Did you know that declutter tips can significantly reduce the visual noise in your home and eliminate that constant feeling of being surrounded by undone tasks?

We’ve discovered that owning less makes daily chores and spring cleaning considerably less stressful. After all, decluttering your home is about more than just creating space—it’s about creating peace. Books, for instance, are major dust collectors, and reducing your collection to only meaningful titles can lessen your cleaning load while freeing up valuable space.

The kitchen, often the hub of any apartment, is typically the best place to begin your decluttering journey. However, tackling your entire apartment can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’ve broken down the process into manageable tasks you can complete either in short bursts or during a dedicated weekend.

Throughout this guide, expert apartments movers in Calgary will show you how to use systematic approaches like the “empty, categorize, and place” strategy to make decluttering less daunting. We’ll also share helpful practices such as the “one-in-one-out” rule to prevent future clutter accumulation. To make things even easier, we’ve created a downloadable PDF checklist that provides room-by-room guidance on what to declutter from your apartment.

Ready to transform your living space? Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

1. Get in the Right Mindset to Declutter
   • Visualize your ideal apartment
   • Find your motivation triggers
   • Set a realistic deadline
2. Create a Simple Decluttering Plan
   • Start with a checklist by room
   • Use the ’empty, sort, place’ method
   • Decide what to keep, donate, or toss
3. Declutter Room by Room
   • Kitchen: Clear expired food and unused gadgets
   • Bathroom: Toss old products and organize essentials
   • Closet: Use the 90/90 rule to reduce clothing
   • Living Room: Remove decor and items you don’t use
   • Bedroom: Clear surfaces and under-bed storage
   • Bonus: Don’t forget entryways and junk drawers
4. What to Do With the Clutter You Remove
   • Donate to local charities
   • Sell items online or locally
   • Recycle or dispose responsibly
5. Conclusion

Get in the Right Mindset to Declutter

“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.” — Marie Kondo, Tidying expert, author of ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’

Before diving into boxes and bins, successful decluttering begins in your mind. The mental approach you take will determine whether your decluttering journey becomes a frustrating chore or a rewarding process.

Visualize your ideal apartment

Imagining your clutter-free space is a powerful starting point. Research shows that visualization creates emotionally-charged mental images that motivate action and help make your vision a physical reality. Close your eyes and picture each room in your apartment – what’s on the countertops? How are the walls decorated? What furniture remains? Include colors and textures, making the image as detailed as possible.

When you regularly visualize your ideal space (aim for at least three 30-second sessions daily), your mind begins recognizing opportunities to work toward this vision. This practice creates a mental blueprint that guides your decluttering decisions.

Find your motivation triggers

Understanding what motivates you personally is crucial to maintaining momentum. Knowing what gets you “moving and pumped up” is essential for conquering clutter.

Perhaps you’re motivated by:

• Reduced anxiety (clutter can aggravate anxiety symptoms)
• Increased mental clarity (decluttering is “spring cleaning for the mind”)
• Creating space for hobbies or family time
• Less time spent cleaning and organizing

Whatever drives you, write it down and keep it visible. When facing the inevitable “messy middle” of decluttering—when everything temporarily looks worse—this personalized motivation will help you push through.

Set a realistic deadline

Adding a deadline prevents your decluttering project from extending indefinitely. Furthermore, we tend to be more successful with deadlines when we’ve committed to them publicly. Consider inviting friends over afterward or donating items by a specific date.

Be realistic with your expectations—if your apartment is significantly cluttered, you won’t transform it in a single weekend. Experts recommend decluttering no more than three hours daily to avoid burnout. Break the process into manageable sections, perhaps using our downloadable PDF checklist to track your progress room by room.

Remember that this isn’t about creating a perfect, Instagram-worthy home, but rather developing a space that works for your real life. The goal is creating a home that supports rather than drains you—a place where you can easily find what you need and feel at peace with your surroundings.

Create a Simple Decluttering Plan

Creating a structured plan transforms overwhelming clutter into manageable tasks. Unlike random tidying, a systematic approach ensures you’ll achieve lasting results.

Start with a checklist by room

Room-specific checklists prevent decision fatigue by giving you clear targets. Initially, focus on high-traffic areas like kitchens and bathrooms where decluttering creates immediate impact.

Our downloadable PDF checklist breaks down exactly what to tackle in each space:

Kitchen priorities: Expired foods, take-out containers, duplicate kitchen tools, chipped dishes, and excess coffee mugs

Bathroom focus: Old medications, expired toiletries, cosmetic samples, and worn towels

Bedroom targets: Clothes that no longer fit, uncomfortable shoes, unpaired socks, and worn linens

Checking items off as you progress provides visible evidence of your accomplishments, consequently boosting motivation.

Use the ’empty, sort, place’ method

This three-step approach creates order from chaos:

1. Empty everything from the space you’re decluttering (drawer, shelf, cabinet)
2. Sort items into categories where you can see everything at once
3. Place only what you’re keeping back in an organized way

Taking photos before you start gives you reference points and helps track your progress. Meanwhile, maintain momentum by completing one space entirely before moving to the next.

Decide what to keep, donate, or toss

Consider these questions for each item:

• Have you used it in the past 12 months?
• Does it serve a purpose or bring joy?
• Would you buy it again today?
• Is it worth the time spent cleaning and maintaining it?

Essentially, anything you haven’t used in a year can probably go. For gently used items that could benefit others, create a dedicated “donate” box. For broken or expired items, dispose of them immediately to prevent second-guessing.

Remember that letting go of something you never use isn’t wasteful—it’s freeing space for what truly matters.

