Is there anything more satisfying than decluttering your home? From overflowing bedroom wardrobes to crowded kitchen cupboards and cluttered living room drawers, most of us accumulate more needless clutter than we realise. While many of our belongings are useful or loved, there are always items hidden away that no longer serve a purpose.
Our expert decluttering checklist is designed to help you cut the time it takes to make your home tidier and easier to manage. Whether you’re tackling one room or working through the whole house, these decluttering tips and ideas will help you achieve a space that’s easier to manage and more enjoyable to live in.
Top Decluttering Tips
Before jumping into decluttering your home, it helps to approach the process with a clear plan. We have compiled a list of practical tips for decluttering that you can apply to your room-by-room checklist.
- Start small and stay focused: We all underestimate just how big a task decluttering the home is. Start small, taking it room by room. If you have many cupboards and other areas that need to be emptied and sorted, start with one area at a time.
- Think through the project: Often, we start decluttering with a burst of energy, and whilst ‘throwing things out’ can be cathartic, it can simply move one pile of mess to another location. Think through the entire process, especially how you will handle the items you no longer want.
- Plan for immediate removal: One person’s rubbish is another’s treasure, so if you can recycle items, then do so. Check the opening hours of your local recycling centre and charity shops. And don’t leave this job to another day – do it today!
- Use smart decluttering storage solutions. From vacuum storage bags for clothing, throws, and cushions to storage boxes with strong lids and handles, if you plan to store items.
- Assign a home for everything: For items you do hang on to, ensure you have a place to store them. If you don’t think it through, you’ll find you have the same things hanging around, just in a different place.
THE ROOM-BY-ROOM DECLUTTERING GUIDE
No matter the time of year, having a home decluttering checklist makes the process far easier, as you can tick off the rooms you clean as you go. Start by targeting the most-used areas and rooms like the hallway, kitchen, bedroom, and living room, then move over to other general areas like playrooms. Use this room-by-room decluttering checklist as a flexible guide to achieve your decluttering goals.
DECLUTTER THE HALLWAY
If you’re looking for a quick win, decluttering the hallway first. It’s the first space that you step into when you get home, and so, a streamlined, stylish hallway is a must, but it often becomes a dumping ground for shoes and other miscellaneous items.
Reduce what you store in the space, prioritising coats and shoes. Anything else needs a new home; it cannot be left in the hallway. Considering adding a hallway console table for smaller items, to keep hallways streamlined and free of clutter.
DECLUTTER THE KITCHEN
The kitchen is the most frequently used area of your home, making it prone to clutter. From needless gadgets to excess kitchenware, it’s easy for areas in the kitchen, like cupboards and pantries to become overcrowded.
When you declutter kitchens, prioritise the worktops. Aim to store everything away (except the kettle and coffee maker) to keep the worktops clear. Clearing surfaces instantly makes the space feel larger and easier to clean.
TOP TIP: Use stackable containers and drawer organisers when stacking cupboards. As a general rule, store items you rarely use on higher shelves and items you use occasionally on the very bottom shelves. The middle shelves and the front of the shelf should be used daily, if not more frequently. The same method can be used to keep other frequent parts of the kitchen organised, like the fridge and freezer. Consider ditching the packaging that takes up needless space and replacing it with more efficient storage solutions like the VacPack Fresh or other kitchen storage essentials.
DECLUTTER THE LIVING ROOM
When decluttering the living room, remember that furniture can contribute as much to clutter as smaller accessories. Assess what furniture is needed within the space.
Try removing one large piece of furniture and see how the room feels and flows. Begin placing oversized furniture to create streamlined alternatives and improve the room's aesthetic. Built-in storage alternatives, such as coffee tables with drawers, are an excellent addition for storing smaller items.
When it comes to cushions and throws, they may have once given the idea of sumptuousness to the space, but if they are just ending up in a heap at the end of the sofa, the time has come to repurpose or store them away.
Adding cushions, throws and decorative items to furniture can complement the living room, but make sure not to go overboard. If it becomes too much on the eye, consider showcasing fewer items and storing others for rotation as needed.
HOW TO DECLUTTER THE PLAYROOM
The truth is, all that toy clutter means your children cannot see what they have to play with. But if they don’t have the right storage solutions to put things away, they won’t be able to.
Consider wooden toy boxes and stackable boxes with lids for larger items. Once the playroom is decluttered, why not consider building a shelving unit into the room? It will ‘grow’ with your children, holding books and other items as they grow into young people. A good storage solution for kids who are puzzle fans is the Puzzable Puzzle Table, which keeps all pieces organised and prevents any from being lost. Once the room is decluttered, consider installing a shelving unit. It will ‘grow’ with your children, holding books and other items as they grow into young people.
HOW TO DECLUTTER THE BEDROOMS
Bedrooms can be easily very cluttered, especially with items in the wardrobe and drawers. When you declutter the bedroom, take time to review clothing honestly.
A common guideline for decluttering your bedroom is to consider what you have worn in the past year. Seasonal pieces can be stored in wardrobes with Starlyf Space Hangers rather than discarded, and any other pieces can be stored in the loft, once clean and dry, in Vac Pack Go! Bags. With what you have left, arrange items in colour-coded blocks in the wardrobe so you can reach them quickly in the morning.
POST-DECLUTTER CLEANING IMPORTANCE
Decluttering and cleaning go hand-in-hand with one another. Once you have completed your decluttering checklist, the post-declutter clean becomes effortless. With surfaces cleared and cupboards emptied, you can see what exactly needs cleaning in every room of your home.
Take the opportunity to dust and deep-clean cupboards, shelves, and drawers, and vacuum, brush and mop large areas like floors.
We have a wide range of cleaning tools that add the finishing touch to your decluttered spaces. Tools like the Go Vac and the TurboVac allow you to get into the crevices that can’t be reached by standard vacuums, so every inch of the rooms is clean.
Post-declutter cleaning ensures your space feels finished as well as easier to clean and tidy going forward.
DECLUTTER YOUR HOME WITH EASE WITH JML
Decluttering your home doesn't happen all at once. Whether you’re following a full decluttering checklist or doing one room at a time, consistent progress is what matters. With the right structure, practical decluttering ideas, and effective storage solutions, maintaining an organised home is easy.
Discover our range of home gadgets and wardrobe accessories to help you begin on your decluttering journey. Also, for more storage tips, check out our breakdown of home accessories that will help you save, as well as space-saving tips for appliances like small fridges.