Decluttering Inspiration: 100 Fast and Easy Things to Declutter {Free Checklist}

[Updated 7/30/21 – there are now well over 150 ideas on this free printable Declutter List]

100 Fast and Easy Things to Declutter

Suffocating in stuff? Need to declutter your house quickly but not sure how to start? For a quick, simple way to banish a layer of clutter from your home so you can breathe, I came up with a declutter list of 100 things to declutter fast for an easy way to get started.

Yes, I said “easy.” That means non-sentimental, non-heartbreaking stuff.

If the clutter in your home is choking you, a fast declutter will give you instant relief and incentive to keep going. And a declutter list makes it a less-thinking-more-doing type of task.

You can download the free printable 100+ things to declutter checklist here.

Same list, way less words. A “decluttered” version of this post, if you will…

First, What Not to Declutter

Before I start, I want to talk about things that need to be replaced or upgraded. To me, that’s not really decluttering. In the end, you still have the same amount of stuff.

So often on these types of declutter checklists, I see things like “get rid of all your raggedy towels.”

But what if raggedy is all you’ve got?

Sure, it would be awesome if everyone could afford to have fresh, new-looking stuff. But don’t feel like you need to replace your less-than-stellar household accoutrements in order to “declutter.”

There’s no shame in not having the resources (or mental energy) to ditch anything embarrassing or everything you don’t like in your house. This post is only about making space and getting rid of the extra clutter that brings you down.

So if I mention getting rid of something gross-looking on my 100 things to declutter list, I don’t mean you have to get rid of your only sheets because of the cat puke stain.

Decluttering doesn’t mean sleeping on a bare mattress.

Okay, now for the list.

This post may contain affiliate links. For my full disclosure policy, click here. As an Amazon Associate (and from other affiliates) I earn from qualifying purchases. This doesn’t cost you anything extra and means this blog may break even someday. Who knows? It could happen…

things to Declutter from Your Bathroom

First on the declutter list: The most satisfying place to start and find a good chunk of the 100 things to declutter is the bathroom.

With its miniscule storage space, it’s some of the most valuable real estate in the house. Clearing out the junk makes a mondo difference, resulting in extra motivation to keep going.

It’s also a room you use several times a day (hey, I’m a diet soda addict – peeing is my cardio) and it gets dirty often.

Less clutter means quicker cleaning. Yay!

And unless you’re emotionally attached to the inherited nose hair trimmers your great-grandfather used to whack away at that jungle up his nostrils, you probably won’t hit any sentimental snags while clearing clutter from the bathrooms.

Let’s start with products.

Hair and Toiletry Products to Get Rid Of:

• Hair and styling products that didn’t live up to the hype but were costly, so you think you have to keep them.

You don’t.

• Those rip-off pump lotion bottles with the residue you plan to scrape out.

You won’t.

• The three bottles of self-tanner you’ve accumulated in your quest to find one that doesn’t stink and/or turn skin a delightful shade of pumpkin.

Time to make peace with my ghost-like glow.

• That $75 perfume you got three Christmases ago that gives you a raging sinus headache. But it was $75!

Gift it. (I didn’t say re-gift, but that’s an option, too, I guess).

• And while you’re at it, what about those scented body products that smelled good on the little paper sample thingy in the mall but nauseate you after 3 hours on your own skin?

Donate them to a woman’s shelter or give them to your sister.

• Globby nail polish – sure, you could Google how to thin it out. But will you?
• Makeup:

This one isn’t always easy, since makeup can be pricey. But dried-up or expired makeup, especially anything that goes around your eyes, should be decluttered. And makeup that gives you the raccoon look, goes blotchy, or settles in your eye wrinkles by early afternoon.

Not to mention makeup you never wear but you paid a lot for (more hype), so you just keep it around.

Maybe not so easy to get rid of but if you can’t bear to toss it, at least move it out of the bathroom.

If you’re afraid you’ll lose it if you move it, try this tactic I use to keep track of things. Or leave a note in its place to remind yourself where you put it.

• All the mini hotel bottles and soaps and shower caps that you ignore in the drawer. If you must, save 2 of each of the toiletries for camping or for when you forget to buy soap, and donate the rest to a shelter.
• And while you’re at it, ditch the samples that came free with other products.

