Get your garbage bag ready! We'll be sharing a list of things that we at Tidies would definitely throw away without a second thought.
Organizing your home is more than just arranging things on a shelf. It's also about getting rid of things you don't need, that create clutter and take up space unnecessarily. You probably have junk around you that you'd better get rid of, from extra pens to socks that don't have a pair, to souvenirs and various unnecessary cat litter.
You can also start with this:
1. Kitchen utensils
Have you ever thought about how many kitchen utensils you have and how many you actually need on a regular basis when cooking? How many unnecessary duplicates and unnecessary things do you store in a drawer? Mango slicer and similar gadgets, six piece corkscrews are useless, they need to be discarded. We have an easy way to do it. Take everything out of the drawer, clean it out, make the necessary adjustments if necessary to make the space work and only put in the utensils you actually need. And you have one nice functional drawer.
2. Stationery
If it doesn't say it, then why keep it. Once in a while it is necessary to do a cleaning in the workroom and everything that is no longer working should be thrown away. Professional organizers always throw away pens that don't work. They will also throw out low quality pencils, No. 2 pencils without erasers and dried out markers and highlighters without caps, glue sticks that don't stick. Simply items that are just trash anymore, so away with them.
3. Expired items
With good organization, the key is to remove anything that no longer serves. And not just food out of warranty, but also medicines and cosmetics. Each item needs to be grabbed by hand and a decision made as to whether it stays or goes. Don't forget about safe disposal.
4. Storage solutions
In your many well-intentioned attempts to organise your home, you have procured various baskets and bins and ended up failing to fulfil your purpose and creating more clutter. These are the items that a professional organizer will discard. When it doesn't work, move on. Organization requires a good system, which takes a little more planning and a good strategy. Choosing the right organizing tools to make the space work is essential. If you don't dare and don't feel like throwing money away on something that doesn't work anyway, ask a professional organizer for help. Not only will you save a lot of time and energy with planning and selecting aids, but it will ultimately save your wallet as well.
5. Hobby supplies
When you're done with the hobby, professional organizers recommend donating the equipment to someone who will use it. Whether you have boxing gloves, fishing equipment but no longer fish, camping gear or a watercolor kit, stamps, coins and things like that, if you don't use them anymore, get rid of them.
6. Outdated technology
The VCR and hifi tower was once a dream, but they have been replaced by more modern technology, so we need to thank them and send them to electronic heaven. In Slovakia, we have the opportunity to hand in unwanted appliances free of charge at electrical shops (this is a take-back), at collection yards in towns and villages or through mobile collections.
Recycle floppy disks and old laptops, outdated phones, VHS tapes and other items you'll never use again, away with them.
7. Things to repair
All those broken vases waiting to be repaired, professional organizers will either fix it or dispose of it, and you should too. If you've already replaced it, don't miss it, or it's too expensive to repair, there's no point in keeping the item.
8. Tutorials
Oh, those instructions. Throw away the accessories, miscellaneous manuals and instruction booklets that come with things you no longer own, like the instruction manual for the juicer you had a decade ago.
9. Secret Stocks
Even professional organizers keep such strange things as jars from decoctions or washed-out glass jars from candles. The key, however, is to know when you're saving too much and they become clutter. For example, if you've kept every rubber band from every fresh produce purchase, then it's time to throw some away. Empty ice cream containers or buckets, those are automatically thrown away by a professional organizer.
10. Promotional items
Try to resist bringing home the free stuff offered at various exhibitions, fairs, lectures and conferences. With all those tempting offers for accumulated points like a cup called coffee, try to avoid it. Professional organizers throw away excess wall calendars, promotional coffee mugs, water bottles covered in logos, bottle openers and key chains. Just because it's free doesn't mean you need it.
11. Things that have no pair
How many socks or gloves that don't have a pair do you have in your wardrobe? If they're things that only work in pairs and you've hopelessly lost or ruined one, why keep the other?