Declutter Room by Room

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“If you’re not using the stuff in your home, get rid of it. You’re not going to start using it more by shoving it in a closet somewhere.” — Joshua Becker, Founder of Becoming Minimalist, author and speaker

Tackling each room individually turns decluttering from overwhelming to achievable. Our downloadable PDF checklist provides specific guidance for each space, helping you systematically transform your apartment.

Kitchen: Clear expired food and unused gadgets

Start by removing everything from cabinets and checking expiration dates on spices, canned goods, and condiments. Spices typically lose flavor after 1-2 years, evidently affecting your cooking quality. For your refrigerator, toss leftover cooked meat after six months in the freezer and leftovers kept over five days.

Apart from food, evaluate kitchen tools with these questions:

• Is it chipped, cracked, or peeling? (Especially important for nonstick cookware)
• Do you have multiple versions of the same tool?
• Have you used it in the past year?

Single-purpose gadgets like avocado slicers often take valuable drawer space that multi-purpose tools could better serve.

Bathroom: Toss old products and organize essentials

Most cosmetics expire within 6-18 months after opening. Correspondingly, medications should ideally not be stored in bathrooms as humidity reduces effectiveness. First thing to remember: if a product’s texture, color, or scent seems “off,” it’s time to discard it.

Check through hair accessories, skin care products, nail products, and beauty appliances. Generally, only keep items you regularly use and relocate everything else.

Closet: Use the 90/90 rule to reduce clothing

The 90/90 rule asks two simple questions: Have you worn it in the past 90 days? Will you wear it in the next 90 days? If both answers are “no” (except for seasonal clothing), it’s time to let go.

This black-and-white approach eliminates emotional attachments to unworn clothes. In fact, applying this rule can significantly reduce closet clutter in just an hour.

Living Room: Remove decor and items you don’t use

Living rooms accumulate visual clutter through excess throw pillows, broken decor items, and unused electronics. Primarily focus on:

• Furniture you no longer like or that doesn’t fit your space
• Excess or tattered throw pillows and blankets
• Electronics with frayed cords
• Games or puzzles with missing pieces
• Decorative items that don’t spark joy

Bedroom: Clear surfaces and under-bed storage

Nightstands and dressers easily collect clutter. Aim to keep surfaces clear by storing only essentials like a current book and lamp. Under-bed areas should either remain empty (preferable for easier cleaning) or contain only intentional storage like seasonal clothing.

Bonus: Don’t forget entryways and junk drawers

Junk drawers collect everything from takeout menus to random cables. Empty everything, sort by category, and return only what you actually need. To maintain order, consider the one-in-one-out rule: for every new item that enters the drawer, remove something else.

What to Do With the Clutter You Remove

Once your decluttering efforts begin gathering momentum, you’ll quickly accumulate piles of items needing new homes. Finding the right destination for your unwanted possessions completes the decluttering cycle and prevents future regrets.

Donate to local charities

Giving items to charities extends their useful life while supporting worthwhile causes. Before dropping off donations, ensure items are clean and in good condition. This increases the likelihood they’ll benefit someone else rather than becoming another organization’s trash problem.

Look beyond general thrift stores for specialized donation options:

• Professional clothing to organizations helping job seekers
• Gently used toys to foster care programs or children’s shelters
• Books to libraries or literacy programs

Many charities offer free pickup services for furniture and larger items, saving you transportation hassles.

Sell items online or locally

If you’re not overwhelmed by the decluttering process, selling items can provide extra motivation and financial rewards. Facebook Marketplace typically yields better results than garage sales for specific items, primarily because buyers can search for exactly what they need.

Items that sell well include:

• Brand-name furniture and appliances
• Children’s items (especially in lots by size)
• Electronics in working condition

For success, take clear photos, write detailed descriptions, and respond promptly to inquiries. Price items slightly higher than your target amount to allow room for negotiation.

Recycle or dispose responsibly

Many items that don’t qualify for donation can still avoid landfills through proper recycling. Electronics contain harmful chemicals and should never go in regular trash—instead, take them to electronics recycling centers or retailers with take-back programs.

Textiles too worn for donation can often be recycled at specialized collection points. Even items like old paint and batteries have proper disposal methods through community hazardous waste collection events.

Remember that although letting go might feel wasteful, holding onto unused items creates another kind of waste—the valuable space in your home and the mental energy required to maintain it.

Conclusion

Decluttering your apartment certainly transforms more than just your physical space. Throughout this guide, we’ve explored how systematic approaches can make the process manageable rather than overwhelming. The right mindset, paired with room-specific strategies, creates lasting results without the burnout.

Remember, successful decluttering starts with visualization and strong personal motivation. Your apartment reflects your lifestyle choices, and every item removed creates space for what truly matters. The “empty, sort, place” method, along with the 90/90 rule for clothing, offers practical frameworks to make decisions easier during your decluttering journey.

Most importantly, our downloadable PDF checklist provides you with a comprehensive roadmap for tackling each room efficiently. This resource breaks down exactly what to consider in your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living spaces, consequently saving you time and preventing decision fatigue.

After decluttering, your home will demand less cleaning and maintenance. Additionally, you’ll experience reduced anxiety and increased mental clarity – benefits that extend far beyond esthetics. The peace that comes from entering a tidy, purposeful space cannot be underestimated.

Decluttering doesn’t happen overnight. Therefore, patience with yourself during this process remains essential. Small, consistent actions eventually lead to significant transformations. Download our PDF checklist today and take the first step toward creating the serene, functional apartment you’ve been visualizing.

Start small, celebrate progress, and watch as your apartment gradually becomes the peaceful haven you deserve. When it’s time to make a bigger change, consider our apartment movers in Calgary to help transition seamlessly to your new, clutter-free space.