How to Get Rid of Extra Clutter When Moving (and Otherwise) 12 Tips!

Have you bought yourself a new apartment or house and don't want to bring along all the junk you've accumulated over the years? Or do you simply plan to make more space at home and give away or throw out used items?

You'll definitely find inspiration from this post to undertake some serious decluttering. We give you 12 good tips on how to get rid of unnecessary things at home.

Cleaning and organizing is a very trendy topic and corresponding books have been featured in bookstore bestseller lists for quite some time. We've used the help of the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo, the creator of the famous KonMari method. We've added some of our own observations to Kondo's tips.

Unnecessary junk accumulates in our homes for many reasons: wrong purchasing decisions, gifts that missed the mark, a shopping-addicted spouse, things that have outlived their time, etc. Plus a lot of items with sentimental value that have no practical purpose. Believe us – an important life event won't be forgotten if you throw away the item that reminds you of it.

But let's get started! By getting rid of unnecessary clutter, you're also creating space in your mind and being. Everything becomes clearer somehow. A room overcrowded with things is known to cause additional stress.

1. Decide that you want to live a clutter-free life

Think about why you want this. If the desire to get rid of clutter comes from the outside (oh, my friends did it, so I will too), not from within you, then your clutter-free home won't last long.

2. Think about each item as you touch and hold it – does it bring you joy or not

It brings joy – keep it. It doesn't bring joy – out it goes! This recommendation is the core of KonMari philosophy. The time for some items to serve you has simply come to an end, and it's good if they move to the next owner. Or to where all things eventually go.

3. Do everything at once

This might take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months depending on your home (if you have a large house), but don't leave it half-done. Clutter will quickly take over your living space again otherwise.

4. Sort items by category, not room by room – cleaning by rooms doesn't work

Start with clothes (oh, the horror!) and then move on to books. "Wait, what?! Books are sacred!" you'll say.

Well, they're not really. I'd bet that half the books on your shelf have no more meaning for you and need to go. They could be very useful to someone else. Next, Kondo recommends sorting papers, then other items, and finally sentimental items last.

5. We find it necessary to talk about cosmetics separately

Ladies! We know this is very difficult, but now head to the bathroom, to your vanity or wherever your arsenal is located. Everything that has passed its expiration date, smells funny, or that you still haven't started using since you bought it – it goes!

6. Don't stack clothes in piles, but fold them vertically and place them together

Marie Kondo shows in this video how to fold clothes so they can be placed next to each other rather than stacked in piles.

This way you can see everything you have in your closet, drawer, or box at once. Arrange them by color and finding the right item becomes even easier. Fold – or even better – roll up your socks too and you'll see how beautiful life can be.

7. You need to be just as ruthless with kitchen utensils

The kitchen is a place where used items accumulate like herds. Something might have seemed very interesting in the store, but if you haven't actually started using it, then that item doesn't belong in your kitchen.

Kitchen drawers also tend to accumulate small junk that you think you might need one day, but in reality you'll never do anything with those rubber bands and half-empty pasta tubes again.

8. Once you've identified used items, take nice photos of them (very important!) and post them on some secondhand portal

You can set aside the money you get for a larger purchase, a trip, or even investment.

9. Don't put anything back on shelves or in closets before you've taken out of the house the items meant to be thrown away

If you break this rule, there's a risk of creating the illusion that everything is almost already in order, and items meant for disposal might quietly start sneaking back to their old places.

10. Keep surfaces as free as possible

Open shelves can sometimes look nice, but usually they mean too much visual noise and chaos if they're full of things.

11. It's a good idea to put items on shelves in nice cardboard boxes

Use as many boxes as needed and in whatever size you need. KonMari even recommends using quite small boxes.

12. Think carefully before buying anything

If you don't want to be back at point number one again, let's agree that you buy fewer things. Think carefully multiple times before exchanging your hard-earned euros for some glass dolphin. We have one good tip for you that has served us very well. If you see something, for example a piece of clothing, and it's not 100% what you like, then don't buy it. Don't buy it under any circumstances just because of the cheap price. Simple to remember – 100%! Not some 76.7% or anything like that. :)

Happy decluttering!