Decluttering 100 things from your home in a day might sound overwhelming, but it’s actually very doable. Stop waiting until later, when you may (or may not) have more time, and start decluttering today!
Yes, I’m confident you can declutter 100 things from your home today!
When you start small and move quickly, you’ll likely be surprised by how many items you no longer need, use, want, or love.
From junk mail and worn-out clothes to random kitchen gadgets and that box of “stuff” in the back of the garage… it’s all fair game for this decluttering challenge.
More importantly, this simple challenge gives you a place to start when you feel overwhelmed by all the things in your home.
It might also help you build better habits around decluttering and simplifying — like shifting your mindset from “just in case” to “only what adds value,” making future decisions easier and faster.
One day, 100 items — small action, big momentum toward a simpler, more intentional home.
Stop waiting until “later” and start decluttering today!
How to declutter 100 things from your home today!
SUPPLIES:
- a large garbage bag (for trash)
- a couple of medium-sized boxes or paper bags (for donations)
- an audiobook, podcast, or music to listen to while you work
- one hour (honestly, it might even take less time!)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Grab your supplies.
2. Go through the 10 areas listed below and declutter 10 items from each space.
3. Throw your trash away and put your donations in your trunk.
4. Enjoy your first baby step towards creating a less-cluttered home for you and your family.
5. Keep doing this every few days, all year long. 😜
1. Clothes:
We’ll start off easy — declutter at least 10 items of clothing from anywhere in your home. This could also be shoes, accessories, undergarments, purses, bags, coats, etc.
Remember to trash items that aren’t in good condition (donation centers don’t want trash).
2. Bathroom:
Toss expired medication, old makeup, grimy hairbrushes, empty bottles of shampoo or lotion, frayed towels, and of course, anything you don’t actually use or need anymore.
3. Food:
Go through your fridge, your freezer, your pantry, and anywhere else you keep food and toss at least 10 items that are moldy, freezer-burned, expired, or anything you know you won’t eat.
If you have non-expired non-perishable foods your family won’t consume, feel free to box those up for the local food pantry.
4. Kitchen:
While you’re in the kitchen, take a few minutes to declutter 10 gadgets you no longer use, duplicate small appliances you don’t need, anything that’s broken, outgrown kids’ items like sippy cups, bottles, etc., and anything else you don’t need.
5. Paper:
Yes, I’m only asking you to get rid of 10 paper items — you can totally do this!
Consider recipe cards you no longer need, all those papers plastered on the refrigerator, the piles on your counter and/or desk, fast food menus, all those sticky note reminders, and your filing cabinet.
They are all fair game for this mini paper purge!
NOTE: Here’s how I store and organize all our important paperwork — it might be a good weekend project for you!
6. Toys and Games:
This is your opportunity to toss a few broken toys or mismatched pieces that don’t go with anything.
It’s also a great time to take a quick look through your games and puzzles and get rid of a few you no longer play
Sporting goods and outdoor toys/games could also be lumped into this category.
7. Books / Magazines / CDs/ DVDs:
This should be SO easy — I’ll even let you include cookbooks in this list if you want.
8. Storage Spaces:
I realize this is a huge category that could include everything from the basement to the attic and the garage, but since not everyone has a basement, attic, or garage, I’m leaving it up to you to determine where your “storage spaces” are… and then to declutter at least 10 items from any of those spaces.
If you have a larger home, you can give yourself “extra credit” by decluttering 10 items from EACH of your storage spaces!
9. Hobby:
Extra fabric, yarn, photos, scrapbook supplies, tools, sporting goods, baking or cooking gadgets, canning supplies, paint, or any other tchotchkes you don’t need anymore.
Remember, it’s only 10 items, so I can’t imagine it will be too difficult!
10. Miscellaneous:
Feel free to look through your laundry room, junk drawer, mudroom, or seasonal decorations to come up with your last 10 items.
And just like that… your home is officially 100 things “lighter”!
.
As you go through each area of your home, I suspect you’ll find significantly more than 10 items to declutter… however, your main goal for today is to KEEP MOVING, which will be easier if you only focus on 10 items per location.
Don’t let yourself get bogged down by the number of items you could declutter, and instead, stay focused on the 10 items you will declutter.