I know, I know…I promised you easy stuff to declutter fast and this may not fit the bill.  So consider this one extra credit.

Beauty Tools to Throw Out:

• Tweezers that don’t tweeze, nail clippers that chew up your nails, emery boards that are totally worn smooth.
• And am I the only person afraid of some of my beauty tools?

How come every woman on YouTube can curl their eyelashes without cringing in fear of a pinch?

Time to throw out my eyelash curler and pray for half-balding eyelids to become trendy.

• Rusty razors. Why do I keep razors long enough for them to become a danger to my bloodstream? Do I really need to risk blood-poisoning to save $2?

Maybe. But, for you guys, I’ll throw them out.

• Unraveling loofahs
• And how about that dry brush you bought to stimulate your lymphatic system?

Have you done any lymphatic stimulating lately?

Will you be doing any lymphatic stimulating?

Say “lymphatic stimulating” out loud three times quickly.

Life Unflaked – exercise for the brain. You’re welcome.

Tub Stuff To Trash:

• Slimy bath toys or toys that stay perpetually full of water (you just know that water’s nasty)
• Mildewed natural sponges, wooden nail brushes, and back brushes.

Somehow, in my house, “natural” equals “moldy.”

Decluttering the Medicine Cabinet:

• Expired medications, vitamins, creams, and eye drops
• More than one pair of “backup glasses” (i.e., glasses with old prescriptions)
• Get rid of old contact lenses, too.

Quick Tip: If you order from 1-800-contacts, they’ll take back any unexpired prescriptions for a credit.

What to Declutter from Your Bedroom

So, how’d you do in the bathroom?

Ew, not that. Gross.

I mean, what progress did you make on the list of 100 things to declutter fast?

Need more ideas of things to get rid of? Well, you came to the right place…

Jewelry to Declutter:

• Oxidized costume jewelry. As in those $5 Clair’s earrings that turned a lovely, mottled shade of gunky.
• Broken jewelry that’s not valuable enough to fix
• Lonely earrings
• Jewelry you bought for a specific event, trip, or costume and will never need again

Unless role-playing Cleopatra for hubby gives him incentive to clean the kitchen for you. Then by all means, hold onto those golden arm cobras.

• Jewelry you just flat-out don’t like. It’s okay to pass it on. Find a little girl to give it to – they love grownup jewelry!

I’m a big fan of transferring my clutter to my friends’ kids.

Hello dear friend, I know you’re also drowning in clutter, but you wouldn’t want to deny your daughter the chance to wear snake jewelry, would you? I was gonna keep it, but somebody left the lasagna pan for me to scrub last night, so…

Clothing and Shoes to Get Rid Of:

Clothes

• Ripped underwear
• Bras that ride up, have straps that fall down, or poke you under the boobs.

Unless you have no other bras, do yourself a favor and take these out of rotation.

• Stockings with runs
• Lonely socks, socks with holes, socks that fall down
• Leggings that roll down or that you have to tug constantly to keep the crotch up where it belongs.

Always a fun way to spend the day…

• Anything with dry rot (swim trunks, bathing suits, elastic waist pants/pajama pants, Grandma)
• Fluorescent exercise leotards from the ‘90s you’re saving in case you ever join a gym.

If you’re already rocking them at aerobicize class, then ignore me, please.

And, may I add, you look awesome in the matching headband.

• Sweaters with pills.

• Clothes that require mending if you’re not capable of doing it yourself.

Otherwise, give yourself a deadline for repairs and toss them if you don’t meet it.

• Clothes you don’t wear or like – the fuzzy robe that gives you hot flashes, the shirt that emphasizes your love handles, the jeans that go up your butt.

That includes anything you got on clearance years ago and have never worn.

• Clothes that are way too big.

I’m not going to ask you to give up clothes that are too small. After all, who isn’t hoping to lose 5 (or 50) lb to fit into those cute jeans again?

But too big – well, if you don’t own any giant sweatpants anymore, that’s one more reason to stop the midnight cupcake fests, right?

• Dresses that are too long. See above re: the repairs. If you can’t hem them, get rid of them.
• Pants that are too short
• Clothes that make you feel fat, frumpy, dumpy, or uncomfortable, even if you still wear them because you always forget how much you despise them.

