73 Oddly Specific Items to Declutter Today!

there's a really common question that comes up all the time and it's this I have been decluttering I have been organizing why does my house still look like a mess why can't we stay on top of it and the truth is there are three types of clutter that keep sneaking in and so we're gonna go through the whole house there's a bunch of stuff that you can strategically remove today it doesn't have to take a long time but it will virtually solve this problem well hi I'm Dawn from the minimal mom and even though our family's been living as a minimalist for about eight years now the truth is is that this can still happen in our house too if I'm not aware of what's coming in and like I said there's three specific types of things that come in that if we are not aware of it and if we are not actively moving it back out of our house it looks innocent it looks like all of the rest but it's actually not so let me describe these quick and then we're gonna go through the entire house and get rid of a ton of stuff today all right duplicates meaning you bought a new pair of shoes but you didn't get rid of the old ones so these are my old Garden shoes I bought a new pair of garden shoes I have not worn these in almost a year so these need to go these are duplicates and then there's free stuff like the hotel shampoos and extra condiment packets from the restaurant and things we did not ask for in this box is trampoline accessories our trampoline doesn't need accessories right I don't even want to open it because I don't want to be tempted to keep the trampoline accessory the trampoline is up the kids have been jumping on it we don't need accessories right so things that come with other things that we didn't even ask for okay so let's work together in your entryway so like I said I got a new pair of garden shoes these can go now also I noticed Adeline also got a new pair of just kind of like casual sandals so these ones can go I'm also seeing duplicates that Gage has these flip-flops and he also has these slide on sandals I don't think that we need both so ugh we're gonna let these ones go because what I had noticed is that in the past all of our shoes actually fit on the shoe bench here so this is kind of my container and how I can tell when the inventory is creeping up too much so I know we have too many pairs of shoes now we are going to let all of these go I'm actually going to look for a few more pairs but for now let's keep going and looking for other stuff as well another thing that can multiply in our homes are baseball caps so from time to time I'll just ask the kids like hey you have three hats pick out your favorite one or you have two if something is so special but they're not wearing it anymore then it goes in their memory box it doesn't live in the closet because again we have to keep a low inventory here or nothing gets put away it has to be just as easy to put stuff away as it is to leave it out all right what else lunch bags and boxes so have you gotten a new one and now the old one is living in your closet similarly purses and backpacks fanny packs they also tend to multiply as well so again we're just asking ourselves have have I gotten a new one and if so did I fail to remove the old one it's very common often I don't know at least for myself I'm like well I don't know if I'm gonna like the new one as much or I want to keep the old ones for a more casual time or or whatever right we have reasons but this is how the overall inventory creeps up in our house and we don't get to enjoy the benefits of simple living also Amazon packages and boxes all the stuff that comes in the mail again I like to keep a couple extra packages in case I need to send something back or mail something I mean I had to buy a bubble Mailer in years right but we have to put a limit to it so I always keep three bubble mailers in a couple boxes and then the rest just get recycled oh yeah and sunglasses I just bought these at a gas station because I forgot my good one somewhere they're not comfortable they're actually kind of cute right they're not comfortable at all I don't like how it feels my nose or the sides so these I'm gonna donate again I would be tempted like oh well I should keep them for another time when I forget them but I'm gonna get these too right hey Corbin are these ones yours yeah these are actually pretty cool and you still wear them right all right you can keep those I'm gonna donate these you can also use the same filter for coats jackets again have I gotten a new one umbrellas have I gotten a new one and then is there an old one that I'm keeping for just in case also any free promotional stuff usually it's just not worth keeping unfortunately right we're so much better about not taking it anymore but it still Creeps in and this has just been sitting on the windowsill unused for a couple weeks so it's been time tested no one sees value in it anymore so it's time to let it go and what stuff might be cluttering up that you just didn't ask for I was not joking I'm not gonna open this box of accessories I'm actually just going to put it in the garbage I know that probably bothers some people but I don't have the bandwidth and I know because I'm I'm very creative that if I open this and I see what's inside I'm probably gonna be like oh we could use that there or there or here we don't actually need any of this I haven't missed anything that's in here and so by just putting this whole box in the garbage can it is done and I never have to