these.
04. Keys – Any key that does not open a lock is of no. Try recycling the keys instead of throwing them into the trash.
Things to throw out ASAP
If you want to know how to get rid of unnecessary things, how to get rid of unwanted items in your home, how to get rid of stuff in your house, here’s to know them:
01. Last season’s sun block–The sun blocks degrade with time and shall be thrown away immediately.
02. Old make-up products–The products that expire can harm your skin and cause irritations and rashes. It is always better to get rid of them than to clutter your space unnecessarily.
03. Broken furniture – The furniture pieces you have stored for long thinking that you will fix them someday, is never going to get fixed. Reuse them for something else or trash them for good.
04. Books – You might have read your favourite book multiple times, but it is time that you donate them to library or pass them on forward to somebody interested in it.
Now that you have known how to get rid of stuff in your house, also read about how to declutter basement:
Tackle Your Basement – How One Weekend Will Get You Organized!
Author Bio
Neha Bhasin – Neha Bhasin is the Principal architect of Pramana Design Studio, a leading design consultancy firm with a strong design instinct in projects that range from recycling land and master planning to the design of spaces, hospitality, houses, and commercial buildings, thereby engaging diverse issues, multiple constituencies and varying scales from interior design and architecture to urban design and planning. She has a degree in Bachelors in Architecture from Apeejay Institute of Technology, SAP, Greater Noida with a Certification in Housing Planning and Policies focused on Housing and Human Environments from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Neha has a well-demonstrated history of 7 years, and besides being a prodigious reader, she has assisted many professionals in editing books from an architect’s perspective.