Are you ready for the first task in the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge. In this year-long journey, we’ll tackle one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing our homes. Today, I’ve got an Easy Decluttering Checklist you can download and print. Then we’ll get to work with our first weekly challenge. It’s a fairly simple one—decluttering under the kitchen sink.
Decluttering can feel overwhelming. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. My Easy Decluttering Checklist will lead you through a series of questions to help you decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
This post was originally published in January 2021 and republished in January 2024.
The goal: Sort your stuff into three categories
The goal with any decluttering exercise is to sort your stuff into three categories. The checklist will make this sorting exercise easier and help you decide what goes where.
- Throw Away/Recycle: Some decluttering and organizing experts take great pleasure in bragging about the hundreds or thousands of garbage bags their clients have sent to the landfill. My goal with decluttering is to send as little as possible to the landfill. Even so, there will be some stuff that you can’t repurpose.
- Donate or Sell: You might be surprised at the things people will take off your hands.
- Keep: Ultimately, the keep pile will contain things you need and use regularly, or things that hold special value for you.
Getting started
To get started, make a pile of everything you’re decluttering today. If it’s a cupboard or drawer, empty it out completely. If it’s something like books or clothing, gather everything into a pile.
Then, you’re going to go through the pile and examine each item one-by-one. That’s where the checklist comes in. Click the image below to download and print the checklist.
Using the Easy Decluttering Checklist
The checklist will walk you through a handful of questions that will help you decide what to keep. Let’s take a closer look.
Did I even know I owned this?
Over a lifetime, we accumulate a lot of stuff. When you start to declutter, you’ll find things you had forgotten you owned. That’s why the first question to ask yourself is “Did I even know I owned this?”
If the answer to the question is no, you’re not going to keep it. You’ll need to decide whether to donate/sell it, or trash/recycle it. We’ll come back to that.
If the answer is yes, move on to the next question.
When did I last use it?
If you’ve used the item in the last month, put it in the Keep pile.
If it has been over a year or you don’t remember when you last used it, get rid of it. One of the biggest sources of clutter are items we keep “just in case”. Be realistic—if you haven’t used something in over a year, you don’t need it.
If you haven’t used the item in the last month but you’ve used it in the last year, there are a few more questions to ask.
Do I love it? Will I use it? Do I need it?
When it comes right down it it, clutter is made up of things we don’t like, don’t use or don’t need. That’s why these three questions go together.
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, put the item in the Keep pile. The only exception is duplicates. If you own more than one of an item, decide which one is your favourite and get rid of the others.
If you can’t honestly answer yes to any of these three questions, sorry but you need to say good-bye to the item.
Could someone else use it?
For the items you’re not going to keep, the next question is “Could someone else use this?” If the answer is no, put it in the Trash or Recycle pile.
If the answer is yes, decide if you want to Sell or Donate it. Check out 6 ways to turn your junk into treasure for ideas on how to find new homes for your old stuff. Be realistic. Selling used goods takes time and effort. If you’re not willing to spend time on it, put it in the donation box for your local charity shop.
That’s it, a handful of easy questions to make it easy to declutter your life.
So, with the checklist in hand, grab a garbage bag and a box for donations. We’re ready to get started on our first task.
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Week 1 – Decluttering under the kitchen sink
The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in our homes so it’s a logical place to begin our decluttering journey.
Why start with decluttering under the kitchen sink? Well, it’s an easy and safe place to start. You probably don’t put anything of monetary or sentimental value under the kitchen sink. And it’s a task you can complete in less than half an hour. A quick win is a great way to boost your motivation to continue decluttering.
If you’re like me, it has likely been a while since you took everything out from under the kitchen sink. It’s just not something we think to do. That also makes it pretty likely you’ll find stuff there you can get rid of.
For me, the last time I emptied out the cupboard under my kitchen sink was seven years ago when we renovated our kitchen. A clean out was long overdue.
Here’s a before picture. It didn’t look as messy as other areas of my house that we’ll tackle later. Remember what I said about a quick win being good for motivation?
This week’s decluttering and organizing tips
Here are my tips and learnings from week one:
- Simplify your cleaning supplies. Most of what we keep under the kitchen sink are cleaning supplies. You can save a lot of clutter by looking for multi-purpose or low waste cleaning supplies. Check out How to green your cleaning routines for some ideas.
- Combine duplicates. We’re all guilty of this. I buy baking soda in bulk so why did I have a partially used box of baking soda under the sink? Similarly, why do I have 2 half-used containers of disinfectant wipes that I rarely use?
- Move stuff to its rightful home. A big part of decluttering is getting rid of things. But a lot of clutter comes from things we need that are not in the place we’d logically look for them.
What I got rid of
So, what did I clear out? Here’s the list:
- A box of baking soda. I combined the contents into my container of baking soda from the bulk store.
- A container of disinfectant wipes. I don’t actually use these but, we’re in the middle of a pandemic so it doesn’t hurt to have some around. I combined the two partially-used containers into one and got rid of the empty one.
- A box of Irish Spring soap. I hate the smell of this stuff but, for some reason, it keeps the bunnies out of my vegetable garden. I relocated it to the garage for next spring.
- A package of disposable dusting mitts. I use Norwex reusable dusting mitts, so I’ll put these on the local Buy Nothing group on Facebook to see if anyone wants them.
- A spray bottle for watering plants. Honestly, I had totally forgotten I owned this. I moved it to my plant stand.
- An empty jar that I moved to the basement with my other jars.
- A dried-up old sponge.
- A couple of unidentified objects that went straight into the garbage.
- And the strangest thing I found this week was an old, rusted SOS pad. I haven’t used those in years.
And here is photo taken after decluttering under the kitchen sink. Looks much cleaner, right?
