an easy start to your decluttering journey

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Decluttering can be an ominous task, especially when you feel like there’s so much to accomplish and nowhere to begin. These 4 super-small decluttering tasks are an easy place to start that will kick-start your momentum to work up to bigger tasks. One of the hardest parts of decluttering is dealing with sentimental items— save these until you have some momentum built up! We’re going to start with small, yet high-impact, decluttering tasks. You’ll quickly see the freeing feeling that decluttering can bring you!

1. Clean out your handbag

It’s amazing how much junk you’re able to cram into a purse of ANY size-receipts, wrappers, lip balm, coins, snacks, pens…the list goes on. A handbag is something you probably use everyday, meaning you’ll quickly be able to reap the benefits of this decluttering task, and you’ll take this fresh, organized feeling with you wherever you go.

Questions to consider:

What size bag do I use on a daily basis?
What do I ACTUALLY need to carry everyday?
How can I organize the items I will carry?

After you have made these considerations, your next steps will be individualized to your specific needs.

Personally, I carry small purses and keep my Mulberry card holder, my keys with an attached Airtag, one lip item (right now it’s an Honest Beauty tinted lip balm), a pill container, and this comb that’s flat enough to fit in even the smallest of bags. I have found that, as long as I have these 5 items, I don’t really need much else.

If you like to be prepared and have everything with you, I see you and that’s totally fine! As Modest Minimalists, we keep everything we want to, just nothing we don’t! If this is the case, you’ll want to make sure your bag is extra-organized. You may want to add a full bag organizer if that works for you. You may just want to keep items in separate small bags — just make sure they’re with like-items such as cosmetics, snacks, etc. Your needs will be different from the next person’s, so do what will work best for you and your lifestyle.

2. Purge your undies

This one sounds odd, but your undie drawer is a place you visit at least once a day. And it’s so refreshing to open that drawer and only have the ones that you actually wear and love! Plus this is an easy one, because you typically don’t have any emotional connections to underwear.

Get rid of anything:

with tears, stains, rips, etc.
that doesn’t fit
that you notice throughout the day
that you just don’t like anymore

I recommend having a Take Back Bag on hand when you get rid of clothing items that other people wouldn’t want that typically goes to a landfill (socks, underwear, ripped/stained clothes, etc.). They recycle these types of items! (Not sponsored, I just love this idea!)

3. Organize your silverware

The silverware drawer is another place that you visit multiple times a day, so it can have a high impact on your mood and feelings of organization. When my husband and I moved in together, we had at least three sets of mismatched spoons. We donated all of our random ones and got two sets of matching silverware. But we’re modest minimalists here, so don’t purge it if you don’t want to! I have a spoon that I just really like for some reason, and that stays! I have noticed that having 8 of each item is a sweet spot where you have enough between dishwasher loads, but not too much that it feels cluttered. While you’re at it, get a nice bamboo organizer :) It’s crazy the difference this can make!

4. Donate books that aren’t overly special to you

Books take up A LOT of space. What’s important is that you only keep the books you want and serve your purpose. This purpose can simply be that they look pretty on a shelf! This will be very individualized, but some questions to consider are: