The Intentional Home | Ep. 6 — How to Remove Clutter from Your Home (Before You Add Anything New)

Over the weekend, I ended up with four boxes of kids clothes sitting in my office, along with a small gym mat my daughter has outgrown. I carried everything in with the intention of going through it right away, but instead, it’s just been sitting there.

Every time I walk past it, I notice it. Not in an overwhelming way, but in that quiet, lingering way where you know it’s waiting for you to deal with it.

These are pieces they’ve outgrown, things we held onto a little longer than we needed to, and items that once felt worth keeping. At first glance, it looks like clutter. But the more I’ve sat with it, the more I’ve realized this is actually part of what building an intentional home looks like.

This is what how to remove clutter from your home actually looks like in real life.

How to Remove Clutter from Your Home (A Simple Starting Point)

• Start with what no longer fits your current life

• Remove before adding anything new

• Create a place (like a box) for decisions as you go

• Focus on one small area at a time

• Let the process be slow and intentional

When a Home Feels “Off”

For a long time, whenever something in our home felt off, my instinct was to add something. A new basket, a different piece of decor, a small update that made the space feel better for a moment.

And sometimes it worked — temporarily.

But the feeling never lasted.

Because most of the time, the issue wasn’t what was missing. It was what no longer belonged, still taking up space and quietly competing with everything else around it.

What These Boxes Represent

These boxes — and even something as simple as that gym mat — aren’t just about items we no longer use. They represent seasons that have passed and stages of life that don’t quite fit the way our home functions today.

That’s what makes it harder to let things go.

It’s not about the item itself. It’s about what it represents. The routines, the ages, the versions of our life that felt full at the time.

And even when you know you don’t need it anymore, there’s still a pause before you’re ready to let it go.

Editing Before Adding

One of the biggest shifts in how I approach our home now is starting with removal instead of addition. Not in a rushed or reactive way, but in a more intentional process of asking what still fits how we live today.

Does this support the way we use this space now?

Does it align with what I want this home to feel like moving forward?

Those questions have changed how I make decisions.

Because an intentional home isn’t built by filling space. It’s built by creating clarity — and that clarity usually starts by taking something away.

A Simple Way to Start

One thing that’s helped me move through this process more easily is having a place to put things as I go.

I’ve started keeping a few of these small moving boxes from Lowe’s on hand and using them to sort items for donation as I come across them. It’s simple, but it creates a clear next step instead of letting things sit in a pile.

I’ve linked the exact boxes I’ve been using from Lowe’s here — they’ve made this process feel much more manageable and easy to come back to.

It also makes it easier to come back to later. The decision has already been made — it just needs to be followed through.

Letting Go as Part of the Process

I haven’t finished going through the boxes yet. They’re still there, and I’m working through them slowly.

But even beginning the process has already changed how the room feels. There’s less visual noise, and more awareness around what actually belongs in this space.

It’s a reminder that creating a home isn’t just about what you bring in. It’s about being willing to recognize when something has served its purpose — and allowing it to move on.

How to Remove Clutter from Your Home

If your home feels off, start here. Before buying anything new, take a look at what you’re holding onto.

What no longer fits. What you’ve outgrown. What you’re keeping out of habit rather than intention.

You don’t need to do everything at once. But even one small decision — a drawer, a shelf, or a single box — can begin to shift how your home feels.

Even something as simple as a few boxes can change the way a home feels.

Home updates don’t always come from adding something new. More often, they come from knowing what to remove first.

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If you’ve been following along with this series,

you can explore the rest of The Intentional Home  posts,

where I’m documenting how small,

intentional decisions shape the way a home feels day to day.

Back to The Intentional Home

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