What Should I Declutter in 2023?

Everyone loves the start of a new year.

Once the New Year's Day hangover subsides, your attention may shift to how to kick off 2023 with a clean slate.

And decluttering is a fantastic place to begin. We show you how.

How does decluttering improve your life?

Decluttering is good for your health and well-being in a few ways.

It can prevent pests, reduce dust and help to prevent mould as well, mitigating asthma and allergy triggers.

Psychologists have also noted that decluttering has mental health benefits as well: confidence about your decision-making skills, reduction in anxiety by creating order and potentially less stress (if you’ve ever madly hunted for keys when you’re already running late, you know the feeling).

It’s all about minimising chaos and creating more time and energy for yourself in your day-to-day life.

How to Declutter Your Home in 5 Steps

Most of us have a little time off over the Christmas and New Year period.

And while it isn’t expected that you’ll spend your entire holiday cleaning, a little time spent decluttering will get your year off to an amazing start!

This is your step-by-step strategy.

1. Plan

Remember not to take on too much. Be realistic about what you can achieve, even if it is just picking two or three rooms in the house to focus on.

Sit in each room for a couple of minutes, visualising how you want it to look and getting a rough idea of how much you’re going to be throwing out, donating, or storing. You’ll need to have a plan for how you’re going to be moving things out of the house.

If storing, you may need to rethink your storage set-up at home. That may mean purchasing storage boxes or cubes or repurposing other cupboards and shelves in your home.

2. Clear spaces

This is along the lines of the Marie Kondo method. Clear everything (within reason) out of cupboards, pantries, and shelves then place them in the middle of the room.

For a kitchen, this may be the fridge and pantry; for the living area, bookshelves, and television unit; and for the bedrooms, cupboards, or bedside shelves.

Take this opportunity to give surfaces a dust and wipe them down.

Note: you should only take this task on if you have the time and keep in mind that decluttering in one room may lead to projects in other rooms. This is what makes this such a great new year’s project.

3. Clear that clutter

This is where most of the work is going to happen, and the big decisions need to be made.

Work out if you’re going to keep, throw out or donate everything you’ve got piled up in the room.

How to sort items when decluttering

• Keep – While Marie Kondo says to hold onto anything that ‘sparks joy’, our advice is a little more helpful. If you haven’t used it in four seasons, it may be time to let it go. Likewise, if it’s something that doesn’t fit your lifestyle anymore (do you really still need 10 pairs of high heels?). When it comes to getting rid of things, do it as ethically as possible – sell, repurpose, give to a friend or donate.

• Donate – The Salvation Army has some guidance on what you can and can’t donate. Consider the quality of what you’re donating as well. Vinnies has a great rule on this decision: if it is something that you would give to a friend, then it is fine to donate. Steer clear of donating ripped or dirty clothing and manchester, or broken household goods.

• Throw out – Recycle where you can, but your best bet is to give your local council a call and ask their advice on how best to dispose of your unwanted or broken household items. Many local councils offer curb side pickups or collection points for these types of situations.

Once you’ve worked out what you’re keeping, sort into piles. Categories, categorise, categorise!

This may be standard, or it may be customised to suit your family or the time of year.

Here are some examples.

How to Declutter Your Pantry

Split into cereals, canned food, snacks, baking ingredients, condiments etc, placing things where they most make sense for your home. As a young family with a constantly hungry 5-year-old who has recently started making her own breakfast and helping herself to snacks, we have her cereal and some healthy snack options on the bottom shelf. Also, these tiered shelves changed the look of my corner pantry and made it so much easier to see items. Scour your local Kmart, Big W or Target for what kitchen pantry storage options may work for your space.

How to Declutter Your Wardrobe

Sort your clothes into categories that work for your life and the season. Given its summer in Australia, you have no need for your warm clothes for at least another few months. Store them elsewhere to give yourself extra room. Separate into types of clothing (skirts, blouses, pants etc) or if you’d prefer, into wear categories. For example, workwear, activewear, going out clothes etc.

4. Be sensible about storage

When putting items back, put a little bit of thought into where you’re placing things.

There’s a rule about home organisation that states that everything in your home should have a place. It’s called the fork theory – if you find a fork around the house, you immediately know where it needs to go. It should be the same with every item in your home.

Do some research before you start your decluttering around which storage options best suit your home and the items you have.

5. Organise a decluttering command centre

Organising experts call the area of your home where you basically put everything when you come in the door/are heading out the door, the Command Centre.

Think of items like keys, letters, school bags and handbags, and even calendars to keep your schedule on track. Storage cubes are a great option, for all the above items, and for even storing things like shoes.

Unfortunately, this area can become a bit of a dumping ground and is usually the first place where clutter gathers.

If you don’t have a command centre, you should create one! Having a central point to keep everything neat and ready to grab before you leave the house will make you feel extremely organised.

How do you declutter without being overwhelmed?

Taking on a project like this can feel overwhelming, particularly if you’ve never decluttered before. These are a few ways to make it a little easier:

• One room at a time. Depending on how much time you have, you may just want to tackle one room a week, to avoid taking on too much.
• Delegate. Get your children involved in the process.
• Make it fun. Doing things like playing music, or your favourite podcast while you work, will make the time fly.