How to Declutter and Streamline Home Storage

The first step in any home organization project is to eliminate excess so you’re only organizing what you plan to keep. From the bedroom closet to your kitchen cabinets, follow our simple tips for decluttering your home.

• Start small. Bite-sized tasks make decluttering more manageable. Begin with a single room—or even a cabinet or drawer—and finish it before moving on.
• Toss the trash. As you go room by room, throw away or recycle old receipts, clothes tags, loose paper, expired ingredients, and any other unnecessary items. Removing this waste makes it easier to focus on sorting the items you’ll keep.
• Decide what stays and what goes. As you work through each space, sort your stuff into piles: keep, relocate, donate, or throw away.
• Make room for “maybes.” Whether it’s a kids’ toy or a favorite top you haven’t worn in a while, put items you’re uncertain about in a box marked “maybe” and store it out of sight. Revisit the box every few months—if you haven’t missed what’s inside, donate it.