12. Non-functional helpers
Professional organizers don't like cleaning aids for keeping order that don't get the job done, are malfunctioning and damaged. If an item is meant to help make your cleaning easier but makes it harder, throw it away. This includes a cracked dustpan, a broken laundry basket, a broom with a handle that keeps falling off, and a leaky bucket.
13. Donation bag
That bag of discarded items you want to donate has been rolling around in the trunk of your car for a month or you're still going through it at home, it's time to pass it on to someone who can still use it. Professional organizers have scheduled pickups for drop-offs or routinely drop items off at a donation site such as Humana, or various collection containers anywhere in the community to prevent them from piling up at home.
14. Trophies and awards
Winning an award or trophy is a mark of achievement that everyone is proud of. However, awards often pile up at home and you're probably already thinking about drinking cocoa out of the cups you've won; they're everywhere, even in the kitchen. Just because your name is engraved on them doesn't mean you have to keep it forever. Professional organizers preserve the memory by taking a picture of the honors and then donating them. Only keep the ones that have great value to you.
15. Dust collectors
Dust collectors are undoubtedly on the list of all professional organizers. These include miscellaneous decorations and vases, collections you don't care about, and knick-knacks that don't have a very special meaning. Also, try to avoid buying souvenirs and various magnets on your adventurous travels around the world. They cost money unnecessarily, serve no purpose and only create unwanted clutter. Souvenirs are taboo for a professional organizer.
16. Goodwill items
Having good intentions is good. If you make a commitment to cycle every day and with good intentions, get a stationary bike. And now it just serves as a dead manservant to put away your clothes in the bedroom. How about finally putting it on the Bazos and selling it. Sell or give away the stuff you bought with the hope of making a change, but the change hasn't taken hold.
17. Cookbooks
Books are rare, no doubt about it, but if it's over read, we move it on or trade it. Cookbooks have somewhat lost their purpose in an age where we have culinary inspiration online. We don't use all of them and maybe none of them anymore. Keep only the ones you hold dear and donate the rest.
18. Collection of gift wrappers
In almost every home we organize there is a large bag full of extra bags that you get when you buy clothes. It's such a habit to put them away and they just pile up and multiply and serve no purpose. So they definitely need to go or recycle them and use them as a bin bag and then throw them away. At every checkout they will ask you if you are begging for a bag, if it's not necessary, don't take it. It's kind to the environment too and you'll show yourself a lot of love by not creating unnecessary clutter in your home. Other items that make the throw away list are leftover gift wrap, tangled rolls of ribbon, and faded gift bags.
19. Appliances that do not serve
You couldn't resist and now you're once again the owner of the latest craze in kitchen appliances, a real Italian noodle machine or some other essential item you never use. Professional organizers remind you that by keeping appliances you don't use, they are non-functional and serve no purpose, taking up unnecessary space in your home that you would otherwise use for things you really need. That's why it's best to get rid of them as much as possible.
20. Hangers
You will rarely find empty and disjointed hangers in a professional organizer's closet. An easy way to get started with closet organization is to replace the hangers. Clean out the clutter by taking the wire ones back to the cleaners, all the plastic ones, then let go of other unused hangers, such as those with weak clips and small hangers that don't slide on the closet rod or don't hold a blouse on them. Discard without regret. Wooden hangers are great for heavy items like coats and winter jackets. Slim velvet hangers are good for clothes like blouses and t-shirts. More of them fit in the closet and the clothes don't slip.
21. Random papers
It takes determination to put documents and important papers in order. Get rid of expired coupons, flyers, receipts and all the papers lying around on your desk. Recycle old contracts and invoices and organize them in a way that makes sense to you, so that they are transparent and you can find everything. After all, it's stressful when you urgently need a medical report and can't remember where you put it.
An easy way to limit the amount of stuff you bring into your home is to be mindful of what you bring into your home and consider whether you really need the item. Sometimes giving things up is very difficult, especially when emotions get mixed in. The thing to think about is that it's only the things that don't own you, but you own them and that means that you make the decisions.
If you don't dare or just need a companion during the whole process, try asking a professional organizer for help. He or she will help you to make a decision more easily.
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