Letting Go of Clutter That is "Still Good"

One of the most common reasons people struggle with decluttering unused items sounds completely reasonable at first:

“But it’s still good.”

Or: “That’s a really good ___.”

A good pan.

A good sweater.

A good lamp.

A really good mug.

I hear this from clients all the time, and recently I heard it in my own family.

A Downsizing Example (That Happens Everywhere)

Last week I was helping my parents sort through their belongings as they navigate a downsizing move. Their new house has less kitchen cabinet space than their old one — because, well… it’s a downsize.

That meant decisions had to be made about which items deserve cabinet space and which don't.

When it came to their many soup mugs, we started by choosing their favorites. We made sure those had a clear, easy-to-reach home in the new kitchen. Then we looked at the rest, and I asked my mom a simple question:

“Do you use these?”

Her response?

“Those are really good soup mugs!”

You may have noticed something important: she didn’t actually answer my question.

And that’s where many decluttering decisions get stuck.

“Still Good” Doesn’t Mean “Still Needed”

Here’s a truth I share with clients all the time:

I don’t care if you own the best soup mugs in the world. If you don’t use them, they are clutter in your home.

Decluttering isn’t about whether something is high quality. It’s about whether it’s actively supporting your life right now.

An item can be:

• Well-made

• Expensive

• Barely used

• In perfect condition

…and still be clutter if it’s taking up space without being used.

“Still good” is not the same thing as “useful.” And letting go of clutter gets much easier when you stop judging items by their quality and start judging them by their role in your actual, everyday life.

Why “Good” Items Are Often the Best to Let Go

Here’s a mindset shift that helps many people finally let go:

If something you don’t use is really good, it’s actually the perfect candidate for donation.

Because someone else could be using that really good thing.

Those soup mugs could be warming someone’s hands every week instead of sitting untouched in the back of a cabinet. Keeping unused items simply because they’re “still good” doesn’t honor them — it just traps them in storage.

Letting go allows the item to be useful again.

Letting Go of Clutter Starts With How You Use Things

Downsizing forces these decisions faster, but you don’t have to be moving to face this issue. Closets, cabinets, garages, and basements quietly fill with “good” items that no longer earn their space.

If you’re trying to declutter your home and keep getting stuck, try asking yourself these questions instead:

• Do I actually use this?

• Would I notice if it was gone?

• Could this be more useful to someone else?

Because a really good item deserves to be used — even if that means it’s not used by you.