Get those items out of your closet, your kitchen, your pantry, your bathroom, your mudroom, and your garage… and enjoy the satisfying feeling of less already today.
The easier and more “instantly satisfying” it feels, the more likely you are to do it again (and you will need to do it again to see results and maintain a less-cluttered home).
Decluttering 100 items will not magically transform your home, but it WILL get the ball rolling.
It will stop you from saying “later” and instead propel you to do something and take action.
Challenge yourself to do a 100-item declutter each week (or multiple times each week).
Over time, you will notice a big difference in the state of your home. Best of all, you will develop the habit of continually evaluating the things in your home and decluttering when something is no longer needed.
Yup, it will feel amazing!
What area will declutter first?
Liane says
Not sure if you will see this but here goes. This is one of my favorite posts and I am doing once again the Organize 365 100 days starting in January. Our move to new house has been pushed ahead due to unforeseen circumstances. Any time I do a whole house purge I get organized first by simply going through spaces and throwing away trash. Today I got rid of two mascaras that smear and a bottle of nail polished in a hideous color left over from Halloween 5 yrs ago. But that is easy peasy compared to kitchen stuff. I recently put out at the curb a couple lamps to be picked up by a veterans organization. There were also a lot of my husband’s work wear like slacks, button down shirts and neckties. Well the truck pulled up, and tossed the bags in the back of the truck, then the lamps. One immediately broke. It made me sad because I wanted that lamp to bless someone else! I could have taken a hammer to it and made life simpler! No calling and scheduling etc. So I’m re-reading a lot of Lisa’s stuff and she said she used black bags for donations and white for trash. Makes sense if you don’t want to confuse things if it’s a client home and you are organizing them, but I got to wondering if you think it’s a good idea to save a half dozen Amazon boxes and set them aside for breakables? I did just that, since I’d saved dozens to pack my kitchen up prior to its demolition. I took a group that were all the same size and slit the blue or black sealing tape and flattened them and tied them with twine. They don’t take up much space, I put them in the garage. But I got to thinking as usual LOL what would Andrea do? So what do you think of this idea to be able to purge breakable stuff like a bazillion Princess House glasses and knickknack (and lamps ) Too late for the lamps. They were pretty but just not working for me.
Kathy Coy says
Thank you for this inspiration and kick-start. I didn’t really want to do it since I felt like I had just got rid of a ton of stuff a few weeks ago, but knew there was still lots to do. I didn’t have anything planned for today so I just started working through some of the areas. I kept telling myself you don’t have to do it all, just find 10 things in each area. Success! I have two big boxes ready for Goodwill, a lot of trash, and some general rearranging of putting stuff back where it goes and making a new home for a few things. I think I would like to do this twice a year!
Andrea says
This is so great Kathy!
I think it’s a great idea to do this type of purge twice a year! Sometimes, I actually challenge myself to do it every month!
Debbie says
These are great tips Andrea! It’s so easy to put things off till “later” but “later” could become 5 years from now if one doesn’t get started now.
Andrea says
exactly!!
Linda K Foster says
I’ve purged a few hundred items this week! I somehow turned into a hoarder for several years. About 12-15 I’d say. I was never like that while raising our 5 children. So the last couple years I’ve been reforming and clearing a lot of clutter! This week I’ve been clearing out my workshop. Gave away many nails, screws, etc as well as three parts bins. Sent my husband to Habitat Restore on Alpine with a car loaded! Trunk, back seat and passenger seat! Yesterday I took a load to the recycle bins on 10 Mile.
I’ve gotten rid of enough to get rid of two, four shelf units. I gave them away today as I spent the day helping sort and organize a entire room Full of boxes and boxes of doll house items at a miniature museum. It was fun and very rewarding. I have recently learned I very much enjoy doing such tasks! I took the shelves and some other storage items, which I donated to the cause.
I’m on a roll with my house and not quitting until I’m done!
One thing I learned from Peter Walsh is to not say “Later”. Do it now! That has helped me a lot!
Thanks for this post. I’m going to do it again and again!
Andrea says
wow — awesome!! Keep on going Linda!
Tori says
I’m going to do this on Saturday!
