How to declutter your home, room by room

Why decluttering stalls

Most people start with the hardest room, get stuck on a box of photos, and stop. The fix is to start small, pick easy wins, and get the outgoing pile out of the house quickly. A sorted pile that sits in the garage for three months is just clutter in a new spot.

Set simple rules before you start

• Broken and unused: if it is broken and you have not fixed it in a year, it goes.
• Duplicates: keep the best one or two of anything you own several of.
• Someday items: if it is for a hobby you have not touched in years, let it go or set a date.
• Other people's things: give family a deadline to pick up what they stored with you.
• Paperwork and photos: put them in one box and handle them last, sitting down.

Room by room order

1. Entry and coat closet. Quick and visible.
2. Bathroom and linen closet. Expired products, worn towels, extra sheets.
3. Kitchen. Duplicate pans, small appliances you never use, mismatched containers.
4. Bedrooms. Clothes that do not fit, old bedding, furniture nobody uses.
5. Living room. Extra chairs, old media, worn rugs.
6. Basement, attic and garage. The biggest piles, saved for when you have momentum.

Three piles, three exits

Every room gets the same three piles: keep, give away or sell, and go. Keep items get a home right away. Give away items go in the car or get listed within a few days. The go pile is the one that sinks most projects, because big things like an old couch, a mattress, a broken treadmill or a basement of boxes are hard to move and curbside pickup will not take most of them.

Bulky items are the real bottleneck

Bags of small stuff are easy. Furniture, appliances and mattresses are what stay behind. Plan for them early: decide what goes, take photos, and get a price so the room can actually be finished.

Posted prices

Every job starts from the same posted price card. A single item is $64. A small job, up to about 1.5 cubic yards, is $119. A medium job, about 3 cubic yards or roughly a room, is $189. A large job, about 5 cubic yards or roughly a garage bay, is $239. An extra-large job, about 10 cubic yards, is $479, and anything past 10 cubic yards is $45 per yard. A mattress or box spring is $64 alone or $20 each on a job. A washer, dryer, stove or dishwasher is $69 alone and free on a job. A fridge, freezer, air conditioner or dehumidifier is $99 alone or $35 on a job. A TV or monitor is a $15 add-on. Construction debris is the job price plus 20%. Estate cleanouts start at $499 and hoarding cleanouts at $599. The full list is on the pricing page.

How long it takes

A single room usually takes an afternoon of sorting. A whole house can take several weekends. Removal of the go pile is quick once it is sorted: a room's worth is usually a medium job, a garage bay a large one.

Keeping it from coming back

• One in, one out for clothes, shoes and kitchen gear.
• A give away bag by the door that leaves the house when it is full.
• A quick seasonal pass on the garage and basement.

How booking works

Send photos through the quote form or text them to (207) 333-1422. No card is needed to ask. Caden looks at the photos and sends your price. If it works for you, you pay from the link he sends and that confirms the slot. The price we send is the price you pay unless the pile changes. If you add things after the price goes out, the price is updated before work starts, not after.

Related: what fits in each size, garage cleanout checklist, how to get ready for a pickup

If you want it handled for you, start with our residential junk removal page. Related reading: How much to tip junk removal.