deal with it again if I open it up and start going through it or worse at the kids see what's inside it is a whole can of worms and it is a bunch of stuff that then I have to deal with so I don't want it like please hear me I don't want to be wasteful I want to be kind to the Earth and all those things right but it's too much at some point we just have to be protective of our home our peace our mental health and so sometimes we have to let go of perfectly good things okay now another thing you're going to want to declutter from all your bedrooms are any mattress covers or mattresses with fiberglass in them have you seen this in the news lately it's often used in mattresses for fire safety but if the mattresses begin to wear out or are at all defective it can actually start to get into our systems our kid systems so today's video is sponsored by Helix kids and we are so glad to say all of their mattress Helix kids and the regular Helix line are fiberglass free but they also go so much further beyond that with all of their safety testing all of the foam in these mattresses is certapure US certified which guarantees they are made without any hazardous chemicals including ozone depleters Mercury dangerous heavy metals formaldehyde pbde flame retardants fiberglass and more the Helix kids mattress designed by Helix sleep is a premium mattress in a box designed specifically with Growing Kids needs and preferences in mind Helix kids mattresses are guaranteed safe comfortable durable and are conveniently shipped directly to your door and our boys have had these mattresses for a little over six months months now they love them so much they sleep really well on them but here is what is so cool about these mattresses they're actually double-sided so one side is for ages three to seven and this side is a little bit firmer so it's designed specifically for their developmental stages and then you can flip it over and the other side is specifically designed for ages 8 through 12. it's just a little bit softer you can tell a little bit if you push on the mattresses and this is really cool it has an eco-friendly and plant-based durable water resistant finish that is both stain and water repellent because we know accidents still sometimes happen it also has a microbe Shield which combats odor causing bacteria to maintain hygiene the Helix kids mattress has been tested and approved by medical doctors Sleep Consultants child behavioral specialists and most importantly real parents and kids ages 3 through 12. Helix kids mattress was named parent magazines 2022 best mattress and of course they're so easy to order to get to your house so you get a 100 night risk-free sleep try child all of the mattresses are assembled in America and shipping is fast and free in the US beyond that you also get a 10-year warranty and they have some flexible financing options as well so if you want to save it 20 off your own Helix kids mattresses you can visit our link down below it's helixsleep.com minimalmom and you're going to get two free pillows as well and as long as we're up here why don't we talk about a few other things that we can declutter in here so kids toys definitely fall into that category of things that come in but then don't go back out again right we're not we're not usually very diligent with like one in one out rule when it comes to kids toys so we do need to go through their rooms pretty frequently and look for stuff that is broken that they have outgrown or they're simply not playing with and actually let's talk about two things kids toys and kids clothes sometimes as parents we become attached to them we want them to play with them or wear them and so just be observant again collect data in your child's bedroom what aren't they playing with what aren't they wearing what do they never choose what are the things they always go to like for sure we'll keep those what is the stuff that is just left on the floor at the bottom of the door or to the Wayside let's let this other stuff go promote the stuff they actually use in their bedroom is gonna be so much easier to keep clean and you're probably gonna find that they play better and for longer on their own as well okay now I know we've made a lot of passes through the bathroom together right but again let's look at it through this lens of these three categories so what things are duplicates what have I replaced but not got rid of the original what things I did I take for free because I thought I was gonna make use mum or what things did I not ask for and I just received and now I've been hanging on to them who knows why okay duplicates do you have any hair products lotions or styling tools that you've recently replaced so I have this bin under the sink works great to put all my styling products in I got this new curling iron anyways to replace this one this one is still in here why did we keep this one I don't know just in case right but it makes it harder to put stuff away so I'm going to donate this one keep this one so again what things have you gotten new but not got rid of the old thing another thing is earrings these tend to multiply and hair accessories it's not uncommon for our girls to get new hair clips headbands whatever but what happens we just keep piling them in and the old ones that don't come out so again if we can be really intentional when something new comes in something old goes out it is something that you can learn and just really become second nature after a little while we just have to be aware of it and we have