5 Things You Should Always Declutter From Your Home After a Breakup

One thing I wasn’t prepared for after ending my four-year relationship was going back to living in my one-bedroom apartment alone. After living together for the last two years, I’d hoped we were creating a home out of an apartment that was once mine.

No one talks about that part of a breakup: making your home yours again when you’ve shared it with another person for so long. The truth is, breakups are hard, and decluttering things that have accumulated over the years you’ve shared together can be difficult too.

For anyone struggling with decluttering their home after a breakup, here are five things to start with to help make your place feel like yours again.

I’m starting here because you need to sleep better. When you’ve shared a bed with someone, falling asleep with them feels so natural. And when your partner is away, you nod off to their smell on your sheets. Well, get rid of it. Putting my old sheets in a donation box was the best thing I did for myself. First, I slept much better without thinking about how I’d shared the other half of everything I slept on each night. Plus, it was an opportunity to organize my bedding and get new, fresh sheets for my room.

Bathrooms can be an easy reminder of everything you had shared with your partner. Every space in your home needs to feel less like a shared space and more like your safe one. For me, everything made me feel sad. From the old hairbrush to the toothbrush I shared once when I was too tired to find my own one night. Any shared item in the bathroom must go in the trash, especially if it’s not yours. You’ll feel better walking into a clutter-free bathroom.

The kitchen can have the coziest memories. But your partner’s favorite plates or cups no longer serve you. All the spices in the cupboards you used to make special meals for your partner need to go. It may seem irrelevant to give out a perfect plate, but those non-sentimental pieces in your home can be placeholders for moments you’re better off without as you heal. 

Clearing out those old dusty chairs you shared all your movie night dates will finally give you more space to redecorate your living room. Someone out there needs it a lot more than you do now. As for the furniture you decide to keep, do some deep cleaning and get rid of all the snack crumbs tucked away from all the moments you shared with your partner.

Easier said than done, but decluttering your home’s sentimental pieces needs to happen sooner than later. This decluttering session is your chance to get rid of all the gifts you held onto but never really cared to use. My favorite part was finally giving away all the anniversary and birthday presents I pretended to love. Think of it as making more room in your home for yourself and the possibility of who you could become on this new journey. Even though it took me a month, those thoughts made it easier to pack up our memories.

When all the decluttering is done, take the time to spruce up the place. It’ll feel like a fresh start when you’ve cleared the baggage that once filled each room. However hard moving forward may be, making your home feel like yours again is a healing process. I’m glad I’ve spent the last year reclaiming my space.