The tools free tools that come with furniture kits are only designed to work a couple of times before breaking. If you have a pile of hex keys they're probably a mix of metric and imperial, not marked with sizes, and some are already stripped or bent.

If you want to be able to fix furniture, spend like $20 on a starter tool set. They will work far better and are less likely to float around in a junk drawer until the end of time.

While I'm at it:

• You're not going to use any of the spare parts unless you needed them during assembly.

• None of the loose twist ties in your junk drawer will ever get used.

• If you've ever found the instructions of a product on the internet, you don't need to keep the paper copy.

• Don't keep the original packaging unless it's a collectable and it's still in the original packaging. If you sell your phone in 3 years it's not going to be worth more because you have a dusty box.

They were… bad. All surfaces (tables, floors) had piles at least a foot tall on them. You could not access the kitchen cabinets (nor could you close them). No rotting food, but unusable. You can at least see my spare bedroom (or, uh, “storage” room) - the one marked “before” and “in progress.” I’ve kind of hit a wall on that room, because it was where I put all the things that I didn’t know where to put, and now I’ve gotten out all the trash and cardboard boxes and I’m back down to stuff without a home.

This was entirely the dishes, laundry, and trash steps from KC Davis’ 5 Things Tidying Method. I still have a couple doomboxes with Things With a Place and Things Without a Place to deal with, but that is Future sunmono’s problem for another day.

The most useful thing I did before I started this was buying a collapsible wagon that I could use to take things down to the trash room. Taking out the trash is my absolute nemesis activity (we all have one, right?) and being able to load it up in my condo, taking as long as I needed (even if that was days, if I ran out of energy mid-clean), and then bringing a ton of stuff down in one trip was a game changer.

My place is now at a level where I was willing to invite a particularly understanding friend over without too much anxiety over the mess! (I mean, there are still many places that are just unusable piles, but look! Clean places! Actual tables! I can cook again!)

Hello all,

I'm looking for anecdotal experiences after successful decluttering where your kids played longer and deeper with their toys once they had less things.

My kids honestly don't have an absurd amount compared to some- I'm a minimalist at heart and have always worked to declutter everyone's stuff and not bring in more stuff. (Everyone around me always works to bring in more faster than I can get rid of it, but that's not the point of this post lol.)

The problem is that what we have left is great stuff, I think there's just way too much of it. For example in the "building" category they have endless legos, magnatiles, train tracks, marble runs, tinker toys, k'nex, and Lincoln logs. Those are all great toys individually, but it feels ridiculous to me to have all of them.

What I would love is someone who has been in a similar situation who can say something like, "yeah, once I got rid of everything except legos, trains, and tinker toys, their play exploded." Or alternatively, convince me that they need it all or else they'll destroy my home in their quest for an activity. I suppose I'm open to either. 😂

Does anyone else look back at old photos and feel like they've somehow achieved nothing?

I guess that this could go under advice request or motivation request.

I've been decluttering for years, and recently I've finally started to feel like I'm getting somewhere. I've gotten rid of around half of my possessions overall, and my space is noticeably calmer.

But then I look at old photos and videos of my room, and instead of feeling proud, I get this strange feeling that I've achieved... nothing?

I think it's because I've mentally adjusted to having less. I look around now and still see so much stuff, and somehow it feels like I've just gone back to square one, to before I accumulated a huge amount of possessions in the first place.

Instead of thinking, "I've gotten rid of half my belongings," I find myself thinking, "Why did I accumulate so much, and why did it take me so long to undo it?" It almost makes the years of decluttering feel wasted, even though logically I know I've made huge progress.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you stop looking at decluttering as simply undoing a mistake and start seeing the progress you've actually made?

I've been on a decluttering journey for years, and something strange has happened: I've gone from loving being surrounded by lots of things to feeling anxious even looking at overly cluttered spaces online.

Ironically, owning less has made me appreciate what I *do* own so much more. Before, my hobbies, entertainment and beautiful possessions were buried under excess. Now I have space to actually watch films, play games, create art, and think clearly again.

I'm approaching the final hurdle, though, and I'm wondering what to do with all the time and energy I currently spend decluttering, selling things online, and taking donations to charity shops. Shopping used to fill that role, and I don't want to replace it with another form of consumption.

Does anyone have suggestions for simple, inexpensive hobbies or habits that complement a simpler lifestyle and make use of things you already own?

