Declutter Archives

An open kitchen drawer overflowing with mismatched plastic food containers, with loose lids spilled onto the floor below

Margarine Tubs, Cool Whip Bowls and the Lid Drawer: How I Decluttered My Food Storage Containers

Do you have a drawer in your kitchen that you open very slowly, because you know what will happen? I do. Or I did, until a few weeks ago. It’s …

Three women of different ages sharing coffee and conversation around a small kitchen table.

Decluttering Tips From Women Over 70 Who’ve Actually Done It

Have you ever noticed that the best advice usually comes from someone a few steps ahead of you? Not from a book. Not from an expert on TV. From a …

Two women in their 60s sharing coffee at a kitchen table, with a china cabinet of pretty dishes behind them.

Decluttering When There Are No Children to Leave Things To

After church last spring, a friend and I sat in the fellowship hall with our coffee. We were talking about my blog, and about the posts I write on decluttering. …

A slightly crooked Christmas tree hung with old glass ornaments, red bells, a felt Santa, and children's handmade ornaments, with an open box of white tissue on the rug.

Three Generations of Ornaments on One Tree: How I Keep Them Safe and Keep Using Them

Does your family have a box of Christmas ornaments that has been around longer than you have? Maybe it was your grandmother’s, then your mother’s, and now it sits on …

Old wooden jewelry box open on a kitchen table with tangled necklaces, clip-on earrings, a gold brooch, and reading glasses on a towel.

My Mother’s Costume Jewelry: What I Wear, What I Gave Away, and What Went to a New Home

My mother’s jewelry box sat on the top shelf of my closet for almost three years (longer than I’d like to admit). I brought it home the month we emptied …

A woman in her 60s smiling softly at an overstuffed hall closet, holding an old lamp from her first apartment

How to Declutter a House You’ve Lived in for 40 Years (When You’re Not Moving Anywhere)

A few weeks ago, I opened our hall closet to find an umbrella. I didn’t find the umbrella. But I found just about everything else. There were the kids’ old …

A 12-Week Fall and Winter Decluttering Plan for Women Over 70

The first cool morning of fall always catches me by surprise. This week, I pulled on my old gray sweater, poured my coffee, and looked around the kitchen. And I …

A woman in her 60s rolling a small cart of half-full donation bags toward her front door without lifting them

How to Get Clutter Out of the House When You Can’t Carry Heavy Bags

Last spring, I had a very good decluttering week. I cleared out the hall closet. I sorted two kitchen cabinets. I went through a whole dresser full of clothes. By …

A woman in her 80s sitting at her kitchen table calmly sorting one small drawer with a cup of coffee beside her

Decluttering for Women Over 80: A Gentler Way to Lighten Your Home

When my mother was 84, I stopped by her house one afternoon with a bag of groceries. I called out hello. No answer. I found her in the hallway, standing …

An older woman in a robe holding a mug of coffee at a nearly bare kitchen counter, calm and content

Decluttering in My 60s Changed What Luxury Means to Me

Last Tuesday, I was standing in my kitchen with my morning coffee. (My husband makes it for me every day, bless him.) I wiped down the counter. It took about …