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If you are feeling overwhelmed by the clutter around you right now, but you have no idea where to even begin to tackle it, you’re not alone.

Join me as we’re going to go through the house together, room by room, with a very simple list of questions that you can ask yourself. The questions will help you decide what to keep, what to let go of, and how to make space for the things that truly matter to you.

Before we get going, if you want my full declutter checklist, it’s free, and you can grab it below.

Let’s go!

Keep reading below or watch the video:

The living room

Going through the items in the living room, these are a few questions I like to ask myself.

1. Do I use this item regularly? If not, why might that be?

Maybe it’s an item that’s just seasonal, in which case I can store it away. Or it might be that the item doesn’t even belong in the living room. It can also be the case that it’s something I simply don’t truly need, so I can just get rid of it.

2. Is this an item I love looking at?

3. Does this item still match my style?

Our style changes. Sometimes we change places. We move to a different home, and the things that we had before might not fit anymore. We might simply not like them anymore. Or maybe we’ve purchased new decor items, but we haven’t let go of the old ones. 

This is a good chance for you to really think about what you really like looking at and what makes you feel good in your space.

4. Is this something I’m keeping just in case? 

There were so many items I was keeping before, thinking, ”Maybe I’ll need it in the future.” But the truth is, if I haven’t used it in the last year or two, sometimes even more, it’s very unlikely that I will need it in the near future. And by the time I do need it, it’s very likely that either it won’t be good or useful anymore.

So, I realised it’s just better for me to let go of such items. And if in three years from now I do need an item I decluttered, I can always repurchase it pre-loved. It doesn’t have to be new or expensive. 

5. Would I display this, or am I trying to hide it? 

We often have decor items that we either don’t like anymore or were gifted. So we end up with them stashed in a cupboard. I did that so many times. But I realised that if I’m not displaying it, if I’m not enjoying looking at it, there’s no point in keeping it.

These are the kind of items you can easily let go of, too. And speaking of gifts…

6. Am I keeping this only because it was a gift? 

Gifts are very hard to declutter. But letting go of an item that was gifted to you doesn’t mean you love that person any less.

And it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to tell them either. You can simply accept their gift, thank them when you receive it, and appreciate the gesture and the fact that they thought about you. 

It doesn’t mean you need to keep that gift forever. Maybe you use it for a few months or weeks, and then you pass it on to someone else. Or you can simply just let it go because it doesn’t serve you.

7. Would I buy this item again today? 

If I wouldn’t, if I’m not really getting use out of it, if it’s not something I really enjoy using, then I can simply declutter it. 

8. Do these items fit in the space I gave them?

I like to organise a lot of things in a little container, be that a basket, a tray, or whatever sort of container it might be. And I make sure that the things I put in that container fit comfortably in there. 

If the items don’t fit comfortably in that container, it means that I either have too many, so I can declutter some of them, or that they need a different container. But usually, if it’s overflowing, that’s a sign of too much stuff.

The kitchen

9. Do I have any expired food in this cupboard? 

I can always go and have a quick look to check the dates on the food products, to make sure I don’t have any expired flour, condiments, or anything like that. 

10. How many of these spices do I regularly use?

I have a few spices that I prefer to use in most of my cooking, and I keep those in my spice rack. Before, though, I used to have so many more that I didn’t really use. Some because I didn’t like them, others because I had bought them once for a recipe, and never used them afterwards. 

And that’s another question I like to ask myself…

11. Is this a condiment or an item I only bought for one recipe?

As mentioned before, I used to do this, buy a condiment for a recipe and not use it again because I either didn’t like the recipe, or the spice didn’t come up in another recipe. I accepted that I don’t like that particular spice, and I got rid of it.

If you have such a condiment in your kitchen, you can either make a plan to use it in the next week’s meal plan or declutter it on the spot.

12. Have I used this appliance or gadget in the last year? 

If I haven’t, it’s probably for a reason. 

While on this journey, I really tried my best to be realistic with myself. And the more I decluttered, the more I realised I had appliances I wasn’t using. For example, I had a sandwich maker I wasn’t using because I hated cleaning it. So I just got rid of it.

13. Do I have other items that do the same job? 

Sometimes we have little gadgets that all do similar things. And having just one is usually enough.

For example, I have a blender that’s three-in-one. It has a whisk, it has the usual blender, and then it’s got an immersion blender for soups. So it does pretty much everything that I need in my cooking.

Depending how big of a chef you are, you might need more or less kitchen gadgets. But for me, I found that that is enough. 