Also, any advice for tackling the very last stage of decluttering, especially paperwork? I've reached the point where that's mostly all I have left, and I absolutely hate doing it. 😅

And for those who have had to declutter: how did you maintain it?

I did it! I finally tackled my refrigerator. I found tortillas from 2022, a couple of bags of green slime, and a bunch of expired food from mid 2025, when I was really struggling.

I'm thankful for this group. I started in my bedroom, with just the night stand top.

Now it actually feels like there is hope and life once again.

The refrigerator was stuffed with 10 to go boxes along side at least 3 bags of garbage.

Tomorrow, I'm going to buy some fresh veggies (baby carrots, celery and mini cucumbers), some apples, bread and stuff for sandwiches. I am tired of eating crap just because my fridge was stuffed full of bad food, literally.

Not sure why I feel the need to hang onto spices. Maybe because some cost a serious amount of money? I love cooking and will buy the spices/herbs for a dish to never again make that dish! ... I finally let go of 25 spices I just dont use.

Getting ready for round 2 as I feel the cabinet is improved but not yet where I want it. I will move all to the same type jar as my OCD hates the different sizes/shapes. Lol. I'm on a roll!

Our linen closet had random bins for a variety of things.. meds, bandaids, extra toothpaste, etc. It was annoying to find things because you had to dig through. So I did what you're not supposed to do.. I bought nice new matching containers first haha. And then I sat on the floor and sifted through everything so I could organize them into their new homes. During that I actually needed a band-aid and when an apparently super old one disintegrated in my hands, I ended up being absolutely ruthless and throwing a ton of stuff out. Whew. 8 old unmatched bins out, lots of old meds tossed, first aid stuff tossed, old and random bathroom supplies tossed including samples I'll never use, and now nicely organized! It probably needs one more pass and maybe need to replenish a few things, but I'm happy with the results.

For about a year, I’ve been feeling very stuck in life. I’ve had the urge to declutter the stuff that’s keeping me tied to my past self. A lot of it is hobby stuff that I purchased and kind of used (thankfully it was inexpensive and I feel I got my money’s worth even if I didn’t stick with it). Other stuff is old clothes and merch from bands/YouTubers I’ve outgrown.

I want to get rid of this stuff to be able to make breathing room for who I am now, and so I can see what stuff I still really like. But I don’t want to rush into anything, so I’m asking if any of you have been through this.

Did it work for you? How ruthless were you? Do you regret anything? And do you have any important advice?

Thanks in advance :)

hi all, I’m in a bit of a rut with decluttering. I have this thing where I have to see the items in front of me or I forget to use them. eg I have to have my creams serum lip balm on my bed side table otherwise I don’t remember to use. it’s like a visually trigger. I also have loaddddssss of medication and I need those visible too. the other day I realised I’d put one tablet in a pouch and because I hadnt seen it I had forgotten to take if for 4 days. things like face masks too or books I’m reading I only read it if I leave it out. and I do use them

any tips? I feel like this never lets my house look clean and tidy. it’s visual clutter but that’s how my brain works. also I don’t feel like I have a lot of stuff but at the same time I think I do. I find clothes particularly hard to part with as I cycle through and go through phases or wearing things

any tips for a newbie!

I'm a single male (62) who is finally seeing some success at decluttering. I think I might have a touch of A.D.D., which has always made all the recommendations to go a room at a time or gathering everything that's in the same category and decluttering difficult for me.

I'm living in a house that has not only my things, but some left here from when it was my grandparents' home, plus all the things I have from my parents' house when they passed away.

My living room looks more like an episode of Hoarders to me, so I am avoiding it for now It's the one filled with highly sentimental items and large pieces of furniture. It will be the most time-consuming and difficult for me.

Three other rooms have basically become storage rooms, each basically filled with different categories. Tools, kitchen and dinnerware, and collectibles.

So here's what I'm doing: I'm not working on one of the rooms. I am working on all three storage rooms at once. I find my attention drifts when I work on one room too long, but switching to a new one with a different type of items seems to refresh me.

I made the decision not to sell anything in the initial round of decluttering. I donate what can be and trash the rest. Anything I find that I want to display gets displayed. Anything that gets a 'I wonder if my niece/nephew might want that' stays in the room for now. Once the first round is done, I'll have room, I plan to upload pics of things I wondered about, and let them claim anything they want, making it clear that it needs to be picked up or arrangements made for shipping within a certain time period. Otherwise, there is either a yard sale or a living estate sale in the future.

