10 Essential Areas to Declutter that Will Save You More Time

Inside: Tackle these essential areas to declutter that will save you time to have a more organized and peaceful home that functions more efficiently.

Most homes have areas that collect clutter from time to time. Unfortunately, this clutter can not only cause stress, but also take more of your time.

Whether you’re trying to get ready in the morning and get out the door or are working to get dinner on the table, the last thing you want is to have clutter get in your way.

Clutter in these areas cause stress and frustration and takes up your precious time which can make you late to school, work, or an appointment.

Identifying these areas and making a plan of action to get them decluttered will help you to make the most of your space and save you more time.

These essential areas to declutter that will save you more time will make your home more organized, easier to manage, and less stressful.

10 Essential Areas to Declutter that Will Save You Time

While decluttering takes some time to do, the effort you put in pays off by saying you time, energy, and stress later. Here are a couple of ways that decluttering will save you time after it’s done.

First is by making cleaning easier. Getting rid of clutter can eliminate 40% of household chores in the home. Less stuff sitting out makes cleaning much faster.

Another way it saves you time is by helping you spend less time looking for misplaced items. Research has shown that the average American spends 2.5 days each year searching for missing items. When you have fewer things, it is easier to locate what you own (and helps prevent you from buying unnecessary duplicates).

Here are ten areas to declutter that will save you time and help you to have less stress and a more organized space.

1. Pantry

Decluttering your pantry every few months allows you to find items that are about to expire and put them into your menu right away so no food goes to waste.

This also lets you catch any pantry pests that may have worked their way into part of your pantry to prevent them from spreading to the rest of the food.

Take the time to declutter your pantry and pull items toward the front that need to be used quickly.

After you remove products that have gone bad or that you know you’ll never use, take a few minutes to get the space organized.

When you’re able to easily access the necessary ingredients and notice anything you may need to restock it helps you to cook more efficiently saving you both time and money. No more running to the grocery store last minute to pick up items you thought you had on hand.

2. Kitchen

Your pantry is not the only part of the kitchen that you should consider when you are decluttering your home.

The kitchen tends to end up with a large number of expired foods, old spices that have lost their flavor, and an abundance of extra tools that aren’t truly needed.

Since the kitchen tends to be the hub of the home, it often takes on a lot of items that the family members dump there. This can quickly turn a kitchen into a cluttered mess.

Declutter your kitchen by removing items that are no longer being used. Then spend a little time organizing what you’re keeping.

When you have a clutter-free kitchen it saves you time as you cook and prepare food. It also can encourage you to eat in more often by making it a more pleasant space to work.

3. Linen closet

Linen closets tend to overflow with old blankets, sheets, and towels that no one wants to use anymore.

It’s a good idea to declutter your linen closet every season as you swap out warmer items for cold-weather ones.

Old warm blankets and towels are great for donating to your local animal shelter that tends to go through these items very quickly and they don’t need them to be in prime condition.

Decluttering your linens allows you to better organize the things you do use. Storing sheet sets together will save you from digging around various piles to find the pieces you need.

Keeping only the linens that are in good shape keeps you from changing sheets only to find that there are holes in the top sheet.

4. Entryway

A cluttered entryway can make your whole house feel messy. This is often the first area you will walk through when you get home as well as the initial space guests see when they visit.

This is an essential area to declutter that will save you time and stress. Getting rid of the excess stuff will help you to create a more welcoming area.

Adding some organizational elements to the entry will keep you from wasting time looking for keys or your child from looking endlessly for that missing shoe when you’re trying to get out the door.

Keeping your entryway decluttered and organized will help to simplify your daily routine and make you feel less stressed when you return home.

5. Kids’ bedrooms

Kids’ bedrooms need decluttering often. Not only do kids’ toys seem to multiply in your sleep, kids’ rooms often end up with all kinds of things that do not belong.

From all your missing spoons to old school work your child’s cluttered room can make life difficult. A cluttered space makes it hard to rest and sleep which can lead to behavioral issues.

