7 Items to Declutter From Your Apartment Before the Year Ends

Are you allowing clutter to swallow your apartment whole? Clutter is a big deal in many apartments.

I know you don’t set out to clutter your apartment for fun – no one does. But before we all know it, clutter piles up in many parts of our homes, from room corners to the living and bedrooms. As the year rounds to a close, you want to get rid of all the clutter that has built up in many parts of your space. While it’ll be nice to do everything in one fell swoop, it’s not always feasible.

You may not have the time and energy to do it all. Your best bet is starting small.

Why you need to declutter

Here are a few reasons to declutter your apartment.

Decluttering frees up lots of space

Whether it’s on a table, in a corner, or some other part of a room, clutter takes up an underrated amount of space. Where you have more space, that may be less of an issue. But in some apartments, you could use all the space available. And the extra space taken up by this clutter adds up.

Can you imagine how much space you can free up in your apartment when you do justice to the clutter? Make it a point to keep a clutter-free space.

An uncluttered space is beautiful

Most clutter is plain unsightly. Given there’s hardly an ideal clutter-clearing plan, the clutter around could create a real mess in your space. And by all means, you want to avoid the clutter. Clearing it creates a more minimalist space in your home.

Clutter builds up dirt

Since you likely hardly touch the cluttered items, it takes little time for dirt to build up around the clutter, thanks to the dust around. And the longer they remain in place, the more the dust collects. If you have kids around, they may start piling more items on the clutter.

An uncluttered space has many psychological benefits

With less clutter and more space, you’ll naturally feel less hemmed in and breathe easier. Less clutter enhances air circulation and better movement around your space. And that gives you many psychological benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, while you enjoy your time at home.

Items to declutter in your apartment

We’ve seen the need to declutter your apartment space and why you should start small. But what items should you declutter from your home?

Appliance packaging boxes

Whether they’re the latest iPhone boxes or the toaster box, those gadget boxes serve little use after you’ve taken out the device. Unless you’re keeping the box handy for future warranty claims, it may be time to see it as clutter.

One isolated box invites another, then more items that don’t belong. To avoid falling into that trap, dispose of those boxes when the warranty period elapses.

Out-of-fashion clothes

We all have some clothes we feel are unfashionable for most occasions. When will they become fashionable again, if ever? If you’re uncomfortable donning them,, it may be time to count them as clutter and take decisive action.

They could be perfect hand-me-downs in the family. Or you’ll find many charities that could use those nice clothes you no longer find fashionable. Those are more noble uses than having the clothes gather dust and clutter your space.

Shoes that no longer fit

Similar to the clothes, some shoes no longer fit. You can give them similar treatments as the out-of-fashion clothes.

Malfunctioning gadgets

We all have those gadgets we attach so much sentimental value to. But how many such devices are one too many? And how long until they clutter your bedroom or living room?

It may be time to consider them useless clutter and find ways to dispose of them. If they have no trade-in value, you could sell them as junk. You can also dismantle these items, salvage the valuable components, and recycle/dispose of the rest. Short of some other crucial use, you don’t want to have your broken gadgets cluttering up your apartment.

Books and diaries

Books wield immense power. But they quietly can clutter up any space if you let them. Once upon a time, books took up half of my bed, books I didn’t read as often as I thought I would. My younger siblings also left their books on the family dining table.

You can even clutter your workspaces with books if you’re not careful. It means you’ll have to be determined not to clutter your space with books. But it’s worth the effort. It’s time to clear those books that have cluttered the table.

Broken furniture

It takes little thought to dump those pieces of broken furniture onto the backyard, garage, storeroom, or the corner of a room. Beyond that broken furniture itself counting as clutter, it serves as a makeshift space that invites more out-of-use items.

Before long, you’ve inadvertently hipped a mountain of clutter, thanks to some broken furniture. If those bits of broken furniture still hold some value, why not fix them?

If they don’t, why not clear them out to free up more space? Both options are better than letting it clutter your apartment.

Out-of-use beauty accessories

Old hair care products, make-up kits, or other beauty accessories can do with a good riddance clear-out campaign. It’s not always pleasant, but if you’ve not touched them for three or six months, when else will you?

For some of these accessories, the use-by date may be fast approaching. And what use will they be beyond that point? Time to get rid of them.

Is it time to declutter your apartment?

The best time to declutter your space was the second you decided to leave that item where you did. The next best time is any time. You’ll wait forever to find the best day to do it. Start small, and do it gradually.