7 things I have ruthlessly decluttered at 40, which have transformed my small home's storage for good

I began working when I was 16 and became particular about the items I bought with my own money. It was a mindset that I realised in my late 30s was making it harder for me to successfully declutter my home.

That’s why now, as I enter my 40th year, I have been able to finally successfully streamline my home and let go of items which were taking up too much space, for far too long, and for all the wrong reasons.

Here are the seven categories of items in my home I’ve now managed to ruthlessly edit down, simply by taking an honest, hard look at who I am at 40, and what's important to me. It's a decluttering tip I wish I'd had on my radar years ago.

What I have ruthlessly decluttered for the better at 40

1. Shoes

Declining health due to a myriad of painful chronic conditions means I am no longer the dancing queen I was in my 20s. In fact, I haven’t worn a pair of high heels since my wedding in 2015.

And yet, until recently, I still had a bunch of towering heels packed away in my closet. I got rid of all but my wedding shoes, which I’m saving for my daughter, and the amount of space it’s cleared in my small closet is thoroughly satisfying.

Meghan Cocchiaro, owner and lead organizer at Organized by Meg, explains, 'It can be hard to let go of items as basic as shoes that represent what seems like a past life. Acknowledging that you no longer participate in an activity you did in your 20s can be a hard pill to swallow when you are faced with a collection of heels taking up space, yet you no longer wear.

'I, too, had a collection of heels from my former “corporate” life in a big city and my party days with friends as a single woman. It was hard to let go of these shoes at first, but once I acknowledged that I love the aspects of my new life and wardrobe, it became much easier to pass them on to someone else in that phase of their life.'

I also reduced the number of shoes I keep in my entryway, storing away occasional shoes and selling or donating the ones I rarely wear. Using smart shoe storage ideas such as the Joseph Joseph tiered shoe stacker from Amazon will help stop the shoes you do keep but don't wear often from being squashed.

Meghan adds, 'I recommend that people reassess all their shoes throughout the home – storing everyday go-tos by the entryway and all others in the closet. The closet should house only shoes that they actually wear each season, except one or two special occasion shoes.'

2. Clothes

For far too long, I had far too many. Now I live by a golden decluttering rule I learned from professional organizers.

If I didn’t wear it last summer, I probably won’t wear it this summer, so I can get rid, guilt-free. I use Vinted all the time to sell clothes and do regular runs to the charity stores local to me.

Pro organizer Meghan does the same, assessing each item and letting it go if she didn't wear it the previous season. She adds, 'It is essential to reassess our wardrobes at least twice a year. I like to do this when cold weather turns to warm, and from warm to cold.'

This is the best time of the year for a seasonal declutter.

Meghan adds, 'I always keep in mind that the more things I don’t wear or feel good in that I let go, the easier it is to get ready daily, always feel good in what I put on and put clean clothes away quickly because I have the mental and physical space to do so.'

If you find getting rid of clothes a hard task, delve into our closet decluttering tips to ease the task. You can also use the Toddler Decluttering method to make a quick, guilt-free decision, or let your memory do the talking with the Didn't Know decluttering method. If you didn't know or remember you had it, say goodbye and let it go.

Meghan recommends that people follow a twice-a-year purging schedule as a minimum, 'avoid fast fashion and keep their closets organized in zones that make sense to them.'

Using under-bed storage bins with wheels, available at Wayfair, makes it easy to store out-of-season clothing whilst still keeping them accessible and easy to find.

3. Makeup

Skincare is more important to me than ever, which is why I now know which brands I love and suit my skin. I have also let go of all the makeup that I’d been buying out of habit from my 20s and early 30s, and ditched methods, brushes, and other relevant items that only served my 20-year-old skin.

Home organizing pro Meghan, says, 'I recommend that people pare down their skincare collection to everyday essentials, see a professional for guidance if needed, only keep a few special occasion choices, and also do an expiration sweep at least once per year.'

Having smart storage for your makeup and vanity station will make it easier. These are the three things that have transformed my space to allow for the perfect morning setup.

4. Towels

One thing I’ve learned about my chronic illnesses is that showering is hard on my body, and I usually feel faint and fatigued afterwards, hence why I like to get dry super quickly with soft towels and lie down to regroup for a while.

That’s why I use space-saving and ultra-quick drying microfiber bath towels from Amazon. I’ve had the same three on rotation for five years, and they show no signs of tiring, tearing, fraying, and are as soft as the day I bought them.

As for other towels in my household, if the usual methods to make my towels soft again don’t work, I donate the towels to a local pet shelter that has a big need for them and snap up a towel bundle during sale periods, such as with a Memorial Day deal or during the Amazon Prime Day sales.