Next time you take off something you regretted wearing all day, put it directly in the donate bag without even washing it first.

Otherwise, you’ll forget you hate it by the time it comes out of  the dryer.

It’s okay, nobody will know you donated dirty clothes. Plus anyone who doesn’t rewash thrift shop clothes is in no position to judge you.

• Unless it’s sentimental, get rid of anything that you can only wear inside the house with the shades drawn.

I’m not talking about your lace Valentine’s Day nightie here (hey, whatever it takes to get the kitchen clean, am I right?).

I’m talking about the pajamas with one unraveled hem or the sweatshirt with three different flavors of ice cream stains on the front.

Unless it’s your sorority sweatshirt from 20 years ago or otherwise makes you happy wearing it (like the stretched-out, ancient Grinch sweatshirt my mother-in-law wears around the house at Christmastime – it gets her in the spirit), it’s time for it to go.

If you’re saving yucky clothes for yard work or painting, limit it to 2 sets and scrap the rest.

Don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time before you drip fast food ketchup on another set.

• Clothes in a color you never, ever wear. Mostly likely due to the clearance thing mentioned above.
• Volunteer t-shirts, uniform shirts, or hats for places you no longer volunteer or work.

Unless you wear them as regular clothing (heh-hem, MY SON), get rid of them.

• Anything that still has tags on it that you can’t remember buying.

If any of these are too hard, try this – turn all of your hangers backward. As you wear clothes and re-hang them, put them back in correctly.

Then, at the end of a year (or two – hey, it’s better than never), reassess anything with the hanger still backward. Maybe by Year #3, you’ll be ready to put them on your personal declutter list.

Shoes

I get it, shoes are hard to get rid of. I’m not going to try to talk you out of the 3-inch stilettos you’re saving for a special outfit.

Or for when you need to break an ankle to get out of the 5K your annoyingly energetic buddy signed you up for.

But some shoes to effortlessly declutter fast are:

• Shoes that smell like a men’s gym bag or are grungy beyond all hope
• Shoes that hurt too much to wear to even non-walking events (am I the only one who has shoes separated into categories – shoes for when I’ll mostly be sitting and shoes I can actually walk around Walmart in?)
• Shoes you bought because they were pretty. Just not on you. 

Alas, strappy heels and cankles are a bad combo (take it from someone who knows)

• Shoes that fit pre-baby

Yet another thing they take from us

• Shoes that need repair

Now, on to slimming down some other closets…

What to Declutter from the Linen Closet/Coat Closet

• More than one extra set of sheets per bed
• More than one extra pillow unless you regularly have houseguests
• Torn comforters (if they’re extra)

We currently have two of these but they’re sentimental, so I’m not counting them!

(OMG when did my kids stop sleeping under Thomas the Tank Engine? Sob)

Sentimental is a whole other ballgame and not welcome on this 100 EASY things to declutter list.

• Medical devices that are no longer useful:
  • Retainers that don’t fit (guess you should have listened to the orthodontist, huh?)
  • Arm sling from when you sprained your wrist
  • Traction collar from the whiplash incident. Wearing it for pity still counts as useful.
  • Ace bandages missing the clasp
• Backup towels that embarrass you.

If you can’t bear to toss them because you might need them for hair dyeing, a flood, or to take Fluffy to the vet, move them out of the linen closet to a less valuable space.

• Lonely or ripped gloves
• Outgrown snow boots, coats, gloves, and snow pants
• Broken rain umbrellas
• Coats with stuck zippers
• Retired bags or backpacks, or bags with broken zippers
• Wire drycleaner hangers

Okay, now let’s move on to the worst clutter-collecting area of any house. The places where decisions go to die.

The storage rooms…

Stuff to Declutter from the Utility Closet/Garage/Storage Room

• Specialty light bulbs for light fixtures you no longer own
• Specialty batteries – same.
• Half-dead batteries

How many half-dead 9-volts do I need? Every time I change smoke detector batteries, I hold onto the one I take out. Even though we have zero use for 9-volts other than in the smoke detectors.

Sometimes I make no sense.

Hold on a  minute – I’m going to go (responsibly) throw those out right now.

Okay, I’m back.