to remind ourselves that why are we doing this because it is so much easier to put stuff away when the drawers and cabinets aren't jam-packed with the stuff right okay let's talk about free stuff right so maybe you like to take Hotel samples that kind of stuff are you the type of person that is going to systematically use these up and if you are do you often forget about them if they are shoved underneath the cabinet so if you want to start actually using these up you might need to put them in a more obvious spot right if they are at the back of the cabinet down here we're all none of us have that good of a memory right so make sure there's somewhere where you can see them and uh how about makeup we buy and then we just don't love it right and this was like a elf it's like a Halo glow liquid filter liquid filter doesn't that sound cool like oh right well it turns out there's a fine line between glow and just look really oily I don't know it did not work well I do think I can take it back but do you have to have the original packaging I don't know just not knowing that has kept me from it right it was an Impulse buy when I was checking out and I regret it but me keeping it is not going to make it suddenly start working for my skin type so I could share it with someone else toss it in the garbage but let's just let's move on with life right it's not we don't have time and energy for this type of stuff okay welcome to the laundry room this is like the epitome of stuff coming in and not going out again our two boys Gage and Corbin they're eight and ten this is their sock bin right and here's what I know about them if this bin is full not heaping full just regular full of socks they have more than enough socks we keep the socks in here for the kids it's very convenient so what happened was they got new socks and nothing happened with the old ones these ones on top almost every single one the heel has a hole in it and so these were replaced these are going and they have more oh yeah toe and heel on this one yep like I don't know how they can wear out socks so quickly right but these need to go in the garbage because they each got to 10 packs of socks or 12 I don't know this is full of socks now for them so they have more than enough socks they were just buried by all the old ones and again if that is how things are stored it's a mess right no one's gonna put stuff away and so I love to use the container concept keep what comfortably fits inside let the rest go it's really helpful for my brain this also happened with Tom's t-shirts he tends to just buy new ones and then not get rid of the old ones again I know there's like ideas of like oh well we'll use the old ones for regs or he'll wear them when he's getting especially dirty or something like that but it's too many so new ones came in old ones didn't go out so we just need to Quick make a quick pass it through that also have you got an extra like stain removers or things like that is there an old one that needs to go because you like the new one better any detergents or other cleaning products that you've tried but just you don't actually really like them okay and how about picture frames where you want to keep the photo but you're not using the frame so these we used to have displayed for a long time but it's been many years now and obviously the frame has seen at better days so I'm just going to take out the photo and then I'm going to put it into my memory box wait you don't have a memory box are you how long have we been spending time together I really hope that you're kidding right my previous video we talked all about memory boxes why every single person in your household needs a memory box will you please get a memory box it really makes life so much easier to have a safe spot for all of your super special things all right that is out of there and now this can get donated this is seriously one of my favorite pictures ever and actually if we're talking about photos let me give you a quick tip for reducing the number of photos you have to organize and that is to just discard the duplicates again we're looking for duplicates and so you know back in the old days when we'd get a whole roll of film printed often we had a whole roll or a bunch of pictures for one event and most often we don't actually need that many so you can actually get through photos pretty quickly if you're just looking for duplicates or unnecessary ones for most events if I have one or two photos from that it's more than enough I don't need all 24 and I certainly don't need the duplicate prints all right or as we're passing by the living room let's grab a few things so throw pillows that have seen better days and so I love throw it they never look as dirty well it's good they don't look as dirty on the camera throw pillows that have seen better days now I had really great intentions of getting uh new covers for the inserts for this and all the things but the truth is I have enough pillows right now I don't need something extra to do or to look for and so I'm going to let these go and I told the kids they didn't have to clean up their Legos uh for this but how about Lego boxes now you do you when it comes to this type of stuff I usually keep them for the first week or two and then after that I let them go the Legos kind of tend to get mixed in now if you have special sets your kids really like to keep them in there of course do that then but ours never go back in the boxes so I'm not going to keep them I'm not worried about them being collectibles