10 Things to Declutter If You Want to Feel Less Overwhelmed at Home
Because sometimes what we’re holding onto is what’s holding us down.
Overwhelm Doesn’t Always Come From What’s Going on Inside Us
Sometimes, it’s quietly built into the spaces we live in—the piles we walk past, the corners we avoid, the things we keep just in case. Simply said – when life feels heavy, clutter doesn’t help.
If your home has started to feel a little heavier, or your breath catches the moment you walk into a room, you’re not alone. So many of us have found ourselves in this situation, and live it every single day. We live in a culture where buying, collecting and keeping items that don’t really speak to us is a constant theme. If you’re starting to realize that your home is full of things that just feel meaningless, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means your space – your heart – might be asking for a reset.
You Don’t Have to Get Rid of Everything
This is not a full purge. It’s not a weekend-long overhaul. This is just a gentle release of the things that no longer feel like peace in your home, and often times, your gut knows which ones they are when you look at them.
This list is a starting point—a soft place to begin and to explore how some items really might make you feel. These are things you can gently release today, not because they’re bad, but because they no longer bring you real joy.
10 Items To Let Go of And Feel Free
Here are 10 simple places to start when you want to feel a little lighter at home—without shame, pressure, or the need to do it all. One small item at a time.
1. Someday Clothes
This belongs at the beginning of the list for a reason. We all have them. That outfit hanging up in your closet that you swore you’d wear when you “got back to yourself”?
Truthfully, you deserve clothes that fit who you are right now. Not who you were, or who you think you need to be. Seeing them in your closet is a constant reminder of an expectation you silently put on yourself. Keeping clothes for a someday-you only distances you from the person you are right now. And she matters more than any outfit. Letting them go doesn’t mean you gave up. It means you’re choosing presence over pressure.
My tip? Donate them with love. They will meet someone else where they’re at in their life. And if you really want to, take a photo of them and save them into an album on your phone so they’re not “really gone”.
2. Unused Cookbooks or Recipe Cards
You might love cooking—or maybe you don’t. Either way, if you have cookbooks you haven’t cracked open in two years (and don’t even like the recipes in), you have permission to release them. You’re not giving up your identity. You’re making space for what is happening in your life right now.
If you’re always grabbing your favorites from memory or Pinterest, try keeping them inside a “Kitchen Folder”. I like to pirint out my favorites from the internet, and photocopy or take pictures of the recipes that I liked the most in my old recipe books, and store them in there. Keep the ones that inspire you. Release the rest with gratitude.
3. Decor That Doesn’t Reflect Who You Are – Or Makes You Feel Nothing
You can probably think of what item this is in your home right now—the generic sign you bought on clearance, the vase from your mother-in-law that doesn’t match anything, the candle holder you’ve never used but liked the idea of. If it doesn’t add warmth or meaning, it’s okay to let it go. I love to donate items I no longer use so I know they’re getting another life, and I like to think the circle of donation will come back to me again – sending me pieces I love right now.
Your home doesn’t have to look like a Pinterest board. It just has to feel like you. And if that shelf full of quote signs, mismatched frames, or dusty vases doesn’t make you feel anything—it’s not serving you. Let it go and make room for stillness, beauty, or even nothing at all.
4. Random Cords, Tech, or Accessories
I think we can all collectively agree that some of these mystery cords in our home are from a past life. I mean really, what DO they belong to? That drawer full of them from five years ago? It’s quietly screaming. Go through one bag or basket at a time. If you can’t figure out what it’s for, it’s time to part with it. You’ll feel lighter with every tangle undone.
You’re allowed to simplify—even the things that seem too small to matter.
5. Mugs You Don’t Even Like
It seems silly, but when you start your day with something you love—even a mug—it changes things. I have a few go to mugs that I absolutely love, but often times I find the rest are just taking up space. It’s not that I don’t love them, but admittedly they’re hard to let go of. I choose to keep the ones that make me smile, and donate the rest. Someone else might love them the way you once did It’s such a small thing… until it’s not. Donate, repurpose, or release.
6. Expired Pantry Items
This one’s a quick win. Clear out what’s expired, stale, or just not going to get used. Every time I open my pantry and see food that I don’t eat, but for whatever reason am hanging on to, it always makes me feel like I have to hang on to it even longer. You’re not wasting food—you’re making room for nourishment that supports you today.
7. Duplicate or Broken Household Items
You don’t need three measuring cups or five spatulas that all do the same thing. You don’t need the broken lamp you’ll “fix eventually.” I know it can be hard to let go of these miscellaneous items, but keeping duplicates or damaged items out of guilt just reinforces the belief that you have to hold it ALL. You don’t. You’re allowed to choose ease.
One of my fears when I donate and purge duplicate items is having to buy another item again – but often times once I have cleared my space of “extras”, I find I take better care of the few used items I do have.
8. Guilt-Based Items
I’m talking to the $70 serum you hated that’s sitting under your sink making you feel guilty every time you see it. The craft supplies you swore you’d use. The half-finished project that makes you cringe every time you walk by it. Letting go isn’t wasteful. It’s freeing. You’ve already paid the price for the items, and the mental price of hanging onto them for longer than you needed. You don’t have to keep paying with your energy. It’s okay to let them go.
9. Old Paper Clutter
Start with just one folder. Breathe. You can let go of things that don’t hold meaning anymore. Bills from 2019, manuals you can find online. Decluttering paper is one of those things that truly goes a long way. For me, it has been one of my biggest struggles, but keeping one main house folder and ONLY filling it with things I absolutely need (passport, birth certificate, etc) has truly been a weight lifted.
10. Anything That Feels Like Pressure
This is your wild card. The thing you keep only because you “should.” The old piece of decor your parents passed down to you. the dress that reminds you of someone you used to be. If it doesn’t feel like peace, presence, or possibility—it might be time. Trust your body, you’ll know when it’s right. If it feels like a weight—not a spark—it’s okay to let it go.
Final Thoughts: Decluttering Can Be a Soft Return to Self
You don’t have to become a minimalist. You don’t have to empty your shelves or alphabetize your pantry. But you can choose to make space for what supports you.
This list isn’t about what’s wrong with your home. It’s about what’s possible when your space reflects who you are now—not who you were, or who you think you need to be. One item at a time. One drawer. One soft moment of truth.
You don’t have to carry it all.
You’re allowed to put things down.
With Love,
