When we first decided to declutter our apartment, we made the classic mistake: we opened our closet, pulled everything out, and created a mountain on our bed. Then we sat down next to it and ate a sandwich while staring at the wall, because we had no idea what to do next. That pile stayed on our bed for three days.
We’ve since learned that decluttering works best when you start with the easy stuff. The goal of your first session isn’t to transform your home — it’s to build momentum and teach your brain that letting go feels good, not scary. So here are the first ten things we’d suggest tackling, in roughly this order. Each one is quick, low-stakes, and gives you a visible win.
Start with the things with zero emotional weight
1. Expired food and old spices. Open your pantry and fridge, and check the dates. We found a jar of cumin from 2019 and three cans of beans we’d forgotten about. This category is perfect to start with because there’s no decision fatigue — if it’s expired, it goes. Took us about twenty minutes and filled one trash bag.
2. Duplicate kitchen tools. Count how many spatulas, wooden spoons, and mugs you actually own. We had four vegetable peelers and no idea how. Keep the one you reach for, donate the rest. Duplicates are the low-hanging fruit of decluttering because you lose nothing by removing the extras.
3. Old papers and expired documents. Receipts you don’t need, manuals for appliances you no longer own, expired coupons, bank statements from three years ago. Shred or recycle anything without tax or legal relevance. We filled an entire paper bag in one afternoon and immediately felt lighter, even though nothing visible had changed.
4. Tupperware with missing lids. Every kitchen has that drawer. If a container has no lid, or a lid has no container, it’s not storage anymore — it’s clutter. Match everything up and recycle the orphans. This took us ten minutes and fixed a drawer we’d been cursing for a year.
Then move to the categories hiding in plain sight
5. Worn-out socks and underwear. Open the drawer and be ruthless. Holes, stains, elastic that’s given up, or anything you’ve been “saving” for laundry day for a year. These are private, low-stakes decisions — nobody’s going to miss your thinning socks.
6. Old magazines and newspapers. we used to keep magazines “just in case” we’d reread them. We never did. If it’s older than three months and isn’t something you’re actively referencing, it can go. Recycle them or, better, find a local waiting room that accepts donations.
7. Expired medications and old toiletries. Check your bathroom cabinet. Expired pills, half-empty lotions from three years ago, makeup you haven’t touched in a season. Most pharmacies have drop-off boxes for old medication, which is safer than tossing it in the trash.
8. Cords and chargers you can’t identify. we had a box of eleven mystery cables. We kept two USB-C cords, one micro-USB “just in case,” and recycled the rest. If you can’t identify what a cable charges, it’s safe to assume nothing in your home needs it.
Finish with the two that give the biggest visible result
9. Books you’ll never read again. This one’s harder because books carry meaning. But look honestly: the novel you didn’t enjoy, the cookbook with one recipe you already photographed, the textbook from a class you took eight years ago. We boxed up forty books over a weekend and donated them to the library. Our shelves breathe now, and we can actually see the books we love.
10. The “someday” box. Almost everyone has one — a drawer or bin of things kept for a future self who might need them. Old phones, mystery keys, freebies from conferences, a cable for a device that no longer exists. Set a rule: if you haven’t touched it in a year, and it’s not expensive or sentimental, let it go. This category is last because it asks slightly more of you, but by now you’ll have the momentum to handle it.
A quick note of honesty: decluttering these ten categories won’t make your home look like a minimalist magazine spread. It will, however, clear the surface layer of stuff that weighs on you daily. That’s enough to make the next, harder round feel possible. Start with the expired food and the mystery cords. The momentum does the rest.