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Whether it’s the start of a new year and you want to get the clutter under control or it’s time for some serious spring cleaning, this is definitely the place for you. Cleaning and decluttering are great habits to get into, but it can feel overwhelming to even know where to start.

Typically, my “decluttering” involves picking up all the random piles of junk, organizing them into smaller piles of junk, and then moving them to a different room so I feel accomplished. Needless to say, this method doesn’t last very long.

One rockstar YouTuber, Kallie Branciforte from the channel, “But First, Coffee,” has some amazing tips for those of us who struggle with clutter and organization. She shows us a bunch of little things we all tend to hold on to for no reason, and gives us permission to toss them!

Now, don’t worry, Kallie tells us herself that she’s no minimalist. She loves art on her walls, books on her shelves, and she has a closet of DIY supplies. Kallie is really good at figuring out what things in her house are unnecessary and she won’t miss once they’re gone. Let’s see if her list can help you create your own list of things to throw away and declutter!

Water Bottles & To Go Mugs

Pixabay

Where do all of these water bottles and to go mugs come from? I mean, seriously, I have at least 5 water bottles with random logos on them. I know of at least 1 water bottle that has seen better days, and 1 to go mug with a missing lid that we just use as a regular cup. Needless to say, there’s a lot of items that can be tossed or given away from this section of the kitchen.

Coffee Mugs

YouTube/But First, Coffee

I don’t know about you, but as soon as I see a cute mug, I immediately forget about all the other mugs I already have at home. All I know is that I need this mug. Until I bring it home, that is. It turns out, I may have a bit of a mug problem. This will be one area I’ll focus on this week! It may take some time to emotionally prepare for what stays and what gets taken to goodwill.

Expired Spices

Flickr/Bill Ward

This is one of the worst offenders when it comes to clutter! I often don’t realize how messy my spice rack has become until I’m searching through everything looking for that one, specific spice I know I got a few months ago for a specialty recipe… And then when I find it, it’s of course, expired.

There are several steps to decluttering a spice rack. First, go through and throw away the spices that have expired. Next, write a list and keep it right by your spice rack with the names of the spices you have on hand, along with their expiration dates. It may take you a bit to get used to, but trust me, it saves a whole lot of time and space! This way, you’re not buying doubles or even tripples of what you already have on hand. Plus, you can see which spices you need to use up before they expire.

Fancy Clothes

Pixabay

How many fancy dresses do you own? I currently have 5 in my closet. Ask me how many times I’ve worn each dress. Once. Yup, as it turns out, when a special event that requires fancy attire, I want to go out and buy something new, thus leaving my last several fancy dress purchases in the back of my closet once again. Ladies, it’s time to donate those other dresses to someone who will love them and maybe wear them more than once. I think a special exception can be made for wedding dresses, but those other ones have got to go!

Winter Gear

YouTube/But First Coffee

Man, when the first slightly warm day of spring hits, I’m already getting out the tub and throwing my hats, scarves, and gloves inside, ready to be packed away until next year. But wait, not so fast! That tub is already full to bursting with other hats, gloves, scarves, and various winter gear. There are definitely things in there that haven’t been worn in years. Chances are, if you didn’t wear that hat this year, you won’t wear it next year. You know what that means… time to donate the rest and declutter your space!

Watch the video below to see what else you should be throwing away in order to take your space back!

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