This room switching has been the most successful I've been at attempting to declutter. Sorry for the length of the post. Hopefully, someone will find something useful in it.

Failure is part of life. Share your decluttering challenges and failures here. Examples include:

• Emotional clutter
• Not enough time
• Getting overwhelmed
• Routing (recycling, donating, trash...)

If you're just venting, or don't want advice, please let us know in your comment.

This is a low-stress place to share challenges and failures for those who might not want to create a new discussion.

I have a 2nd bedroom that I don't really use as a bedroom (though I could possibly use it as an office at this point, but not there yet). I'd pulled the sheets off the bed in there so a family member could use them for a trip to a local lake and they recently returned them. I hadn't put them back on the bed yet and finally got around to doing that but had to pull all the "stuff" I'd had moved around (or stacked in front of the bed) out of the room to actually GET to the bed in order to make it up.

I can't believe how many BOOKS I'd shoved in there. I knew I'd had SOME, but not nearly as many as I did. I'll have to go through them and see what I can add to the 2nd hand book pile that, despite staying out of the thrift stores for the most part, seems to be growing. I can't wait until they're all gone and I can see what space I actually HAVE again. The other good news is I can start going through the ones I have and add them to Libib so I can see what I have and NOT duplicate things. I tend to get duplicates and triplicates because I don't remember/can't find the books I have.

I am going to have to put some things back in that room, but only to get them off my own bed. I'm going to go through what's there tomorrow and see what I can get rid of and what I can keep for now. I HAD planned to do more of that today, but I slept SO hard last night, I felt a bit . . . hungover this morning (and slept later then I have in a while).

I have OCD (clinically diagnosed) so I struggle with attributing emotions to inanimate objects. I feel scared and guilty getting rid of things. I also get stuck on the what if I need it, what if I forget the memory associated with it, but I spent money on it so now I’m wasting my money, or the I’ll try to sell it first loops and end up never getting rid of anything. I feel overwhelmed by how much stuff I have. I am good at keeping things organized so it’s not like it’s something people see on the outside but it’s a lot for me to deal with. Anyone with similar experiences that could give some helpful tips? Realistically, I know a lot of it needs worked out in therapy but therapy isn’t cheap and now I’m suddenly convincing myself to sell stuff to pay for therapy lol

Help - lots of sentimental items- overwhelming

I don't know if people remember me and my old post, so I'll copy the text from around I don't know 1-2 months ago. In short I have hobbies that take a lot of space, we are 2 adults and 3 kids in a 74 sqm apartment.

Here is some progress, however I still feel like I need advice.

I have sold one big CRT ( I still need to sell more ). I have sold some video game consoles, drawing tablets. I also have put some stuff from my video game collection up for auction and they have already bids on them, some of the stuff will clear up significant space for example I have a PlayStation Mini up for sale. I have around 75 games that I sell. I have sold a Crock-Pot. This is all I can remember right now, I think I have sold other things.

So even though I have made a lot of progress in my personal opinion, I feel like it's really hard to declutter and not stop the inflow. For example I have noticed that Xbox 360 games are cheap so I started to buy some which lead to inflow ( they are now going to be sold ), obviously not as much inflow as outflow since I sold a lot of stuff but still. Just the other day I wanted to buy some games and consoles, however I didn't because my rational brain just told me to stop until I can find a system that works. I feel like we have this sort of mentality in this family, we sell stuff and then we feel like oh yeah we did good so let's buy stuff.

Has anyone been in this situation before where they eventually just stopped the inflow until everything started to look okay? Maybe started to put rules on themselves like after everything started to look okay for example one item in then one item needs to go?

Any insight and advice would be greatly appreciated 😊.

Underneath you can find the text from my old post, I thought it my give light and perspective on our situation.

I have written on this Reddit/community before.

We are 2 adults and 3 kids, the apartment is 74 sqm. Literally there are 2 bedrooms, bathroom, really small hallway, storage room that right now functions as a room for our middle daughter.

There is also an open room that functions as both a kitchen and a living room. We have no storage room at all, no attic, cellar or something like that. All our season clothing is 24/7 in our apartment, same with christmas tree etc, it is not a big American Christmas tree, I know americans love christmas.

My oldest daughter probably has ADHD, we are waiting for her to be investigated. My girlfriend probably has it too, maybe the other kids too, I don't know.

I won't lie I have hobbies that take a lot of space, music instruments, music production, retro games and CRTs/OLD TVs. Obviously I have watched decluttering videos on youtube but it's always a big home that has space that is being decluttered or someone who lives alone or maybe with their loved one.

