Inside: Give your decluttering in April a clear focus! A guide to what to declutter in April, with a balance of easy to challenging categories for slow or maintenance decluttering. Plus, thoughts on the statement “minimalism is a scam”.
April is so freaking fickle where we live. One minute it’s seventy degrees and sunny, and the next, it’s forty degrees, feels like thirty.
I have one kid playing spring soccer with a winter coat and gloves still, another kid who already has an air conditioner installed to get good sleep on the warmer days, and a partner who cries when I open the window at night on the cooler days (ok, maybe not cries, but gets pretty upset after enduring a frigid winter).
In short: it’s a mess. BUT winter is officially over, thank goodness!
Before I jump into this month’s categories, however, I wanted to address a podcast I listened to last week that made a pretty strong statement: “minimalism is a scam”.
So is it? I have thoughts.
Also, no shade to this podcast. It’s my favorite lately, and they actually featured an article of mine last year!
New to This Series? Catch Up With: 5 Things to Declutter in March (C’mon, Spring!)
5 Things to Declutter in April (And IS Minimalism A Scam?)
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If I had listened to this podcast 5-6 years ago, I would have nodded along in agreement. I actually made the most money in the beginning from my offbeat minimalism content with similar vibes.
But in the past few years, I’ve realized that decluttering and reducing the inventory I have to manage in my home is non-negotiable for me as a neurodivergent, homeschooling mom of five with a part-time job, albeit a flexible one.
Owning less stuff greatly reduces my daily overwhelm and makes doing everything I’m doing, well…doable.
Because real talk: I am the primary person managing our home. I know that’s a lot of talk these days about partners equally sharing household tasks, and YAY. That’s just not our reality.
My partner currently makes about 80% of our income and holds the job that carries our insurance benefits. He does it by working a mentally taxing job while teetering on the edge of ADHD burnout. So, he rarely helps around the house, and I’ve made my peace with that.
But the only way this whole arrangement works (without me developing raging partner resentment) is by owning less stuff. Period.
Occasionally, my family gives me a hard time about throwing away things we end up needing later. I’m pretty sure I can count on one hand how often that’s happened, and I used to feel guilty when it came out.
You know my response to those accusations today? #sorrynotsorry Getting rid of those things is what it takes for me to stay mentally healthy, and I won’t apologize for that.
With that out of the way, let’s jump into this month’s categories!
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1. Winterwear
I *think* this is the last week my middle kiddo will need to wear gloves to soccer practice (seriously, April?!). So after tonight’s practice, I’m putting away all the winter things.
Before packing them up, I’m going through them and getting rid of…
- Outgrown Boots
- Outgrown Snow Pants
- Worn Out Winter Coats
- Unworn Hats and Gloves
Everyone will get a chance to go through our hat and glove stash, having an opportunity to express their opinion on what should stay and what should go.
Winter coats get hung in one child’s underused closet. Gloves, hats, boots and snow pants remain stored in our mudroom.
2. Snow Supplies & Gear
We go through snow shovels like the deer go through our tulips, mostly because our driveway is in sad shape. It desperately needs repaving, but since I don’t have an extra 5-10 grand sitting around, it stays super holey.
We mostly stopped buying cheap snow shovels last year, and now we only get THESE Snow Joe’s and register for the two year warranty.
But some of the older shovels are done after this winter, and they’re headed for the trash.
Other snow-related items to tackle:
- Sleds & Tobaggans
- Snow Shoes (I’m selling a pair from a couple Christmas’s ago)
- Ski & Snowboarding Gear
- Road Salt
- Anything Else Winter-Related
Clear that garage and shed space!
3. Cleaning Products & Tools
It’s April, and ‘tis the season of spring cleaning. That makes it a fantastic time to pare down your cleaning products to the ones you actually use.
America loves to market to us a bajillion cleaning products – one per cleaning task. For example, I’m sitting here contemplating how I need to tackle cleaning my kitchen cabinet doors this spring, and in researching the best way to do it, I came across a Murphy’s Oil Soap spray version.
I was SO tempted to grab it. But with more research, I realized that I could probably just make my own wood cabinet cleaning spray with water, dish soap and some Thieves cleaner.
As tempting as it is to buy single use cleaning products, you can usually get by with a few basics.
For this category, I suggest a Marie Kondo approach: bring all your cleaning products and tools together in one place.
Throw away or give away any cleaners you no longer use. Only go to the effort of giving away if there’s a lot of product leftover. Throw away any broken cleaning tools and reduce cleaning supplies, such as microfiber cloths or sponges, if you have too many.
If you have a huge stash of a particular product (that’s me and toilet bowl cleaner), stop all automatic deliveries, such as subscribe and save, and commit to using up what you have.
Thankfully, with this category, I’m at the stage where I simply need to resist the temptation to buy new single use cleaning products.
Although cleaning product confessions: I did get sucked in by the Blueland PFAS free cleaning products at Costco last month, so I grabbed their dishwasher tablets and toilet bowl cleaning tablets to try. They work great! Now to use up what I already had…
Related: The Only Minimalist Cleaning Supplies You Really Need
4. Candles, Knick Knacks, & “Hygge Stuff”
As you catch the spring cleaning bug, you’ll probably realize how annoying it is to pick up all the stuff on flat surfaces before you can wipe them down.
So it’s time to declutter your candles, knick knacks and any other “hygge” stuff that helped you get through the winter. Personally, we’re giving away some hurricane candle holders my husband ordered this winter, but rarely used.
Throw away any candles with scents you didn’t love. If they’re still pretty full, give them away. Unless you burn them year round, store the rest with Christmas decor. If you DO use them year round, give them a dedicated container and declutter what doesn’t fit.
If you’re super attached to knick knacks and tchotchkes, try packing them all away in a box and see if you miss them. If after a month or two, you don’t, you can donate them or give them away.
Put away any remaining twinkle lights or Christmas lights (we have a string in the kitchen up until last week). We bring them back out sometime in November each year.
You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to clean without cluttered surfaces!
5. Throw Pillows & Blankets
April is another great month to wash all your throw pillow covers and decide just how many you need.
Personally, I love the throw pillows we have in our living room upstairs, but the rest of the family? They throw them on the floor 90% of the time.
So this week I asked myself why I kept picking them back up? I moved one to a different room in the house, leaving two throw pillows (for three pieces of furniture) in the upstairs living room. Then I’ll reassess the number we have remaining.
We have two throw blankets that are getting ratty and worn. They will be donated to our local cat shelter, along with some old towels.
Give Your April Decluttering a Clear Focus
Before we head into May with the whirlwind of end of school year activities and summer planning, tackle these few manageable categories.
I try to only do a couple bigger spring cleaning tasks every year. This year it will be cleaning the kitchen cabinets and drawers, and possibly windows (a couple each week).
Plus, we’ll be hiring out carpet cleaning sometime this summer or fall because I’m being realistic (I could rent a cleaner from the grocery store, but I don’t want to). I also love supporting local small business owners.
And honestly? Our homes don’t need to be sparkling clean and picture perfect. Do what you can, and let go of the rest.
Happy April decluttering!
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