QVC usually has a number of towel bundles on offer, too such as a set of four Egyptian cotton bath towels.

I also keep a sensible towel-to-person ratio in mind for the number of towels we actually need in the house, so I don’t wind up with too many towels to store.

Meghan advises to only keep sets of two towels per person in the household, including for guests. She says, 'This forces me to stay on top of doing the laundry by only having one backup ready to use. I personally change bath towels once per week but if you change your towels more frequently, you will need to stock enough clean ones until laundry day.

'I recommend that people own just enough towels to keep up with their laundry cycles so as not to have to store an excess of this bulky category. Also, watch for signs of aging and replace as necessary. Be sure to have enough hooks in each bathroom to hang dry each towel well and place the hooks lower for children.'

Using a no-drill, over-the-door towel rack from Amazon in my daughter’s bathroom has proven brilliant for saving on storage space while keeping her towels where she needs them. Jumbo beach towel clips, available from Walmart, also allow us to easily dry towels on the banister without them dropping downstairs.

5. Sentimental items

Decluttering sentimental items is one of the hardest things to do, but I realised my photos didn’t make my memories; it was the other way around. I edited down tens of thousands of photos from my phone, and print outs at home, keeping only the ones I wanted to look at again.

I digitised the majority of the ones I wanted to keep, and turned my most favorite ones into canvases for a gallery wall in the kitchen, lounge, office and bedroom, or into coffee table books we could store in one place and pull out to look at when we wanted.

Meghan says, 'Memories and mementos are the hardest category of household items to declutter for most people, including me. Luckily, we live in a digital age now where we do not have to store loads of physical photos.'

I've leaned into a 'lessting' mindset to make this process easier and have matching wall-mountable photo frames, such as this set of 12 from Target to make my gallery wall ideas come to life without adding visual clutter in the living room or bedroom.

'I encourage my clients to display the memories and trinkets that mean the most to them, on surfaces and walls where possible, Meghan explains, 'to avoid storing them away to be forgotten about for years to come. Also, avoid keeping everything your kids make, choose your favorite pieces from each year or phase of their childhood.'

Decluttering my photos means I've managed to get rid of multiple boxes of photos from my attic, bedroom, and living room that never saw the light of day.

6. Furniture

Upgrading your home with your favorite furniture is often expensive. This has, in my case, made me hang onto items that didn’t serve me or my household any longer, just because I’d spent a fair amount on them. This 'sunk cost fallacy' was making my small house and limited outdoor space more cluttered and less functional.

This summer, I've taken the plunge and sold my expensive seven-seater L-shape outdoor sofa and coffee table and replaced it with comfortable zero-gravity sun loungers , and a swinging garden seat, both from Amazon.

This is what actually serves my life now at 40, and also my little family's too. It's also opened up space on our small patio and made it 100x more functional.

Meghan says, 'It can be hard to let go of furniture that is no longer serving us because it is large and expensive. Once you accept that the cost is sunk, acknowledge what purpose that furniture served, and if it didn’t, ask what lesson did you learn from making such an expenditure or holding onto it for so long?'

She advises to then accept that it’s time to let it go because it doesn’t fit your space, it’s not comfortable, your family doesn’t use it or it has seen better days.

Figuring out how long you'd keep an item of furniture to get your money's worth is a good metric to apply when shopping.

Meghan adds, 'Acknowledge that your taste or home may change, or it may wear out sooner than you'd like, based on your lifestyle. Give children’s furniture a second thought before purchasing, especially if it's a high-end set that won’t convert with them as they grow.'

Try to sell items that are in good condition and donate the ones that someone may still be able to refurbish and replace with pieces that better fit your current home, life, and budget.

7. Hobby items

I have been through phases where I have taken up crafty hobbies. It can be tempting to keep hold of all the related items and tools after my interest has waned, but selling or donating them has stopped me from filling the attic with boxes of dead hobbies from the past. It's also made me stop and think carefully instead of buying into a new hobby.

Meghan says, 'Holding onto hobby items you no longer use is now costing you more in terms of physical and mental space. They serve as reminders for activities you no longer participate in, and that has to be OK unless you truly want to return to them.

'If not, accept that those items served a purpose or need for you at one point of your life, and donate or sell them to others who could use them now. This will free up space in your home and life for new hobbies you may want to try.'

If you’re struggling to declutter, delve into our decluttering methods library, where we have more than 50 tried and tested methods, organized by the decluttering block or the amount of time you have.