14. Is this item broken or missing parts? 

I used to have so many items that I kept, thinking, “I’ll keep it in this drawer, and I’ll fix it one day.” But that one day usually never comes. For some of those items, we made it a point to fix them this week if we were ever going to fix them. If we didn’t, that meant we could get rid of them. 

I’m not saying you should give yourself one week. Just give yourself the time frame that you’re comfortable with. But keeping a lot of things for one day is usually how we end up with a lot of things that we don’t really need, but just clutter up our space. 

15. If this item went missing, would I miss it, replace it, or would I feel relieved?

This was a really helpful question for me to really make me realise if I really value an item, and it really helps me in my life, or if it’s something that I’m just keeping in there, but I’m not really using. 

16. Do I use all these mugs, plates, and bowls? 

We often have these in excess. We used to have over 40 mugs, and we were a family of three at that point. And yes, we do have guests over as we love hosting. But we don’t usually have 40 people at the same time in our house, who all want hot beverages at the same time. So now we only keep a few mugs.

We also keep a set of plates and bowls, but we don’t have a lot of excess because we simply don’t need it. 

Wardrobe

17. Have I worn this in the last year? 

If the answer is “no,” I try to think why not. And it might just be that it just doesn’t make me feel good when I put it on. But that’s an item I can easily declutter. There’s no point in keeping something that doesn’t make me feel good when I try it on. 

18. Does this item fit me right now?

Anything that doesn’t fit or doesn’t feel flattering on me is an item I can declutter. 

19. Does it fit my current lifestyle?

For example, a jumper that I have is great for when I go to soft play, so it’s definitely a good item to keep. But if it’s something very fancy, like high heels? I don’t need them anymore. So I’ve decluttered them.

20. Do I feel confident wearing this?

If that’s a yes, then obviously I’m going to keep it. But if it’s an item I put on and I just don’t feel like myself in it, or I don’t feel very comfortable in it, then I don’t want to keep that in my wardrobe.

Our clothes are supposed to make us feel good. And when we feel comfortable in what we’re wearing, that’s when we look our best. So those are the clothes I want to keep in my wardrobe.

21. Am I only keeping this out of guilt?

We often keep items just because they were expensive or because they were a gift. And if that’s the case, I really try to remind myself of the purpose of my clothes And that’s to be enjoyed and worn. If I’m not wearing them, if I don’t enjoy putting them on, then I can simply let them go.

And if it was an expensive item, as long as it’s in good condition, I can try and sell it on Vinted, for example, or another platform for pre-loved items.

22. Do I have multiple items that I don’t need or use?

I think it’s absolutely fine to have duplicates as long as we wear them. For example, I have a few black T-shirts in different styles. So I think it’s okay to have duplicates if we actually need and wear them. 

But if, like myself in the past, you’ve purchased a lot of very similar items, but you end up just wearing the new thing, and then all the older ones are just sitting in there, then this is a sign to get rid of those.

Kids’ rooms

23. Have they outgrown this?

Going through their clothes, I check to see if they still fit them. If not, then that’s an easy declutter. 

24. Are these items season-appropriate?

If it’s currently summer, and there are a lot of winter items in the kids’ wardrobes, the space is going to feel a lot more cluttered. It’s also going to be harder for them to get dressed in the morning, and harder for me to find their clothes. This is why I try to keep what’s in season in their wardrobe, so that everything that’s in there is an option for today.

25. Am I only keeping these items because they were hand-me-downs or gifts?

If that’s the case, I can get rid of them, because the purpose of clothes is to be worn. If they’re not, be it because the kids don’t enjoy wearing them, they don’t fit their lifestyle, or they simply have too many, then there’s no point in keeping them.

26. How many of these toys are played with on a regular basis?

This is what I ask myself when it comes to toys. And by played with, I mean actual focused play with those toys, rather than taking them out and just dumping the entire basket on the floor. That’s not playing in my book. 

And the toys they’re not playing with regularly? We can either get rid of some of them, or do a toy rotation by putting some of them away for now, in a loft or in a basket on top of wardrobes. Later on, we can bring those back and store others away for a while. This way, the kids have fewer items available at any one point, which helps them have more focused play and also play more independently.

Bathroom

When it comes to bathroom products, these are the questions I ask myself.

27. Is this product expired?

If I bought a product 2 years ago, chances are it’s expired. So it might be time to get rid of it. 

