Decluttering knick-knacks can be a humongous task given that the objects in question are too many and aren’t just confined to a particular corner of a house. They are everywhere – in the kitchen, living room, bathroom, on top of the dresser, in the cupboard and wherever else you can think of.
If you’re wondering what knick-knacks are, think of them as small household objects that make our lives a lot easier. But when you have too many of them, they can be a huge source of clutter. Items like key holder, cosmetic bag, espresso maker, fairy lights, vases, paintings, alarm clock, table lamp, scissors, paper clips are all knick-knacks. Although they are small and can seem too insignificant to declutter, they can actually multiply over time and can make your home look like a mess.
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Knick-knacks, though small, take up a lot of space and are hard to clean. They are easily the most forgettable items of your house because you keep bringing in new ones on a regular basis. Remember how you forget your old handset once you get a new one?
But sorting through your knick-knacks can be a very easy task once you are able to decide what stays and what goes. Here’s a simple guide for you to declutter those knick-knacks without driving yourself crazy:
1. Identify Their Location
Knick-knacks are scattered all over the house. The porcelain dinner plates in your kitchen and the barbie dolls in your kids’ room and the little fruit magnets on your refrigerator door are all knick-knacks. Given how large they are in number, you can’t hope to declutter your knick-knacks without identifying where they are and what they are. So make sure that before your start decluttering these knick-knacks, you have all their locations written down on a piece of paper. This list can include the following and more:
- The pots in your garden.
- The plastic animal friends of yours sitting on top of the dresser.
- The tiny ring boxes and necklace boxes lying in your vanity.
- The many keychains lying in the junk drawer of your living room.
- The toolbox lying in your kitchen drawer.
The list is endless but the task is very much doable if you can just be a little quick in identifying where all the knick-knacks are. Don’t ignore the underbed area because it usually has a lot of knick-knacks hiding in there.
2. Do One Area At a Time
Now that you have all the locations of knick-knacks written down, it’s time to start tackling with the clutter. Make sure that you don’t follow the method of gathering it all in one place before sorting through it. Decluttering knick-knacks can take time and it’s best if you start small – maybe with the jewellery boxes or the pots in your garden.
For instance, if you have decided to start with your kitchen, you can choose to declutter the antique serve-ware first. Once you’re done decluttering the antiques, move over to the refrigerator door to deal with the fruit magnets and notes stuck on it. You can then move over to kitchen plants and get rid of the ones that you don’t want.
3. Choose Items That Make You Happy
It’s difficult to sort through the knick-knacks individually because they are too many and it would probably take you an entire year to declutter them with that method.
The best way to sift through your knick-knacks is to first pick all the pieces that make you happy. Say, for example, you’re decluttering the pots in your garden and wish to cut them to just half a dozen. Choose the six plants that make you happy and that you love taking care of. Keep them aside before dealing with the ones that are left.
Do this for all the knick-knacks scattered around your house to make sure that you don’t get rid of any item that you love.
4. Sort Through What’s Left
Now that you’ve kept aside the items you love, sort through the ones that are left. For example, out of the remaining plants in the above step, there might be some that must have dried up or couldn’t grow due to unsuitable weather conditions. Trash these plants away. Now see what you can do with the remaining ones. You can choose to keep the plants that are used as ingredients in cooking – maybe mint or basil or such – and the ones that make your home smell good. Get rid of the ones that aren’t worth holding on to. You can give them to a nearby nursery or ask a friend or family if they need those plants.
5. Discard The Remaining Items
Knick-knacks that don’t make you happy or aren’t adding value to your home can be donated or given away to a charity. Things like kids’ stuffed toys, old stationery items, rusted keychains, excess serve-ware or old tools are usually gladly accepted by donation centres.
You can also organize a garage sale to sell the items for some cash. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of organizing a garage sale, take the items to a thrift store to sell them. You can also spread the message in your family whatsapp/facebook groups that you have excess knick-knacks in your home and won’t mind if someone would like to buy them for half the price. You’ll realize there are many who can actually find these items useful.
Now that you know the exact ways to declutter those knick-knacks, it’s time to get going. Apart from getting rid of unwanted knick-knacks, it’s also important to create a system in your house to prevent new items from coming in. Sit your kids down and ask them to be a little mindful about their future purchases.
Sifting through the knick-knacks can be a daunting task because they are scattered around in every part of the house. But once they are tackled with, you’ll come to realize how it can actually make a huge difference to your house.