2024 update
It has been three years so I’m rebooting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge to see how much I can get rid of in 2024.
Week one was pretty easy, although I did relocate a few stray items that had found their way under our kitchen sink.
This time around, the only thing I got rid of was a container of disinfectant wipes—the same container that I kept three years ago. I should have trusted my instincts and pitched it in the first place!
So that’s week one done. Next week, we’ll continue our kitchen decluttering by cleaning out the drawers.
If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word!
What’s the strangest thing you found when decluttering under the kitchen sink? Tell us below.
I have just started a decluttering challenge myself! I based it on your idea of decluttering one area a week, but it is just my bedroom. I’m sort of doing a deep clean as well, and I’ve got lots of stuff that has been dumped there since moving in June 🙉. I haven’t published it on my blog, but it might be a good idea to hold myself accountable haha. Thank you for the inspiration, Michelle 🙂
What a terrific idea, Caroline! I think there are opportunities to declutter no matter how big or small our space. I’m happy to hear I inspired your challenge.
I am going to start with under the kitchen sink and go from there. I always start with great intentions and then peter out. Seems to be a theme for me. 🙂
I have been a bit like that in the past but the 2021 challenge really helped me. I’m hoping that by putting it out there that I’ll revisit in 2024 it will keep me motivated.
This is something I do regularly but my maid lady keeps asking for new products, so it’s a never ending decluttering…
I suppose that’s one reason to be grateful I clean my own house! 😂
I did my under sink again during the summer when I fully downsized my garbage bin to the tiny 4 gallon bathroom size. I did just what you did, consolidated, tossed doubles or cleaners I never use but somehow collected, moved a few things to a pantry closet I have in the hallway and ended up with: my small glass recycle container (I just grab it and take it to the center when it’s full), an old yogurt container that holds my brush/scrubbers, my vinegar spray bottle and the gallon jug of cleaning vinegar refill, and the trash can!
Wow, that’s great progress, Deb. I have a few more items than that left under my sink but far less than I used to.
Organization and decluttering is my middle name. I do it routinely so I appreciate the praise for sure, but it’s sort of been a part of me for as long as I can remember. I get a bit anxious when there’s “stuff” piling up 🙂
I got rid of placemats and cloth napkins my family hates because of the material…
Nice!
Thank you Michelle! Perfect timing because we (He) is painting the interior of our kitchen cupboards prior to painting the exteriors.I will post before and after pictures once the job is complete. “Seasonal” coffee mugs and teapots seem to multiply behind closed cupboards! The repurpose/donate box is getting full and it’s liberating!
Excellent timing. Can’t wait to see your before and after pictures.
I’m so guilty of keeping things “just in case I need it.” Perfect example on topic is the large metal cookie tin I have under my kitchen sink that 2 years ago I swore I’d be able to find a use for lol. Might be time to let that one go 🙂
I think we all have some of those things that we just can’t, or won’t, let go of. I’m finding a lot of kitchen gadgets that I was hanging on to “just in case”. It’s time to say good-bye.
My darn kitchen sink has too many water lines underneath it to collect much clutter, there’s no room! I think I overdid it when we downsized a few years ago and got rid of a bunch of stuff. I recently bought flowers and discovered I gave away all the vases I’d normally keep under the sink. Oh well, an empty glass food jar worked fine for the bouquet. Recycle, reduce, reuse 🙂
I have accumulated a bunch of vases. I’m going to keep one and give the rest to a friend who does flower arrangements. Using an empty glass jar is a great idea.
“Did I even know I owned this?” – this is the soundtrack to my life whenever I have a sort out! The kitchen sink cupboard is high on my priority list, not least because the last time we did it I found a dead mouse 🙁 !
A dead mouse? Oh no! When we had our kitchen renovated, they removed the bulkhead above our cupboards. The workmen found several dead mice in there. They didn’t tell me, but they told me husband, who then told me. Some things you’re better off not knowing. LOL
Thanks for reading and commenting, Lisa!
It is not fair – your Before is not that bad! Haha. Seriously, great tips, Michelle. Ours is not messy, since we do not have stuff. We are totally with you with getting rid of things. If we are just keeping it ‘just in case’ we get rid of it, too.
Haha. Something I’ve learned about decluttering is everyone has a different “clutter threshhold”. I’m always amazed at the lists of “thing you must declutter now” and wonder why anyone would keep any of that stuff in the first place. LOL
Now talk about a major motivator, Michelle! I love the ‘after’ photo and I think I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow afternoon! LOL Cher xo
He he. That’s the idea! Good luck. Once you get on a roll, you just want to keep going.
I’m defo going to try! Thanks, my dear! Cher xoxoxo
I love that you have included a poll here as well as before and after pictures of your process. Unneeded items pile up in every odd corner s your decluttering questions are very relevant; I love “did I even know I owned this?” the most. I have those moments . . .
Thanks Jaya. Yes, we all have things lurking in the bottom of drawers or in the back of cupboards that we have forgotten about. The worst is when you’ve gone out and bought another one because you forgot about the one you had. LOL
I’ve got old tins of paint under my sink!
We have some of those around too, but they’re not under the sink. 😀
I love your printable!
When I decluttered under my sink I had a bunch of half containers of cleaning chemicals I didn’t use. I had transitioned to more eco-friendly cleaning methods before and just never disposed of the chemicals I had. I didn’t want to just throw them out or dump them down the drain so I posted them for free on Letgo (I don’t think that app even exists anymore) and a local cleaning lady picked them up. It was amazing how much space I gained after all of those containers were gone.
Thanks Suzanne! I agree with you on the cleaning supplies. In my desire to be more eco-friendly, and healthy, I have really changed up my cleaning routines. Less clutter is a definite side-benefit of that change.