It would be a great thing to do every month. That would be 400 things purges by the end of the year. woo-hoo!
That might actually make a small dent in the clutter. 🙂
Thanks! Happy BABY!!!!!
Tori
Andrea says
yeah, 400 items by Christmas — and then 1200 next calendar year. That’s A LOT of purging!
Luba @ Healthy with Luba says
Andrea, when I saw your post, it seemed overwhelming. However, when you broke it down into categories, it seemed so easy. It I do this a few times a year, it will keep our house looking so much better!
Paper should be super easy to do, along with clothing. I’ve been “meaning” to get to my clothing for several months now.
We got rid of about 25% of our books at the end of last year.
Andrea says
and you certainly don’t need to do all 100 things in one day — even if you just do paper and clothing right now, that’s still better than nothing! Good luck!
Meghan says
I used to feel so overwhelmed when faced with getting rid of stuff, but thanks to your blog, I now enjoy it!
Could you do a post on what you have on your kitchen counters? I definitely feel like I have too much out, but it’s all things I use regularly. Here’s what I’m dealing with: coffee maker, canisters with sugar and coffee, decorative stand with fruit, butter dish, mixer, knife block, drying area for wet cups/ bottles, lotion, kitchen soap, paper towel holder, box of Kleenex, and napkin holder. The list is embarrassing, but I have a huge kitchen so I still have tons of space.
Andrea says
yay for decluttering!
As for the kitchen counters — that’s a good idea for a post. We really don’t have much on our counters though.
– fruit bowl
– a few decorative antiques in the corner
– 3 cutting boards propped up on their side next to the refrigerator
– hand soap
I’m not a fan of kitchen counter “stuff” but if it works for you and you have a big enough kitchen, then I don’t think there’s a “right” or “wrong” number of things to keep out!
Mandy says
I started purging stuff throughout my house regularly, thanks to your wonderful tips! It feels SO great to get rid of of unused items. I struggle with wanting to buy stuff – bad day? Buy a new top. Good day? Buy a new decor item. Stressed? Buy a new lipstick. Now when I get an urge to shop, I’ll declutter instead. It’s reverse retail therapy…and it’s so much better! Once it’s gone, I never think about it again. One of your tips has REALLY helped, especially….the maintenance part. Stuff keeps creeping into already decluttered areas….so it’s an ongoing effort. Thanks, Andrea!
Andrea says
yay for regular purging!! and don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone in your ‘retail therapy’. I know LOTS of people who buy things as rewards. Good for you for acknowledging this and trying to change your behavior!
Deb says
I listened to your podcast as I rearranged and decluttered the kitchen. I didn’t get up to 100 items but I did get rid of 20 or so. I also moved the Kitchen Aid to the counter and the coffee pot to another counter. I liked having it put away, but I hated getting it out multiple times a week as it is VERY heavy.
I consider myself pretty organized and clutter free, but sometimes just rearranging based on use is so helpful as far as simplifying.
As always, I love your blog and the practicality of it. The tips are always things that anyone can do without buying something to accomplish a goal.
Have a great week (full of contractions!) 😉
Andrea says
20 is definitely better than nothing — hope you enjoyed the podcast!
How Mama Saves says
I agree!! My family knows I’m a “purger” and like to only keep things that I know will be used, as well as bringing joy to our family.
If we no longer like it, need it, or use it, it’s often getting donated, given away, or sold ,if I can get enough from it for my time.
I generally keep a bag or box in my laundry room and as I’m doing laundry, I’m also purging clothing that is too small, no longer needed (uniforms, seasonal clothing, etc.), damaged, etc. and either using it as rags, giving to friends, or donating, depending on the condition.
It feels so good to have an uncluttered home, so I can have the room for the things we truly use and enjoy!
Take care and I hope you have a wonderful day!
How Mama Saves says
Just listened to your podcast and my first comment sounds like I copied what you said in your podcast, but it was written before I even listened to it! Too funny!!
Andrea says
haha — funny! great minds think alike — right!
Andrea says
Yup, we have the box in our laundry room too — I actually JUST brought it away this morning. Feels good to get a few more items OUT OF THE HOUSE before the baby arrives!