• Speaking of batteries, what about all those rechargeable batteries floating around the playroom or garage for remote control cars, weed whackers, and drills?

Either the cars stopped running (or disappeared) years ago or the battery no longer really holds a charge.

Recycle them. And move on with your life.

• Accessories for tools you no longer own. Or accessories you never use for the tools you do own.

Like that Dremel case that requires an engineer to fit all the spinny heads back into their original slots. Give up on figuring it out and just stick with the cardboard box you’re already using.

Plus your friend’s little girl may want it to hold all her new jewelry.

In case you’re wondering, this may why I have no friends.

• Air fresheners that smell worse than what you’re trying to cover up
• Cleaning supplies that don’t work
• Cleaning tools that don’t clean or are too cumbersome to pull out
• Curtain rods and other décor items you removed when redoing a room and have no specific plans for
• Extra floor mats or car accessories (like that seat thingie with the wooden torture balls) you don’t ever use
• Garden tools that are no longer really functional, including buckets with no handles and rusted shears
• Anything in excess of 5 backup canvas bags (in addition to the ones in the car)
• More than 5 of those sling sacks you got for free.

You’ll probably never use any, but I understand the appeal so I’m being generous here.

• Outdated, suspect, or unidentifiable yard chemicals
• Moldy, collapsed, or rusted patio chairs
• Outgrown baby equipment if your kiddie days are over.

No point in saving it all for grandkids either – by that time, it’ll all be recalled.

Apparently, every crib and highchair ever made is a deathtrap waiting to strike.

• Deflated soccer balls and retired sportsball equipment
• Leftover project supplies.

Unless you refinish furniture, craft for a living, or have a DIY blog, you will never use that one leftover dresser knob on a craft or future project.

I just realized that’s not really an easy one for me. More extra credit.

• Paint cans full of deteriorated paint or rust
• Stiffened paint brushes (the freezer trick kind of works, but not for three years – trust me on this)
• Wood scraps – if you must keep them, set a container limit and stick to it

Holiday Storage:

• Funky greenery that looks pathetic and sheds everywhere. Better to not have holiday greenery at all if this is what you’re using.
• Broken ornaments you don’t care enough about to repair
• Ornaments that aren’t sentimental and don’t add value to the tree.

This one you should run by everyone else in the family, as well. Have everyone pick out anything they care about.

Yes, you can stop hanging ornaments that arrived as package tie-ons. Unless you like them.

• Decorations you no longer display
• Holiday tableware you don’t use
• Extra dye cups, egg stickers, etc that come in those egg-dying packages every year. Especially the little cardboard thingies.

Has anyone ever used those little cardboard thingies?

• Extra Easter baskets and grass

Okay, so how’d you do in the garage?

Storage areas can be easier or harder, depending on your emotional state.

• On the one hand, storage areas hold a lot of deferred decisions that were hard to make in the first place and may not be any easier revisiting.
• On the other hand, if it’s in storage, it’s more likely you’re not using it.

If that was too intense for you or got you bogged down, let’s go check out the main areas of your home for some faster decluttering.

What to Declutter from the Living Areas

Main Space:

• Magazines you feel like you need to read because you own them.

If you really want to read yet another lose-40-pounds-in-one-week-by-eating-this-superfood article in Woman’s World (gets me every time), take a photo of the pages and read them when you’re in a car line.

Or put them in your car for now – if you don’t read them in a car line before the next issue comes in, donate them to a waiting room.

Trust me, a slightly different version of the same article is always on its way.

• Cardboard cat scratchers with nothing left in them to scratch

Bookcase:

• Books someone gifted you to try to fix you. As if.
• Books you can get from the library if you need them again
• Books you’re only keeping out of guilt because you started them and can’t bear to leave a book unfinished.
• Self-help books that didn’t help by Chapter 2.
• Outdated instructional books
• Books you’ve read and won’t ever reread

Don’t listen to my husband. Previously-read books are  not meant to be stored forever just because “they’re books, Joni – you can’t get rid of books.”

Entertainment Center:

• Video games for systems you no longer own or that your kids have outgrown

My 20-year-old son will probably never play Fluffy Unicorns on the Wii again.

Wait, do we even still have a Wii?

