13 Things You Should Toss From Your Basement

The basement is like a giant junk drawer. It’s a catchall, 10% full of things you need but don’t make sense to store anywhere else and 90% full of things you just haven’t gotten around to decluttering yet. Can we make a suggestion? It’s time to declutter your basement. If you don’t know where to begin, start with these suggestions from three professional organizers who help homeowners tidy up their basements every day.

Unfinished Projects and Renovation Scraps

“Basements—and attics—are notorious for becoming procrastination rooms, and while these unfinished projects may be out of sight, they’re never far out of mind,” explains Cheyenne Ely, owner of Cheyenne Paige Interiors in The Woodlands, Texas. Unless you’re a big DIY person, chances are the folks shopping Habitat for Humanity and Facebook Marketplace will put your leftovers to better use.

Old Toys and Board Games

Have dreams of letting your childhood favorites age into antiquity or be played with by your kids or grandkids? Megan Ludvinsky, owner of About Space Organizing in Little Rock, Arkansas suggests that “unless it’s something very special or sentimental, it’s time to move those toys along to a child who will love and play with them in the present.” Toys evolve at the speed of light, so it’s very possible kids won’t be interested in them later. Also, because of how mass-produced toys are these days, they won’t be worth very much even after a good bit of time has passed.

Paint

Clara Shoen, founder of The Home Organized in Birmingham, Alabama, finds unwanted paint in the basement more than anything—probably because it’s a hazardous waste. With paint, you have a few options: Offer it on Facebook Marketplace, donate it to Habitat for Humanity, fill the can with kitty litter to solidify, or wait for your city’s hazardous waste day.

Cardboard Storage Boxes

“There comes a certain point in adulthood when you need to upgrade from cardboard box storage to something more durable that will protect your belongings,” Ludvinsky says. “The contents are susceptible to humidity, mold, flooding, and even brown recluse spiders.” Big box stores sell 16-gallon plastic lidded totes that get the job done, plus they stack well and take a label easily.

Other People’s Stuff

It’s common for the belongings of lost loved ones to end up tucked away in our basements, often collecting dust, never to be given away. “Consider which items you will genuinely cherish and use,” Ely recommends. “Sure, it’s tough to say goodbye to each memory, but keeping a precious few items can represent them all.”

And if you need a little tougher love, take it from Shoen: “You aren’t a storage unit for other people’s clutter.”

Childhood Awards

The glory days deserve to be remembered, but Ludvinsky insists you don’t necessarily need a physical reminder of them. The trophies, certificates, medals, plaques, and ribbons take up valuable space and can be awkward to store (“and frankly, it’s a little silly to display them as an adult”).

Unnecessary Paperwork

No one is telling you to shred birth certificates or estate documents, but old receipts and tax documents older than seven years? Ely says they’re fair game and just wasting precious space. Plus, consider this: It’ll be that much easier to find the paperwork you actually need.

Old Cookware

“I don’t know the reasoning, but I’ve found a lot of old or rusted pots and pans in clients’ basements,” says Ludvinsky. “Often someone gets a new cookware set and just decides to cycle the old ones to the basement instead of getting them out of the house.” If they’re still in good working order, donate them to someone who can really use them.

Old Electronics and Cables

Don’t give in to the temptation to keep all the old, unidentifiable cords that have become tangled together through the years. “Replacing them is easy now with Amazon or eBay—if they’re needed,” Shoen assures. Equally useless are old electronics like your college laptop or your husband’s old gaming system.

Baby Clothes

“I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve helped a client declutter their basement or attic and uncovered a box of baby clothes, only to discover they’ve been completely ruined by humidity, time, or the elements,” Ludvinsky explains. Unless you’re planning on having a child in the near future, it’s time to let most, if not all, of it go.

Holiday Decor

Broken ornaments, shedding garlands, lights with blown fuses—when you’re in the middle of decorating, it’s easier to move on to the fun stuff than start taking out the trash. If you like to add new decor to the mix every year, keep this rule in mind from Shoen: “If you haven’t used it the past two years, it's time to say goodbye!”

Unused Exercise Equipment

We’ve all done it: Purchased the ThighMaster, a BoxFlex, or a Peloton Bike with the best intentions and then just… stopped using it. You already know that if they’re not being used, they’re just taking up space, but also consider this, Ludvinsky advises: “When you walk by them it can trigger guilt for spending the money and no longer using them. Do yourself a favor and move them along.”

Empty Picture Frames

If you've hung onto the frames from your old gallery wall, you’re not the only one, claims Ludvinsky: “Remove your photos and donate the frames. Trust me, if the gallery wall comes back, you’ll want to have new and updated frames anyway.”