Follow my blog with BloglovinAs you live in your house longer and longer it’s bound to get more and more cluttered. I know I have a tendency to hoard things that I probably should have thrown away years ago. Here’s a list of 15 things we should throw away right now. Our house will look so much better for it.
Magazines. There really is no reason to keep an entire magazine after you’re done reading it, especially since everything is online now. Throw those out {recycle of course!} and reclaim some space! Photo cred
CDs are a thing of the past, and take up so much space. Keep the ones that hold sentimental value, import all of them onto the computer and throw the rest away, unless you can find an amazing upcycle project for them on Pinterest, in which case you should still probably throw them away.
Hair elastics that have lost stretchiness are just taking up space and making your house look cluttered. You’re never going to use them, so why do you have them?
Expired medication can be hazardous to keep around. Be sure that if you’re throwing this away to dispose of it safely. If you’re unsure what to do, usually your local pharmacy is happy to take those expired drugs and dispose of them for you. Just ask!
Shoes that don’t fit or that you don’t wear. We all know that we have way too many shoes, and the truth is, we just don’t wear half of them very often. Be a realist and get rid of those shoes that you’re not going to wear or that are worn out. Photo Cred.
Extra photo prints can take up precious space in your closet, and really make a space look cluttered. Be sure you have at least one print of each photo then toss the others. If you don’t want to scan them in to your computer, go to Eastway Storage Center‘s website to get some tricks on how to store them properly.
Little knick-knacks (designate a bowl and fill it). You don’t need to keep all of your souvenirs or collections, and you certainly don’t need to display them all. Unclutterer has some great ideas on how to start the process. Photo Cred.
Kitchen things you don’t use can take up a TON of space in your cabinets and drawers. Divine Lifestyle says to get rid of extra things in the kitchen that take up room, and that you really never use anyway. While it is nice to have extras of some things, it just isn’t necessary to have more spatulas and more tupperware containers than you will ever need at one time.
Cooking utensils you have two of is a great place to start. You don’t really neeeed 7 spatulas, maybe just one. And those 12 potato peelers you’ve been hoarding? Just toss them. You’ll be fine. Photo Cred.
Tired bras are just sad. They don’t give you the support you need, or look the best. Just thank them for their service and throw them out. E Couterre has some awesome information on how to recycle them.
Scarves you never wear. Story. Of. My. Life. I always think scarves will be so cute and so fashionable, but all they end up doing is choking me. I have probably 20 scarves taking up space in my closet that I never wear. The Big Shwop says to downsize your closet! Leave the things you wear, donate the things you don’t.
Clothes that don’t fit can take up a lot of space physically and mentally. Just bite the bullet and toss that shirt you’ve been holding on to hoping it will fit again some day. Photo Cred.
Gifts you don’t like. Instead of keeping it around and never using it while hoping to find an appropriate person to regift it to, just donate it! There isn’t any reason to keep things you don’t use lying around (especially those you don’t even like!) Photo Cred.
Old towels. If you’re like my mom, you have piles of old ragged towels lying around that will never get thrown away, just recycled into new, ragged, washcloths. They take up a ton of space and make your house look incredibly cluttered. If you don’t use them, don’t keep them! Photo Cred.
Old makeup. Did you know makeup expires? I know I didn’t for a long time. If your makeup bag and bathroom feels overrun with product, check the expiration dates on some of your stuff. Chances are, you can throw a lot of it away. Photo Cred.
And of course, donate anything that is still useful before you ever throw it away! You know what they say, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
I have to disagree with the CD suggestion. Computers are highly unreliable for long-term storage. Files get corrupted, or worse the drive fails and you lose the lot in one fell swoop. Unless you back-up your data externally on a regular basis for goodness sake keep your CDs! For the same reason, back up digital photo’s as well.
I love the rest though, and the towel one has me wondering if we have the same mother!! 😀
Stretched out hair ties,? Yeah that would give me tons of space if I got rid of those space hogs, WTF, who wrote this?
Actually yes, stretched out elastics do take up space. I throw mine out right away but some people toss them into a drawer in their bathroom and forget about them, while grabbing a new one.
Believe it on not I have a hand towel that I took on a Holiday in 1971 and I am still using it. Couldn’t throw all my old towels out.☺
And you never know when you have a huge spill that you need towels to sop up. I’m keeping my old towels!
Recycle some stuff.