• Video tapes if you no longer have a VHS player
• Extra board games – have everyone list their 5-10 favorites independently of each other. Don’t worry, you won’t end up with 40 games because most will overlap.

Then keep only a few extras to try – get rid of the rest.

For my husband (who has a Kickstarter addiction), this goes under the “difficult” category of things to declutter. So skip it if board games are touchy for you.

By the way, I don’t mean to make my husband sound like a hoarder. He’s more of a recovering hoarder. And, after all, we all have our soft spots.

His, apparently, involves anything made of paper or cardboard.

Mine, apparently, is right on the top of my head.

• Games with broken or missing pieces or that just don’t work (Mousetrap, why do you disappoint me so?)

This might be another not-so-easy one. Maybe I should make a separate post with a “not quite so easy 100 things to declutter list?”

• Puzzles nobody wants to build because they’re not sure if they have all the pieces.

If nobody cares enough to count, move them along to someone who does.

Speaking of games and puzzles, let’s move on to toys.

Decluttering the Toy Box

I’m gonna take an unpopular stance here.

~~DO NOT throw out toys just because they’re broken (unless they’re unsafe). ~~

I see this on just about every decluttering list, but broken doesn’t mean un-played-with or unloved.

If you don’t believe me, have a Toy Story binge fest! Talk about some serious decluttering guilt.

On second thought, that may not be the best movie to watch if you need to tackle the playroom.

• Instead, give kids a limited number of sticky notes to put on the things they care about. Then you know for sure if it’s safe to throw away that monster truck with three wheels.

Once you know what the kids want to keep, here are some good candidates for donation.

• Kids’ meal toys, especially duplicates
• Charger-less remote control cars
• Craft or science kits that everyone ignores
• Outgrown toys you’re saving for grandkids.

If it’s something special for future grandkids, put it in the attic. Otherwise, donate it to a daycare or school.

As a grandma, you’re going to want to buy new stuff for your grandbabies anyway.

All we saved were irreplaceable wooden blocks and wooden train sets. We even got rid of the Thomas table.

When we weighed the space it would take to store against buying a used one eventually for a grandchild, we took it to a local center for autistic kids. They were amazingly grateful!

Okay, now for paper and crafts. Both are notoriously tough, but there are a few items that are more painless.

What to Declutter from the Office/Craft Cabinet

• Do you have any cables, wires, cords, etc. hanging around with no earthly idea what they go to?

Check with your spouse and kids, then get rid of them (the cables, not the kids. Maybe the spouse. Kidding, honey).

Or put them all in one box labeled “cables of last resort.” At least contain the clutter if you can’t bear to get rid of them completely.

• Old phones that you no longer use, not even as a backup alarm or for music
• Empty toilet paper tubes you’ve been saving because you heard they cost a lot on Ebay.

What is up with that, anyway?

Plus any other trash you think you can make into something someday. If you can’t bear to part with it, set a date to craft with it.

• The half-finished crocheted dog blanket that was supposed to be fun and other craft projects you’re no longer into but feel guilty about abandoning
• Crafts you made that you’re only keeping because you made them, not because they add anything to your décor or life.

But good for you for actually finishing something! Yay!

Now be a good girl and go throw it away.

• Used up and broken office/craft tools and supplies:
  • Scissors that don’t cut
  • Paper cutters that chew up paper (i.e, all paper cutters)
  • Spiral notebooks with only a few pages left that you avoid using
  • Pens that don’t write, pencil nubbin’s, markers that don’t mark
  • Dried-up glue sticks
• Extra stickers from a sheet you bought for something else, or generic, boring stickers
• Expired coupons
• Invitations to events that are over
• Keys for houses you no longer live in and cars you no longer own.

I know it’s hard to get rid of keys if you don’t know what they go to, but at least get rid of keys that you know for sure you’ll never need again.

• Expired ID cards
• Outdated software books for software you no longer own.

I currently use an 11-year-old version of Photoshop. You’ll have to pull my Photoshop CS5 books out of my brittle, skeleton hands before I give them up.

However, you’ll notice that I specified “for software you no longer own.”

So I’m good.

• Receipts for things you don’t own anymore or with an expired warranty.