in the future trying to keep all the pieces together that's just not how we roll in our house which is totally fine right so these are going to get recycled and then also do you have any like newspapers magazines I love the other day a friend said she's like you know they call them periodicals right like magazines and newspapers they're meant to be periodical they're not meant to keep forever because what happens they keep coming and coming and coming they'll always be a new one right so we don't have to worry so much about learning everything and reading everything from one magazine or newspaper there's always going to be new ones and more don't they kind of just like recycle all the same content through them anyways right so take out the extra magazines and newspapers also any extra throw blankets candles okay now there's some things here in the kitchen that we don't always talk about let's talk about serving dishes but sentimental things too because I think there's a difference between second hand sentimental and firsthand sentimental so here's what I mean here are two things that I have from my grandma Adeline so this was the tablecloth I tackle this all the time this is the tablecloth that was on the table when we'd have Christmas and meals and celebrations at her house this was a serving bowl that my mom gave to me and said this is your grandma Adelines I don't ever specifically remember this bowl being used so you basically could have told me this was anyone's Bowl because I don't have a direct memory of it I don't have first hand sentimental value on this so this I don't but this I do this I could pick out I would see it it just triggers happy memories and so I think it can be helpful when we're looking at sentimental stuff to ask ourselves is it firsthand sentimental or second hand let's not keep stuff just because because someone else told a special especially if it's something that we don't need so permission to let go of extra serving dishes especially if there are duplicates especially if they're things that aren't actually special to you anymore or if they're just simply too fancy for the type of entertaining that you do along those lines do you have any placemats tablecloths uh linen napkins that again they're duplicates or they're simply not getting used anymore permission to let that stuff go and again have you had any new towels dishcloths or pot holders come in that you've purchased or brought into your kitchen but you didn't get rid of the old ones again I know I know why we do this right I'm like well I'll keep the old pot holder so if there's something really Grody that I have to grab out of the oven I'll use those right and not get my new pretty ones all dirty right I know the logic but unfortunately that's the type of stuff that clutters up our kitchen it makes it a lot harder to keep clean so if new stuff comes in we let the old stuff go we deserve to use nice stuff it's totally fine so again any of these types of Linens and then also vases have you noticed I'm sure you've noticed this too that vases tend to multiply as well this is a really cool one that I got at a fundraiser and I love it so I don't need this one anymore right this one is just can you see it it's like very plain whatever um so I'm going to keep this one I'm gonna let this one go and of course in the kitchen I think all the just the regular things go without saying like the coffee mugs and the water bottles and the plastic cups and the plastic containers all those things that we know just tend to multiply as well again if we just start to be aware of this stuff I think we're gonna have a lot less frustration with keeping our spaces tidy and clean I know if it's hard to keep a space tidy that there's too much inventory in here it's just how it is okay another place we tend to add new inventory but not get rid of the old is with bath towels we had had these these were over 10 years old I think and you know how they get so scratchy and they just like don't absorb anymore apparently it's like I think we can get some new towels so we have new towels they're beautiful they're soft they're absorbent but what do we do we hang on to the old ones for just in case and then it's hard to hold that close the linen closet again so are there any towels hand towels washcloths that you have gotten new or replaced or upgraded but you didn't get rid of the old ones it's okay to keep a couple a couple old ones but let's not keep all of the old ones all right and again the war on free stuff and things we didn't ask for so kind of our dentist to send these little kids home right and so um I actually just don't even accept another thing anymore I just take the pieces I want otherwise I try to deconstruct them as soon as they come home take out the things we can actually make use of donate the stuff that we don't need but overall not let it clutter up our space also do you have any like old electric razors or things like that Tom would have a way of collecting old electric razors or all of the attachments that they come with right that we just we don't actually need and so he's gotten a lot better now he doesn't keep all the extra attachments he lets those go and real quick I'm not trying to sound ungrateful for the free stuff that we get but it just gets to be too much right there's so much inventory all the time and I just feel now I have to be kind of protective of my bandwidth and and my mental health right like we know how this clutter can stress us out and so what could be a benefit