As we get older, we store unnecessary things in our lives, things that we use at some point and then they get dusty and take up space.
To get rid of unnecessary things you need to understand that attachment to material things can become a big problem.
By establishing emotional ties with objects, you begin to accumulate unnecessary things that can turn a cozy space in your home into a horrific place.
Getting rid of unnecessary things that -at some point seemed useful- will allow you to maintain the harmony of the spaces in your house and to fully enjoy the comfort of your home.
If you want to get rid of unnecessary things you have at home and don’t know where to start, stay with us and learn with simple steps practical solutions to clean, order and give a special touch to your decoration.
Table of Contents
Steps to get rid of unnecessary things in your house
- Find a reason that inspires you to change your lifestyle by getting rid of unnecessary things in your home.
- It develops planning and establishes priorities in the areas that deserve more attention. Delimiting each area of action to focus on each zone until it is finished, this way it will be easier to finish the task.
- Start by picking up the garbage you see in the house, this will allow you to remove any objects that are broken, incomplete or can be catalogued as waste.
- Choose a location near the action area to put unnecessary items in boxes that you can donate or offer at a garage sale.
- Answer the following questions to decide -without regret- the unnecessary things you will have to do without in order to achieve order and balance in your spaces:
- Do I have room to store it?
- Is it in good condition?
- Do I like it?
- Is it valuable to me?
- When was the last time I used it?
- How long has it been in storage?
- Is it an aspirational object?
- Can I continue my life without that object?
Where to start?
We know that every beginning is difficult, however, the previous steps will serve as a guide to make this new experience simple and satisfactory.
Now, to start getting rid of unnecessary things you must focus on your place of rest, so you can have a cozy, orderly and pleasant space.
Start with the bedroom
The bedroom is one of the places where we store the most things we have.
Usually, that is where we accumulate things that we may never use again.
So to achieve the goal of getting rid of unnecessary things, we only have to determine the usefulness of the things we have in the bedroom.
Carefully going through every drawer of the bedside table, going through the closet area and the shoe rack, if you are in doubt about whether to throw away or keep an item, answer honestly if it makes you happy to have it.
It’s time to look at the living room
Once the work in the bedroom is done, it’s time to look at the living room, where it will be easier to get rid of unnecessary things if you focus on changing the decoration or arrangement of your furniture.
This will allow you to look for another use for the things that have nothing to contribute in that space.
And finally the kitchen
To finish we arrive at the kitchen area, there it is necessary to make a deep cleaning, that allows to discover the amount of unnecessary things that we have and that are stored in the kitchen occupying a place without reason.
Such as expired food, incomplete dishes, containers without lids, lids without containers, repeated utensils, pots in poor condition or mislaid kitchen cloths.
It’s time to get rid of things you don’t need
To make the process of disposing of unnecessary things even easier, here is a list that will help you focus on getting rid of clutter in your home.
Expired medications
Find the first aid kit and check the expiry dates of the available medicines. Once the cleaning is done, take them to the recycling bins arranged in the pharmacies.
Instruction manuals
Check your drawer and you’re sure to find countless manuals that you may never have read, but that you’ve kept out of habit. Don’t wait any longer, it’s time to clean out your drawer and have more space to store other things.
Agendas from past years
Calendars are used to keep detailed planning of pending activities, so why keep a diary from past years?
Look for used agendas, check them for important information and take them straight to the container.
Mobile phones and electronic accessories that don’t work
These types of devices that you do not use because they do not work or are already obsolete should be disposed of in appropriate containers for this purpose, do not throw them away because they could cause damage to the environment.
Discharged batteries
Another item that is always present in our drawers is discharged batteries.
One solution to stop this happening is to make a container to deposit the batteries and when it is full take it to a recycling centre, remember that accumulators are very polluting.
Invoices, documents and concert tickets
It’s a good idea to save your bills after you make a purchase, but not for months or years. To keep bills and documents without taking up space in your drawer, you could scan them using a scanner.
As for concert tickets, if you still don’t feel ready to throw them away, you have the option of making a collage or keeping them in a jar until you decide to throw them away.
Old magazines
If you are a fan of reading magazines to the point of reading them over and over again, we recommend you update the editions so you can enjoy recent news.
Choose to keep only the collector’s editions with information that is of interest to you and the rest should be placed in the paper container.
Shoes you don’t wear
A space that is worth looking at once when it is your closet, there you will find shoes stored in boxes or outside them and some will be ready to go straight into the trash.
If you no longer use it and they are still in good condition an excellent option is to donate them, this way you will be able to help others and have a space ready to be occupied by a new pair of shoes.
Incomplete toys
When cleaning and getting rid of unnecessary things, you should pay special attention in the children’s room and check the condition of the toys, if they are broken or missing any pieces, take them to the appropriate trash container.
If, on the other hand, the toys are in good condition and you want to give them a second chance, you can set up a box to donate them.
Pens that don’t paint
Get rid of all the markers, markers and pens that are not good for taking notes or doing work.
One option that will save space and store pens after you get rid of unnecessary things is to use pencil holders, which will also help you keep order.
Gifts you don’t like
No matter where the gift comes from, if you don’t like it and it doesn’t make you happy, look for someone who needs it and it will be easier to get rid of it.
Uneven underwear and socks
When you check your underwear drawer, you may find clothes without rubber, tucked-in underwear and bras without a name tag.
As well as socks that mysteriously lost their partners after being washed in the washing machine.
Empty boxes
Another unnecessary thing that can take up a lot of space is empty boxes, which are usually stored in case they are needed at some point.
Duplicate kitchen utensils
It is common to find duplicate utensils in the kitchen cupboard, either because we got them on sale or because they were one of those gifts you never expect.
When the time comes to get rid of unnecessary things, choose to keep the utensils you actually use.
Christmas decorations
Lights that don’t work and broken Christmas balls are some of the unnecessary things we save year after year.
As time goes by, Christmas waste accumulates, making storage more difficult because it takes up too much space.
Recommendations for Disposal of Unnecessary Items
To finish, we leave you with some recommendations to get rid of unnecessary things that seemed to be useful before and are no longer so.
- Start in the room with more unnecessary things, when you see the result you will be encouraged to continue in the rest of the house.
- Get rid of clothes and garments that you haven’t worn in a year, if you haven’t had a chance to wear them before, why would you wear them now?
- Give a second chance to items that are special to you by assigning them a special place for storage.
- Make a list of the unnecessary things you can donate or sell and take advantage of them.
- Avoid making purchases driven by discounts or sales.
- Don’t stack furniture or objects that take up too much space.
Finally, you need to remember that your home is a reflection of what you look like on the inside, so what image do you want to project to your visitors?