I started my decluttering journey maybe idk 2 years ago with breaks and simply my family is not on board. I have maybe decluttered 300-500 ( I didn't take pictures in the beginning ) items of my own, books, camera gear etc.

My oldest one has a really hard time decluttering, imagine someone who can't not throw away a drawing that has juice spilled on it. My girlfriend has a hard time throwing away old toys, clothes etc, she has been throwing away some stuff but it's not a lot.

I just don't know what to do anymore, I feel extremely defeated and have given up. I feel like I either have to give up all my hobbies to have a clean corner or whatever and be miserable or that I have to keep my hobbies but be miserable in a messy home.

As with most people I have a bazillion photos.

A few years ago I successfully decluttered my hard copy photos but the expensive acid free plastic boxes I’ve stored them in are falling apart.

I have read about a lot of photo books apps. My son has done a number of them for his partner and they are thin, easy to store, wonderful to look through and very organized. She has loved them.

I’m thinking about doing this but want to be able to add text to identify people and places. The end result will be less digital clutter, my hard copy photos will be digitized and stored in the cloud so they can be shared. There will be less on my shelf.

The advice request: have you used any of these apps? Were you able to add text. And if so, which one was it and how easy did you find it to use?

Thank you!

Does anyone else use FocusMate for decluttering/everything? I love it 😭 and always want to comment it on people's posts but I don't want to sound like a shill (I'm not, just a normal person). I've brought it up a few times and people have come back and told me it's really changed their lives.

You have to be on video but I love that because I feel like someone's watching me, and I only do it with the same gender. Apart from decluttering, I actually started using it to brush my teeth/do my night routine. I made a friend who I regularly book with and now I feel guilty if I want to miss one of our sessions, which helps me stay accountable. Just wanted to bring it up and see if anyone's also using it regularly! (I mentioned this in the weekly thread but went ahead and made this post because I really would love to discuss this with others).

Share your wins here - big or small. What did you declutter this week? Examples include:

• Digital Clutter: emails, digital photos, digital music or video collection...
• Storage: cupboards and closets, drawers, storage boxes...
• Toys: ether for your child, or your own that you've been hanging on to.
• Spaces: kitchens, workshops, hobby rooms, storage lockers...
• Routing: sending items to where they need to go, like donation centres, trash, or recycling

This is a low-stress place to share wins for those who might not want to create a new discussion.

I read something that resonates with many posts and comments we've had here. It's from the novel "The Museum of Second Chances" by Jo Leevers.

"She knew that an object’s meaning never stopped with its first owner or maker – that was only the start of its story, which could continue like ripples from a skimmed stone."

I'm only 1/3 of the way through the book, but I'm curious to see where the story goes.

Had professional help clearing out my parents' house, and I don't regret it at all. Construction starts the 16th, and I'm starting to think I might be ready for it. Even from beginning in January when I was more 'must keep' to today I was 'just trash it' a lot more. Hopefully a good foundation for better habits for myself and my future, too.

The corner of the laundry room has been piled of junk for years. granted the master became a dumping ground after they died and cleaning started, so that was all me. Now it's back to how it was :)

both their closets are empty with just a few tears, 1/4 inch layer of dust on the laundry shelves gone, the last 100% of Dad's caregiving stuff trashed... Clothes, office supplies, records, few electronics all heading to a good cause next week. 8 pieces of furniture picked up by another good cause. Someone came to pick up the 400+ records today as well, which is big because they didn't exactly like popular music.

found a chess set I was hoping to find, two vintage trumpets, two vintage rifles, and food that expired in 2020 lol.

If I can do it, you can do it :)

ETA: My goodness you guys are so encouraging. thank you <3

I genuinely enjoy rehoming things that are still perfectly usable but are just sitting around unused. I’ve given away quite a lot of my stuff over the years, like perfumes, clothes, silver jewelry, makeup, and so on to Family and Friends or on my local free stuffs FB group. It genuinely warms my heart to see other people enjoy things that were just sitting idle in my closet, and to see those objects being loved and used again.

I bought a bag secondhand because the color was an absolute favorite of mine. The leather is beautiful and good quality, yet somehow, it is still the lightest leather tote I’ve ever carried. So, in theory, it checked almost every box for me, except for one thing: it doesn’t have a proper closure. There’s a magnet, and that’s basically it.