Exception is for tax-related receipts

• Generic, charity notecards you’ll never use because you barely remember to give real birthday cards, let alone boring, generic ones.
• Users’ manuals and warranty cards for things you no longer own

I’m going to buck common decluttering lore here that says to ditch all the booklets, because I’ve been burnt on the “oh, it’s all online, you don’t have to keep manuals anymore” thing twice now.

But if you don’t own the McEggMuffinMaker machine anymore, you can safely trash the instructions.

Now let’s move on to the second-most valuable real estate in the house. It’s one of the hardest to declutter, so I saved it for close-to-last…

What to Declutter from the Kitchen/Pantry

Gadgets/Appliances/Tools:

• Any more than one backup of a well-used gadget.

I currently have two backup can openers. I’m going to go throw one out now.

I’m not really.

But you’ll never know.

• Appliances that need repair or that overheat.

Where have you been? Under a rock? Have you never even seen This Is Us?

• Gadgets you avoid because it’s easier to chop, slice or dice than it is to clean the stupid things
• Gadgets you bought for a specific diet plan you no longer follow or a type of cuisine you no longer cook
• If you have 2 appliances that do the same thing and never use both at the same time, get rid of one.

Or is that a next-level item? I really should make a second list.

• Novelty appliances like cotton candy makers and pretzel makers you bought because they sounded neat, but then used once and realized it’s SO MUCH EASIER (not to mention cheaper) to just buy pretzels or cotton candy.

While you’re at it, throw out all those horrible toy appliances that make ONE SERVING of ice cream or chewing gum.

They’re just an afternoon of disappointment waiting to happen.

Dishes/Cookware/Storage Containers:

• Mugs that overflow the mug cabinet
• Non-stick skillets that stick
• Promo plastic water bottles that make your water taste bad
• Serving ware or china you never use but you got it as a wedding gift.

Use it or lose it, baby.

Unless it’s next-level hard to get rid of. Then you may keep it.

For now.

• Travel mugs or cups with no lids
• Utensils or cookware that you always bypass in favor of the ones you prefer
• Plastic ware lids with no matching bottom

I will allow you to keep bottoms with no lids, though, but only if you promise to remove them from the Tupperware cabinet.

They make excellent drawer organizers.

Geez, what kind of decluttering blogger am I to suggest keeping Tupperware with no lid? Please don’t report me.

• Cracked or chipped dishes, cookware, or glasses.

These are actually dangerous because they can harbor bacteria.

(She says as she vows to never, ever, ever give up the pretty gold-rimmed wine glass she got for her bridal shower and uses regularly, despite the lip-cutting chip in the rim. Sentimental. I think I’ve covered that one already.)

Food:

• Pricey specialty ingredients you’re afraid to use in recipes because they’ve possibly gone bad and might wreck the recipe. But it was expensive so it’s hard to trash.

Either eat it by itself or throw it out. This includes spices.

• Leftovers from a dinner you can’t remember making.
• Expired foods.

I’m in the camp that doesn’t believe you must toss everything past its sell-by date (please see my disclaimer page regarding health recommendations – I know nothing), but if you’re afraid to cook something because of the date, then get rid of it.

You have my permission to do it now instead of next week, because you know you’re going to put it down the garbage disposal anyway.

Might as well do it before the Tupperware turns green.

• Anything in the freezer that looks questionable. Cook it or dump it.
• Freezer bags containing the unidentifiable.

Defrost it first, if you must, but then either cook it or throw it away.

• Frozen food, particularly fruits and veggies, that have thawed, congealed, and refrozen into a hardened mass.

I currently have three bags of bananas fitting this description.

And yes, as soon as I’m done writing, I will throw them away.

• Anything that doesn’t appeal to you that you received for Christmas because your aunt couldn’t think of anything else for your stocking.

This includes specialty dip mixes, weird jams or infused oils, tiny skillet cookies (and the microscopic useless skillet that goes with them), hot chocolate add-ins shaped like snowflakes, sugar-free caramel coffee syrups, and spice blends.

• And, while you’re at it, toss the old candies and snack foods that arrived via Easter basket or plastic jack-o-lantern last year.

If nobody’s gotten desperate enough to eat those Palmer chocolates, blue raspberry tootsie rolls, or rock hard bunny-shaped gummies yet, they aren’t going to.

