20 things to declutter right now to start the year lighter

January is a great time of year to pick off decluttering projects, big and small. The new year, new you vibe can transform a task you’ve been putting off into one you cannot wait to cross off your to-do list. And for many people, that overcrowded, overstuffed feeling the home can take on during the holidays thanks to all those decorations, presents and food platters, gives way to a burst of get rid of it all! energy in the first month of a new year.

Parting with your things, however, can be hard even when you’re excited at the prospect of a fresh start. Picking some easy(ish) decluttering projects is a great way to build momentum. Ahead, you’ll find 20 pretty easy things to consider removing from your home, your car or your life in January, in service of a less-cluttered 2026.

Holiday decorations

Start with the most obvious: As you take down holiday decor, weed out and throw away broken light sets and ornaments. (Will you need replacements? Order them now when you’re thinking of it, and they’re on sale.) Include holiday cards in the purge; keep the ones you want and throw away the rest.

Unwanted gifts

This one pushes the boundaries of “easy” — it can be hard to get rid of a gift that someone put thought and effort into. But if you got a gift you will truly never use, get rid of it. Return it, regift it, donate it, whatever the right move is, make it now — it won’t be easier in July.

Holiday food

It’s time to break up with that tin of peppermint bark, the container of homemade cranberry sauce or the turkey carcass that hasn’t and will never be turned into stock. Use it up now or throw it out.

Ingredients from 2025 that are languishing

If you bought an ingredient for a dish you made once and will never make again, or that you simply ended up not liking, this is the time to remove it from your life.

That one serving platter that exists to cause you trouble

Not everyone will have one of these, but those of you who do know the exact platter in question: It’s too heavy, too wide or too weirdly shaped, and it never quite works for anything other than getting in your way. Make 2025 the last year you deal with this diva! Donate or sell it if you can, and if it’s an heirloom or similarly significant, pass it along to a family member you hate and make it their problem.

Reusable bags

These things proliferate in the night, and we all have too many of them. If you’ve still got a stack of Trader Joe’s bags with receipts from 2024 in them, a stash of plastic bags spilling out of other plastic bags or shopping bags from stores you haven’t shopped at in years, it’s a sign that you do not actually reuse those reusable bags you keep hanging on to.

Automotive detritus

Does your car need to be cleaned out? Grab a trash bag and spend five minutes purging — it will have an almost-immediate positive effect on your life.

Broken, duplicate or unused cooking utensils and small appliances

This one is especially well-suited to people who plan to make changes to their diets or undertake new cooking or baking endeavors in the new year. Donating or selling utensils and small appliances in January is ideal because for every person who vowed to eat less ice cream in the new year, there’s also a person who is making 2026 their year of ice cream artistry.

Anything you don’t like the smell of

Whether it’s a candle, a body wash, a countertop spray or a perfume, the experience of feeling stuck with a scented item that you hate the smell of is so relatable. Free yourself from those stinking shackles! Admit it was a mistake, and cast it off.

Promotional items and/or freebies you got in 2025

Water bottles, koozies, T-shirts, key chains, notepads — promotional items take many forms, and they’re free, which makes it easy to say, “Eh, it was free. Might as well keep it.” But if you didn’t pay for it and you don’t use it, you owe it nothing and it owes nothing to you. Toss, recycle or donate.

Cleaning products you don’t use

A small collection of cleaning agents are all you need to keep a clean home. Stocking a huge array of cleaning products is counterproductive — they’ll get in your way and make it harder for you to keep your home clean! Unwanted cleaning products, including ones that have been opened, are also super donate-able.

Old slippers

Alas, old slippers are not super donate-able, which can make them oddly hard to part with. But when you replace old slippers with new ones, it is time to say goodbye to your old friends. Beware of the role reassignment trap, here: Are those house slippers you bought in 2019 really going to serve as your new outdoor shoe?

Old dog leashes and collars

Leashes and collars are to our dogs as slippers are to us, which is funny to think about! Hopefully, bringing a bit of humor to the purge party will make it easier to admit that those old leashes and collars will not be used again.

Broken luggage

If you returned from holiday travels with broken luggage, repair it or toss it. Deal with it now; it won't become less broken in the future.

Hair accessories, products or tools from two hair styles ago

Maybe it’s a bottle of purple conditioner from your short-lived platinum blond era or the round brush you bought when you decided to cut bangs or those clips you bought when you admitted the bangs were a mistake and set about growing them out. If it’s intended for a hairstyle you no longer have, it’s clutter that’s taking up valuable bathroom storage space.

Too many hangers

A common reason people struggle to keep their clothes put away is that their closets are simply too jammed up to be functional. Free up some space by paring down your spare hanger collection

Rags, used sponges and old toothbrushes

All the stuff you reassigned as cleaning tools — if you’re not actually using them, then you’re just storing old, gross trash with your cleaning supplies.

Clothes you didn’t mend in 2025

This can feel like a bummer, because it requires admitting that you meant to do something, and didn’t, and that you’re unlikely to do it in the future. Use January’s “fresh start” energy to make a clean break from those unmended clothes, instead of clinging to a past you’ve grown out of.

Broken electronics you didn’t fix in 2025

Ditto broken electronics.

Empty boxes

Empty boxes — shipping boxes, product boxes, even unused storage containers — take up space and get in the way. Remove them from your orbit! Put the broken electronics and unmended clothes and gross old toothbrushes in them and get rid of all of it!