Decluttering guidance has become a steady part of the home and lifestyle industry as households look for practical ways to cut back on overflow in kitchens, closets and junk drawers. Recent advice from professional organizers has narrowed that focus to a simple list of everyday items that tend to create clutter without providing much value.
Professional organizers are zeroing in on 10 common clutter categories
A recent Washington Post roundup published June 27, 2025, framed “21 things you can declutter with zero emotional energy,” reflecting a broader organizing trend toward low-risk, easy-first categories rather than deeply sentimental belongings. Good Housekeeping also published a recent list of items organizers say people do not need duplicates of, drawing on guidance from professional organizers including Sara Bereika and Jennifer Moore, while Forbes Home and Livingetc have published similar expert-backed advice centered on common household excess.
Across those reports, the overlap is consistent enough to identify 10 everyday items that professional organizers repeatedly say people can often let go of without regret: unmatched food-storage containers, duplicate water bottles or travel mugs, expired spices and pantry goods, old takeout menus and sauce packets, dried-out pens and junk-drawer scraps, unused charging cables, outdated electronics, old manuals for products now searchable online, worn towels or linens beyond practical use, and expired toiletries or beauty products. The specific wording differs by outlet, but the categories recur in current organizing coverage and expert interviews.
The advice is not framed as a rule that every household must follow. Organizers generally separate these categories from emergency supplies, frequently used backups and items with a clear functional purpose. In Good Housekeeping’s recent reporting, organizers said duplicates become a problem when people buy more because they cannot find what they already own. In other words, the clutter is often not a sign of preparedness; it is a sign that storage systems have stopped working.
That distinction matters because professional organizers increasingly present decluttering as a workflow issue instead of a moral one. The low-regret categories tend to share three traits: they are inexpensive to replace, easy to identify as expired or obsolete, and unlikely to carry major sentimental value. That is why these 10 items appear again and again in current expert advice, even when the lists are published by different outlets and built from different interviews.
What that means inside the home, room by room
In kitchens, the clearest targets are often plastic containers with missing lids, warped leftovers bins, duplicate bottles and expired food items. Organizing experts cited by the Washington Post and Good Housekeeping said container collections tend to grow faster than households actually use them, especially when takeout packaging gets mixed in with reusable storage. Expired spices and pantry staples are another recurring category because they occupy prime cabinet space while offering little practical value if they are no longer fresh or safe to use.
Junk drawers create a similar pattern. Good Housekeeping’s recent reporting on what to throw out from junk drawers highlighted duplicate paper menus, dried pens, old receipts and loose odds and ends that no longer serve a purpose. Those categories are especially common because they arrive one piece at a time, making them harder to notice until a drawer stops functioning. Professional organizers generally recommend clearing them by category, not by debating each individual object.
In bathrooms and linen closets, expired toiletries, half-used personal-care products and worn-out towels are among the easiest decisions. Organizing experts cited by Livingetc and Forbes Home have pointed to old skincare, makeup and other products that are past their usable life, along with linens that are stained, threadbare or no longer part of a workable set. The same logic applies to old manuals stored in filing drawers or baskets long after the corresponding appliance has been replaced.
Home offices, bedside tables and utility zones are where cords and obsolete electronics accumulate. Good Housekeeping recently quoted organizer Jennifer Moore on the way chargers and cables can turn into “a massive tangled web” if they are not reviewed regularly. Professional organizers usually stop short of telling readers to discard every spare cable immediately, but they consistently draw a line around unidentified chargers, devices that no longer work, and backup accessories for products the household no longer owns. The practical test is whether the item matches something current, usable and necessary.
Why organizers say these items are the easiest to release
The core reason these 10 categories show up in so many recent organizing reports is that they create decision fatigue while offering limited return. Consumer Reports has noted that clutter can affect both physical space and emotional well-being, and organizers interviewed there described the relief that can come from starting with simpler categories. That same logic appears in current decluttering coverage: when people begin with broken, expired, duplicate or obsolete items, they gain visible progress without confronting the hardest sentimental decisions first.
Professional organizers also tie these items to shopping habits and information gaps. Good Housekeeping reported that people often buy duplicates because they do not know what they already own or cannot find it when they need it. That helps explain why water bottles, travel mugs, food containers and spare cords become repeat offenders. The problem is not just volume; it is loss of visibility. Once an item is buried, households are more likely to replace it, which adds another layer of clutter.
Another factor is that many of these objects have changed in value because of technology and retail access. Printed manuals are less necessary when manufacturers commonly post digital instructions. Old takeout menus matter less when restaurants update listings online. Unidentified charging cables are easier to release when device standards have shifted and the original hardware is gone. Professional organizers often describe these categories as “replaceable,” which reduces the risk of lasting regret if something is discarded.
For residents trying to make sense of conflicting decluttering advice, the practical takeaway from current expert coverage is relatively narrow and evidence-based. Organizers are not broadly telling people to strip their homes down to the minimum. They are identifying a repeat list of low-stakes items that tend to crowd out useful storage: expired, broken, duplicate, obsolete or unmatched belongings. In current organizing guidance, those are still the easiest places to start, and the least likely to be missed once they are gone.