You might be asking yourself, which room should I declutter first? Can you give me a declutter room by room checklist, yes I can!

I'll give you two key ways to do declutter. Both ways might tap into your inner wisdom and could explain what to do and look out for in each area of your home.

The systematic Declutter room by room checklist
The secret to Organising a more creative way to declutter your home room by room

The systematic Declutter room by room checklist

Declutter the Hallway or entranceway

In this area, look at old shoes, out-of-season clothing, junk mail, and other UFOs (unidentified floating objects). If you don't have shelving in this area, it might be a good idea to think about a storage box or setting up some shelving. In most households, the hallway is a hub of activity. Simple cube boxes are easy to install. It costs very little and can do wonders in the hallway.

I like to keep my keys in the storage area as you walk into the house.

The storage area at the beginning of your home is in organisation speak called a launchpad (launching yourself out of the house into the world with keys, phone, wallet, bags etc.)

Depending on your home if you can have a space for your shoes in the hallway, this is very practical especially if you have enough space to keep it neat. If you don't have this space, opting to place shoes in the garage or your wardrobe is another option.

Declutter Room - the Kitchen

This is a massive topic to which I will dedicate a couple of pages of information. In short: have you got crockery you don't like or don't use? Toss it! Only keep things you like. What about kitchen gadgets? Only keep kitchen appliances you like to use and that are in good working condition.

Start decluttering the living room and Bedrooms

Declutter room - Living room

This is often one of the tidier areas, but do look around. Is it stuffed with books you'll never read? DVDs you've already watched? Newspapers, kids' toys, or magazines long out of date? Pass it on, and see if you can brighten the room with pillows, flowers, or candles. But limit knickknacks, and don’t go out to buy these things, as they are very likely prone to become clutter.

What if the living room is a mess?

There is likely a problem finding "homes" for particular items (these items are, in organised speak, "homeless"), and therefore, if you drop them in the living room, that is where they will stay. Another reason for a messy living room is that there are issues in other areas of the house or with the systems you have in place.
A prime example is, if you have many clothes in the living room, think about working on your wardrobe first, then your washing, drying and folding routine. If you do this, it automatically fixes up areas in a living room and bedroom as you are attacking the cause of the problem, not the resulting problems of not having a good system to put clothes away.

Declutter Room - The Bathroom

Look at all the lotions and potions that aren't used; toss them, gift them, or use them for cleaning. For example, shampoo is good for freshening up the toilet occasionally. If I can take more of a minimalist slant, ask if you need ten lipsticks, five body lotions, three backup face creams, and fifteen shades of nail polish. I would be leaning toward “no,” meaning you can let a lot of these duplicates go.
Lightening the load of items will reduce stress, save you money in the future, and make you feel better about yourself and your surroundings.
As a bonus, it will mean easier and faster bathroom cleaning. In terms of your declutter room by room checklist the bathroom is fairly simple and should be at the top of the list.

**What better way to get inspired**

To Declutter room by room by getting the book: “Organising Room by Room”.

Get the Book

Declutter the office and garage

The office, is a massive job to declutter for now just look at the floor, big items or similar items that can either go or be grouped together. We will dive into decluttering and organising paperwork when we feel brave (sometime in the future).

Declutter room - The garage

Decluttering the Garden / your balcony

I had to think about this one can you declutter a garden and where do you start decluttering a garden if you opted to work on this space?

Like the suggestions above look at the biggest issue in the garden.

This could be that you need to:

Remove all broken bits and pieces of stuff in the garden for example old wood, pots, and plastic items that are not visually appealing.

If certain items from your home have ended up in your garden or on your balcony, ask yourself; how important are they? For example, people end up with Gym equipment, indoor tables or chairs on their balconies or in their gardens. This is probably a sign the item is almost literally walking out of the door and essentially decluttering itself.

Decluttering the garden is a big job, but items tend to be large, so any progress is quickly noticed.

You might not need a declutter room by room checklist because you know how to declutter your space.

I believe that deep down, you know what the best room to declutter first is. Having said that if you want to work your way through the house systematically.

If you want to try something more intuitive as you flow through your home you can also try the map method as your declutter room by room checklist, I show this in the secret to organising.

2. Use the Secret of Organising as a declutter room by room checklist

In the secret to organising I walk you through an activity so you can list the areas of your house in a traffic light system (red = bad, orange = so so and green = okay). I strongly recommend you start with utilising this tool as a “declutter room by room checklist” and pick areas that are either green or orange. You want to build your confidence up when you start decluttering. The benefit of an activity like decluttering is that your efforts one day will be a constant reminder of your progress. And you are starting to become successful in getting rid of clutter.

Your secret to organising sheet can help you create a map to go through your home in a specific way; it will help you declutter room by room and later organise room by room. It can be helpful to make a bird’s eye view drawing of your house and decide which order suits you best to declutter using the Declutter room by room checklist.

You have the Declutter room by room checklist, where to from here?

There are many areas you can declutter. If you haven't done so yet - get the free secret to organising and decluttering. It will give you an email course, a worksheet, and a number of videos helping you understand some key organising principles on how to get started with how to declutter and organise your life. You will answer the question where do I start decluttering? For yourself, based on your needs and situation.

Explore the other declutter and organising pages (note that reading won't yield as many results as getting up and starting to declutter).