But if you decide to open a jar of peanut butter and mix in all the yucky generic chocolate to declutter via your stomach, I won’t judge you.

I will pity you (possibly even envy you – my house is currently completely chocolate-less – even bad chocolate is still chocolate), but I will not judge you.

• Condiments from fast food restaurants. Designate a bin in your fridge or cabinet for soy packets, ketchup packets, and little barbecue sauces. Get ruthless with the overflow.
• Unusual specialty ingredients you bought for your New Year’s diet two years ago.

If you ever go back to the avoid-all-sugar-until-you-end-up-bingeing-and-crying-in-a-closet diet and need the monk fruit again, you’ll be afraid to use that ancient bag anyway.

Other Kitchen Stuff to Get Rid Of:

• Cookbooks that aren’t appetizing or useful, like microwave cookbooks, outdated diet cookbooks (‘bye ‘bye Susan Powter), or novelty cookbooks.

Because nobody needs to learn how to cook with marshmallow peeps.

• Fridge magnets you got for free to promote companies you can find online if you need them again

If you actually use them to hold stuff, fine. But don’t think they’re fridge decorations.

They’re not.

Still coming up short on your goal of 100 things to declutter? I’ve got one more category.

And it’s one you can tackle while resting on your patootie.

Digital Clutter to Delete From Your Life

These won’t save space in your home but they can be suffocating anyway. Decluttering them will clear up your mental energy and possibly make your devices function better.

Then when you avoid decluttering by playing Candy Crush, it will be less frustrating.

• Apps you don’t use. Unless they have data that will disappear if you uninstall, get rid of them.

You can always re-install them later if you need them.

• Audible books you’ve already listened to.

Remove them from your device to save space. They’ll still be in your library in the cloud.

• Sales emails.

If you think you might use the discounts, archive them. Then you can just search by company name if you need one.

But get them out of your inbox.

• Screenshots and photos on your phone that don’t matter to you.

Here’s a tip to get rid of these easily. Use the Favorites symbol. You know, the little heart you tap to designate photos you want to keep? Use it for the opposite.

If I want to be “productive” but don’t feel like getting off the couch, I heart any photos or screenshots I don’t care about. Then once the favorites folder has built up to 100-200 or so, I do a mass delete.

Recap of 100 Things to Declutter Fast

To sum it up, the least painful things to declutter are the ones that:

• Aren’t sentimental
• Haven’t been used in years
• Are broken or non-functional
• Exist only as backups

Final Thoughts

There’s also one other category that’s not as excruciating to get rid of.

When I asked for declutter list suggestions in an ADHD Facebook group, one mom said “it’s so much easier to get rid of things if you know someone else can use them.”

I thought this was a beautiful point. It’s difficult to give up things you care about if they’re just getting thrown into the car to donate to a thrift shop.

I mean, you know the money is eventually going to somewhere it’s needed, but it’s still a struggle to give up things like our son’s formerly-beloved Thomas table I mentioned above (even though he flat-out told us he didn’t care a whit about anymore).

Knowing it went to a place where it would be appreciated and loved made it a joy to donate instead of a struggle.

I know, I really need to get Toy Story out of my brain.

But if you’re having a hard time parting with some of these items, think of someone with a need you can fulfill.

Or a little girl mom friend whose relationship you can abuse.

I also read somewhere a long, long time ago that letting go of things and sending them to someone who needs them opens you up for things you really need to come into your life.

Even if you think that’s woo-woo, rest assured that if your clutter is affecting your mental state, letting go of some of it will at least make you feel better.

Download the 100 Things to Declutter Checklist

If you don’t think you can do a deep-down declutter, then this checklist of 100 easy things to declutter fast can get you started.

Because even getting rid of pens that don’t write and light bulbs you have no use for can motivate you to keep going.

If you find 100 or more things to declutter in your own home or have any other suggestions for no-brainer declutter items to add to the checklist, I’d love to hear about it! Just let me know in the comments.

Now, if you’re ready to do a fast declutter and don’t want to get distracted with your phone, download and print the free checklist of 100 things to declutter fast..

And if you don’t need the list of 100 things to declutter fast but would like to be part of my mailing list where I collect email addresses that I’ll probably never get the nerve to send anything to, you can subscribe below.

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Happy Decluttering!