28. Have I had it open for a long time?

For example, if I’ve had a body lotion open for years, then that’s probably not a very good product to put on my body anymore. Products like these tend to have their expiry date within 12 months after opening (some 6 month, others 24 months). So these products are things I can easily and safely declutter. 

29. Are these towels still in good condition and not too many?

When I’m looking in the bathroom, this is one question I can ask myself. Because towels that are too worn out can definitely be decluttered. And also, if we have more towels than we need, that’s another reason to let go of some of them.

30. Do I have decor filling all the surfaces?

I find that especially in the bathroom, we don’t need much decor. Maybe a couple of items, like a greenery or a little basket. I enjoy those. But when we have too many decor items, it makes cleaning so much harder, and it makes it take a lot longer than it needs to.

31. Does cleaning in here take a long time?

If it does, then clearing the surfaces is one thing we can do to speed up that process. 

32. Do I need so many duplicates? 

I try to remind myself that “I am not a warehouse.” This is a quote from the Goodbye, Things book by Fumio Sasaki. And it’s true, we are not warehouses. We don’t need to have a huge backstock of products. That’s why we have shops. And items are so easy to find and buy these days, and the majority of them aren’t very expensive. So, we do not need to keep large stocks of product in our bathrooms. 

33. Am I actually using all this makeup, skin care, and hair care?

What I realised is that when I buy new products, it’s because I no longer enjoy wearing my old ones. Maybe they don’t work anymore or are too old. So whenever I buy a new product, it’s a good idea to declutter the old ones.

When it comes to makeup, it takes a long time to use up a product. If you’ve ever tried a Project Pan, then you probably know that a bronzer, highlighter, or any product like that can take ages to finish, especially if you have multiples. Having several products in the same category can end up being a waste of money. It’s better to use what you have, declutter the rest, and only buy when you truly need to.

Paperwork

I know paperwork can feel really intimidating when you’re faced with piles and piles of it. But just start small, with a small stack of papers. As you go through them, these are the questions that help me each time I tackle paperwork. And over time, the more you do this, the more you realise you don’t actually need to keep that many. And it also becomes so much easier to find what you need, when you need it.

34. Is this document still needed? 

We tend to keep a lot of documents and papers that we don’t actually need to keep.

35. Can I digitise this paper instead of keeping the hard copy?

I asked myself this question a lot when I massively decluttered our home and our paperwork. And I realised that, in many cases, I could keep a digital version on my laptop or on a hard drive instead of keeping a mountain of papers in my home.

36. Is this item related to an old job or home?

These are all items that we most likely no longer need, so we can get rid of them.

37. Is this paper expired or no longer relevant and can be shredded?

If it’s out of date, no longer serves a purpose, or I can’t think of a single reason I might need it again, then it’s usually safe to let it go.

Storage and sentimental items

When it comes to this category, these are the questions I like to keep in mind. 

38. Is this item for a project that I abandoned a long time ago?

If this is the case, and especially if I don’t even intend to get back to that project anytime soon, it’s a good sign I can get rid of those items. And I can just pass them on to someone else who can get use out of them.

39. Am I keeping a lot of kids items that they’ve outgrown?

We often tend to keep old items in storage like bikes, pushchairs, baby swings, and other things our kids have already outgrown. But if they’re no longer using them, and especially if we don’t plan on having more kids, there’s really no reason to hold on to them. And even if we do have more children someday, those items might not be safe or useful by then. So I’ve found it’s better to pass them on to someone who can use them now and clear up the space in my loft, as I don’t need to store it all.

40. Does this sentimental item make me feel good or bring me comfort?

I think it’s a fine line here. Some items can be sentimental, not necessarily in the best way, but we still want to keep them. And that’s absolutely fine. 

For example, I have a pregnancy folder from when we had our first miscarriage. Is there a point in my keeping that? No. Does it make me feel good to look at? Not necessarily. But it’s something that really helped me in my grief journey. I can’t fully explain it, but having that folder of that pregnancy and those scan pictures of that baby helps me in a way to know that that baby and that pregnancy existed. I find comfort in having that folder. 

So I’m not saying to get rid of all your sentimental items. All I’m saying is to try and keep things that truly matter to you. 

And with some sentimental items, like photos you’re no longer keen on or don’t want to keep the physical copy of, you can take a photo of the picture or the item itself, then let go of the physical item. This way, you keep the memory without holding on to the clutter in your home.

I hope this list of decluttering questions is helpful. Let me know how you’re getting on with your declutter in the comments below, I love hearing from you!