and a really good useful thing often ends up being clutter that just adds to the chaos and so that's why I've had to decide to let a lot of this stuff go I am so Frugal and Thrifty right but there is a point where it's not adding value and it's just making our lives harder all right some other places that we tend to add and not take away is with Linens I know because we think oh those old sheets can be drop cloths and the pillowcases what if we have guests and that extra pillows and and I know right all the reasons we keep all the stuff right but again too much inventory it's too much inventory we also do this in our closet all right we add and add an ad and we don't take things away so what are for sure the things you can let go say it with me things that have tags on them that is giving you data this is giving you hard evidence to work with you haven't worn it and there's a reason it doesn't fit you don't feel good in it it didn't quite live up to what you thought it was going to be permission to Let It Go duplicates uh we found out Tom has like 12 polos just kidding he doesn't have that many but I'm like can we let this one go he's like yeah absolutely and stuff we got for free it's you know it's cool when people give us things we're like hey this might be your size you should have it awesome sometimes it's a winner sometimes it's not right permission to let it go so that when you get dressed in the morning everything fits and you feel good in it oh one other thing anything with elastic swimsuits workout gear under things uh if they have elastic we know how they break down over time right so if you're not making use of it it might be best just to donate it now so someone can make use of it before the elastic deteriorates all right so over here is like our school area desk area and I need to we don't start school until after Labor Day we're very fortunate but our homeschool area I need to make a pass to that and here's our things I'm going to be looking for kids craft projects I really try to instill in our kids that the fun is in making the project the most special of special going memory bins and then the rest eventually gets recycled or discarded and again just take some practice and then they get pretty used to it also a plant let's go look at the plants and books okay they're kind of the same right we kind of get attached to both so I don't expect you to remember this but over here I used to have on this corner actually in this still plant I think I think this might need a little water I had is it called a philodendron well it was doing really well until it wasn't and it got like this white moldy stuff on it which I've heard it's some kind of bug or something and you can take like rubbing alcohol and clean the leaves and get rid of it I even got the rubbing alcohol it actually sat by the plant for quite a while I never actually got around to it and I eventually just threw away the plant because I was worried that it was going to get on my money plant there which I really like and protective of and so here's the deal if you have plants that are high maintenance that don't do well in your specific home it's actually okay to let them go keep ones that you like that are easy to maintain and if they just get to be too many or too much again it's okay to let them go it might take a little practice do it one at a time and same thing with books uh this time of year I'm especially looking for books that could be shared with others so are there books that if they no longer have value to you it could they make be made use up to others so especially if they're have any kind of educational value workbooks and again looking for duplicates it is amazing how many duplicates how much stuff I've accepted for free um just all the well-meaning stuff again it's not easy but it actually feels worse to continue to look at stuff that we've spent money on that we didn't needed that someone else could be making use of then to just let it go right now and start the school year fresh and you know as long as we're talking about hard things right now let's talk about craft supplies I saw a good quote it said there's a difference between doing crafts and hobbies and buying stuff for crafts and hobbies right and I know I I know what it's like to see a new project to get excited about it by all the things for it and then not quite get around to doing it right so again are there craft supplies that are duplicates are there things that you've accepted for free that you kind of later regretted or that came with other stuff that you just don't need we don't have to go through all the craft supplies right now but again let's just look for duplicates free things that we didn't actually want and let's pass those things on okay so there you have it a whole bunch of things that you could declutter from your house today that you will not even miss most of them were duplicates or things you didn't actually remember that you had right so we're gonna let those go and in exchange we get a house that is easy to keep clean and Tiny and so much more peaceful all right well I really hope that you found this helpful I'm gonna link to some other videos along those same lines as well but I love you I hope you have a really good day and I'll see you again soon

Channel: The Minimal Mom

Views: 143,758

Keywords: minimalism, family minimalism, minimalist, the minimal mom, the minimalist mom, minimalist home

Id: D6GqUh6EJ3Y

Length: 24min 54sec (1494 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 15 2023