Get your kids to declutter with you. Start by helping them remove broken toys, old papers, and items that belong in other areas often.

This will even make it easier for your child to learn to be responsible for their things and keep their space clean creating less stress for the whole family.

If you’ve felt the pain of waiting for excessively long periods of time while your child tries to locate a missing assignment, you know that clutter takes up your time.

After their space is cleaned up, they will have an easier time keeping it that way and should be able to locate needed items more quickly.

6. Clothes

Decluttering your old clothes is a great way to give you more space in your closet and dresser. Remove items you never wear, anything that’s in bad shape, and pieces that make you feel bad for any reason.

If you are unsure if something should stay or go, wear it for a day and notice how it makes you feel. Often that provides enough clarity so you know if it is a keeper or time to let it go.

A helpful tip offered by a reader is to rotate what you wear by taking items out from the left in the closet and after it’s clean, put it back in on the right. That helps you to rotate through everything to assess what is a keeper and what needs to get decluttered.

Having an easy access box or basket for donations available in your closet or laundry area will make decluttering even simpler.

After you’ve ruthlessly decluttered your clothing you’ll be able to get ready more quickly and efficiently.

No more sorting through clothes that you don’t wear or that don’t fit. And having less pieces makes it easier to see (and locate) what you own.

7. Bathroom

The bathroom is one of the most important essential areas to declutter that will save you time.

They can become cluttered quite easily with excess products particularly when we buy more when bottles are only half empty. This can leave your shower and bathroom overflowing.

You can declutter the bathroom quickly by getting rid of items you’re not using regularly. To prevent waste cut containers of like items open and combine them into a single container to use them up.

Regularly assessing what you have stored in your bathroom will help it to stay decluttered. Keeping only what you’re using will make those items easier to organize and access.

An organized bathroom makes getting ready in the morning easier and quicker.

8. Storage areas

The basement tends to take on a lot of clutter from around the home. If something doesn’t have a home, odds are it ends up on a shelf in the basement, garage, or attic.

Declutter these areas often to make sure you can find things when you need them. This will also keep your clutter from eventually spreading and taking over other areas in the home.

After removing items you no longer want or need, organize what you’re keeping. Ensure that bins are properly labeled.

Having an organized and decluttered storage area will help save you time. No more wasting time digging through various bins and boxes looking for a specific item.

It can also help you to reclaim extra space that can be repurposed. Then you can park your car in the garage or use that spare room for guests instead of storage.

9. Office

The office is one of the most essential areas to declutter to save you more time. A cluttered office wastes a lot of time and energy that should be spent on more important tasks.

Have you ever spent way too long looking for an important document? A cluttered office adds unnecessary stress.

Paper piles, office supplies, and post it notes with key information add up quickly and create a frustrating work environment. Cluttered paperwork can cost you not only time, but also money with misplaced bills that incur late fees.

Decluttering your home office and streamlining your space will reduce distractions. Then you can spend more time focusing on the work that needs to be completed.

10. Craft room

Decluttering your craft room will help it to become a more organized and enjoyable space to use.

Many people that enjoy crafting tend to buy and keep craft supplies and scraps with no real vision for them. This can turn their space into a cluttered mess.

Go through old supplies and consider donating them to your local elementary school.

Challenge yourself to work on projects regularly so that the items in your crafting space get used.

When you have the time to spend on a hobby that you love, you don’t want to waste it in frustration trying to find the proper supplies.

Which of the essential areas to declutter that will save you time do you plan to tackle first? Share it in the comments.

Taking the time to tackle these essential areas to declutter to save time will not only help your home to run more efficiently but will also make it a more peaceful space for you to enjoy.

Sign up on the form below to get weekly decluttering tips sent straight to your inbox. You’ll also get the free Your Home Decluttered Jumpstart which includes 100 easy items to declutter and 12 high-impact areas to declutter in 10 minutes.