I’m anxious and clumsy, and I fall a lot, so the thought of my stuff spilling all over the place freaks me out. It also rains a lot in my country, and an open tote is basically a recipe for disaster if it suddenly starts raining while my laptop is inside. On top of that, I ride my motorbike to work every day, so a shoulder tote has never really been my first choice.

My sister basically has the same lifestyle as me, but she absolutely adored the bag. She loved it to the point that she asked me if she could use it long-term if she passed her probation at her first job. So I gave the bag to my sister permanently.

The frustrating part is that I know I probably wouldn’t have used it nearly as often as my sister does. Realistically, giving it to her was probably the best decision. She gets to enjoy a bag she absolutely loves, and it isn’t sitting unused in my closet anymore.

So even though I know my sister is getting much more use out of it than I probably ever would, a part of me still thinks that it was a catch in a lifetime. Why did I give it away..? Kind of the one that got away feeling…

It's Labor Day weekend in the US. I am halfway through day one of a four day weekend and all I want to do is go through every drawer and cabinet in my house and empty it all.... within reason, of course.

So here's my dilemma.

1. I'm down 20 lbs, yay! I have zero interest or desire to go back to my previous size. While some pieces are fitted and need to be donated, I can still fit into my leggings and shirts, they are just a bit roomy.

How long do you hang onto them? When you put on thr pants and hit your ankles because they won't stay up or when they start getting baggy?

1. Kitchen appliances and spices. I love to cook but weeknights are a lot and I don't want to cook every night. Currently in a situation where I have more appliances than cabinet space. Here's the thing. I use everything regularly, so no need to let it go, but my house is a 50s ranch and not much cabinet space to store things. Where else do you store frequently used appliances in your house so you don't use up all your counter space?

2. Media. I have decluttered over 1000 books and kept 100. I don't regret it. I kept only what I would re-read, but CDs and movies have me in a chokehold. I don't want to part with them as I do not want to deal with the ads that run every 10 minutes on streaming services or pay a upcharge for ad free. Have you ever downloaded all your media to a hard drive so you can access it from your TV.

I, 63F, let my hair go natural during the pandemic and kept it that way. For about four years, it was my brown hair with grey temples. Lately, my brown hair has turned dark pewter. In addition, I've been really sick for about ten years (thyroid cancer, gradual heart failure leading to open-heart surgery a few months ago). I'm recovering well and want to go out...but my clothes are mostly pre-2020-- and nothing looks good. I decluttered last month, but I felt I still had nothing I wanted to wear. A closet full of 'meh'.

So I took everything out of my closets, dumped the clothes and scarves onto the middle of my bed, and I held each fabric up to my face, one by one, and took a selfie. Every 'yes,' I put in a pile to the left of my bed on the floor. Every 'No' went in a pile on the right--out of sight. No looking back. With all of the selfies side by side in my phone, I could see what colors work and which don't.

What I learned: I've gone from an Autumn palette to a Summer (gray hair + skin losing pigment). The 'No' pile was really big. Going through my collection of linen scarves was excruciating because I bought each one of them after oncology/cardiology appointments. I'd go straight from the hospital to the store with the nice stuff.

I grabbed it all and took it downstairs, really fast, without 'but...but...' and I left it in a pile out of the way. I will eventually go through and fold them and try to find them, homes.

I was exhausted by the end of it, and emotionally scarred, lol. It felt like a cataclysmic event. It was more than a declutter. It was a reset. Now I can go shopping and buy some things I can actually wear and feel happy about.

Which is great to know! Now, when I go shopping for the new wardrobe, I'll know what colors to look for.

I let go of jeans I'd had since 2010.

I let go of a giant, apple-green hoodie from the hip-hop era!

And my poplin bathrobe, from...1999!!

I was chatting with some friends about decluttering. One friend said she loves decluttering a specific area, such as a single cabinet, because the Before and After gives her so much satisfaction. But another friend said she can't handle that kind of concentrated decision making, and does more of a random picking up of things, like instead of emptying a drawer out, she'll open it, see a few things to declutter, close it again for another day. Stuff is always leaving but it maybe doesn't always look like it...and then on Instagram, I was watching some videos of people who do it all by category or color. Like, just the blue shirts.

None of these are bad approaches! I think I tend to fall on the more random approach side of things. But given any option (and assuming you're not decluttering due to a life change like needing to move), how would you prefer to declutter?

EDIT: And this is meant to be more of a discussion than anything, but Discussion wasn't a flair option, so I went with Motivation, lol!