16 Things You Need to Throw Away To Declutter Your Home
It is time to declutter! And cleaning up your home can be one of the best feelings ever. When your home is clean, organized, and clutter-free, you will feel happier, more relaxed, and more content in your space. When you look around your home, you may be overwhelmed and wonder where to begin on your quest for cleanliness. Here are 16 things you should immediately throw away. We promise you won’t miss them, and it will feel so good to kiss them goodbye! Get out of that garbage bag and start cleaning!
Old Magazines
Once you read a magazine, it should go straight into the trash. Lots of us keep old magazines, piling them up on a coffee table or nightstand. But does anyone actually read them again? No, so just throw them away! Your home will look instantly cleaner and less cluttered.
Ripped Linens
If you have old, torn linens, it is time to throw them away. Stop saving those old bed sheets or stained pillowcases. You will never use them! Plus, once you clean out your linen closet, you will hopefully have tons of extra storage space that you can use for new linens or something else completely!
Anything from High School
If you have trinkets from high school, it is time to say goodbye and throw them into the trash. The things you value today are likely very different from those you valued in high school. Say goodbye to the old homework assignments, trash the test, and go donate your old prom dress. You don’t need any of it!
Expired Medicine
Clean out your medicine cabinet and toss anything that has expired. Lots of medicines only last a year or less, so they should be discarded to ensure you do not take them by accident. Definitely throw away unlabeled medication. You should not take old or unidentifiable medicine, so it is a clear throwaway item.
Old Cards
Stop saving every birthday card, holiday card, and invitation you receive in the mail. Once the event has passed, you no longer need to hold on to the card. If the cards hold strong sentimental value, consider adding them to a scrapbook or making them part of a photo album. Otherwise, just toss them out!
Outdated Electronics
If you still have your original cell phone or your first laptop, it is time to toss them. They likely don’t work anymore, and you are probably generations ahead in technology. There is no need to fill your closets with old electronics. You can also consider donating some of your old electronics as the parts may still be usable.
Receipts
If you have a drawer full of old receipts, they must be tossed. If you feel like you need to keep your receipts, consider a neater filing system that will organize the loose papers a bit better. But throwing away all those scrap receipts will feel so good!
Stained Clothing
Any clothes with stains have got to go. There is no point in keeping stained clothes, and hanging them back up in your closet is a terrible idea. Stop wishing the stains would go away and make those clothes go away completely.
Broken and Chipped Dishes
If you have mugs, plates, or bowls that have cracks, they should not be kept. These broken dishes are not only taking up space in your cabinets, but they are also dangerous. Someone could get hurt on a sharp, chipped mug, or a large cracked plate could easily break in half. Just throw them away and avoid the risk.
Old Books
If you have a bunch of old books lying around, it is time to pack them up and donate them to your local library or a nearby school. Books collect a lot of dust and take up a lot of space. If you do not plan to read the books, just get rid of them! Old cookbooks are a great place to start as they tend to be bigger and, therefore, will instantly declutter your bookshelf.
Take-Out Containers
Lots of us save all of our take-out containers, thinking we will reuse them to store food or other trinkets. But often, they end up mismatched and useless. They take up so much space in the kitchen that could be better used otherwise. Trash all those extra take-out containers because deep down, you know that you won’t reuse them.
Old Bathroom Products
Maybe you tried a new lotion and didn’t like it, or you started using one face wash and then switched to another. Half-used bottles of old toiletries belong in the trash. If you haven’t used it in over a year, it shouldn’t be taking up space on your bathroom shelf. Plus, it may actually be expired and not as effective as it once was.
CDs and DVDs
CDs and DVDs have completely lost their value nowadays, especially if you no longer have a CD or DVD player to listen to and watch them. If you have a bunch of these, you should probably give them to someone who can actually enjoy them or simply throw them in the bin. With so many online platforms to listen to music and watch movies, there is truly no need for them anymore.
Old Stuffed Animals
Okay, no need to throw away your favorite stuffed animal from childhood. But how many of those colorful, soft animals are you emotionally attached to? Probably not many. It’s time to donate them to a charity organization in your area so that they can bring joy to other kids. You may even decide to deep clean your stuffed animals and give them to one of your colleagues with young children.
Clothes from High School
Any clothes in your closet from high school need to be tossed. Styles have changed, your body has changed, and those old clothes have likely seen better days. Take out all of the clothes that you wore in high school and put them directly into a donation bag. Yes, you can keep one or two things with strong sentimental value, but try to get rid of the majority. You won’t miss it!
Old Toys
If you have kids, you likely have an abundance of toys. But do they still play with all those toys? Or have they completely outgrown them? When you get rid of the old toys, your home will instantly feel less cluttered. Consider donating the toys that are still in good shape or giving them to friends with appropriately aged kids. Less toys equals less mess, and we promise your kids will still be very happy.
