5 Simple Things People Regret Decluttering From Their Homes Years Later

You’ve finally worked up the courage to go through your home and declutter it properly.

Whilst you are high on motivation, you might end up making several mistakes that you will regret years down the line.

You should be very careful when deciding to throw things out – you might regret it later and then there is no turning back. Before you push yourself too far, lean on some 20/20 hindsight vision and anticipate what you might miss during the decluttering process.

Here are some mistakes you will want to avoid:

No.1 – Personal paperwork

Face it, we all have that table, desk, counter, or drawer where all the paperwork is shoved in.

In an ideal world, we would have all our documentation chronologically filed but hey, it’s an imperfect world, so no one is judging you.

When you approach your paperwork in decluttering-mode, be careful of throwing out important documentation.

You might see an old calendar that you want to throw out, but underneath it, you may have written something more important. You wouldn’t want that going in the trash by accident. Rather go through the paperwork before you just chuck everything away.

No.2 – Photos where you look less than perfect

Ah, a photo. A beautiful memory caught in time.

Unfortunately, the memory is better than the face that you were pulling when the photo was taken.

It is easy for us to get rid of photos where we look less than appealing, but consider for one moment the other people in the snapshot.

These might be friends or family and you might regret throwing it away once they decide to move away or when they pass away. Many people regret this decision later in life.

When decluttering your photos display the ones that look great and store the ones you don’t like.

No.3 – Items you don’t appreciate just yet

This is especially important to young people who are prone to get rid of anything that does not spark joy.

Some things require a mature eye and you might regret throwing something out that you don’t like at that moment in time.

High school yearbooks, heirlooms and antique furniture should definitely be kept until you have gained insight on how to appreciate them.

If your family won’t store it for you, you can hire a storage locker and keep it there until you are ready to display it.

No.4 – Iconic clothing

Clothing can become a tender aspect when it comes to decluttering and many people struggle to successfully declutter their closets.

Usually, we have a pair of pants or a skirt that we’ll fit into ‘once we lose x-amount of kilograms’ but until then it is only taking up unnecessary space.

The golden rule here is: if it doesn’t fit you, it doesn’t fit the closet. You should, however, be careful of throwing iconic clothing out.

Even though that 80s leather jacket doesn’t fit you anymore, it is much more than just a jacket. It is a symbol of a certain time in your life and deserves its spot.

No.5 – Real jewellery along with fake

Costume jewellery is definitely something that is very easy to hoard so throwing it out can be a good idea.

However, you should take a careful look at the real jewellery hidden in between it. You might throw these out in a rush to declutter only to realize that they were valuable.

Sift through your jewellery box and separate the real and the fake jewellery. You don’t have to go full minimalism on this – throw out what you don’t wear regularly.

During the decluttering rush, you might make some unwanted mistakes. Follow these steps to avoid disappointment.