How to declutter your pet supplies & toys

Part 3 of 5 blog series: Is your clutter affecting your pet?

Is it possible?

Does your pet own more stuff than you?

Sometimes it may feel that way. Seeing all the pet toys scattered around your home, or you find that your cabinets or baskets overflow with pet supplies and toys, or the space in your kitchen pantry is being over taken by pet food and treats.

Realistically, you own more stuff than your pets, but we do tend to buy a lot of pet supplies and toys.

As a fellow pet owner, I know it’s easy to buy for your furry companions, because you love them, have fun playing with them, and think they would enjoy this new pet merchandise you found at the store. Although new pet toys and supplies can be fun, there is a point where you need to take some time to sort and declutter all the pet toys and supplies that are in your home.

I recommend using the Marie Kondo method to declutter your pet supplies and toys…

4 steps to declutter your pet supplies and toys using the Marie Kondo method

Because I was a former Marie Kondo Tidying Consultant, and believe in the Marie Kondo method. Today I’m going to show you four easy steps on how to use the Marie Kondo method to sort and declutter your pet supplies and toys by subcategory, and decide what to keep, donate, or toss, before you start organizing.

Step 1: Pull out all your pet supplies and toys from around your home.

Round up all your pet supplies and toys from around your home, and put them all into one pile on the floor or on a table for sorting. Make sure you check all storage areas, like your entry way, coat closet, under couches, pantry, garage, car, bedroom, laundry room, storage totes or baskets, etc. The benefits to pulling out all your pet supplies and toys like this are:

• you can look at each individual item easily
• you can wipe down your storage areas before returning the items
• you can see how much you own of each type of pet supplies and toys, and
• you also become blind to things that are put away, so it is good to bring them out, so you don’t glance over them

Step 2: Sort your pet supplies and toys into separate subcategory piles.

The point of making these smaller subcategory piles, based on the Marie Kondo method, is to sort through items that are the same type so you can see how much you own of that type and make better decisions.

I have put together the following list of subcategories to declutter your pet supplies and toys, so you can group similar type of items together (this list is generalized for cats and dogs, but you can improvise if you own another type of pet).

Fun Extras

• Toys: balls, interactive, plush,
• Clothing
• Costumes
• Accessories
• Life jackets
• Stress anxiety
• Memorabilia

Step 3: Pick up each item and decide what you want to keep or discard.

Now that you have made your piles of pet supplies and toys by subcategory, you are ready to start sorting and decluttering. Work through one subcategory at a time. This is where you will pick up each item individually, and decide what to keep or not, based on how you feel about it. You can ask yourself:

• Does it spark joy for you and your pet? Meaning does your pet enjoy playing with it, or do they use it?
• Does it support you or your pet’s basic health needs? If you’re not sure, have you used it in the last year? If not, maybe you don’t really need it.
• Is it still in good condition, or does it have stains or holes?
• If it is food, treats or medications, have they expired?

Step 4: Put away items you want to keep, and donate or toss items you no longer want.

For the pet supplies and toys you want to keep, put back in your storage areas, grouped by subcategory (based on the subcategories above). It’s also a good time to wipe down or clean your storage areas, baskets or containers before putting these items back in storage.

Donate, toss or recycle the pet supplies and toys you no longer want. I recommend finding local animal shelters or pet foster homes and ask them if they could use the unwanted items, if they are in good condition.

Basically, repeat these last two steps (looking at each item and deciding what to keep), until you have gone through all the subcategories of pet supplies and toys. Start with the food and treats subcategory, once those are done you move onto health and wellness, then training and behavior, etc.

Now you’re ready. Go forth and conquer. Declutter your pet supplies and toys today.

Now that you have learned how to use the Marie Kondo method to declutter your pet supplies and toys, hopefully you feel excited about tackling this project. One of the benefits of using the Marie Kondo method and breaking down all of your pet supplies and toys into subcategories, is that it breaks down a large amount of items, into smaller, less overwhelming groups of items to sort through.

Here’s a quick review of the 4 steps to declutter your pet supplies and toys using the Marie Kondo method

1. Pull out all your pet supplies and toys from around your home
2. Sort your pet supplies and toys into separate subcategory (items of same type) piles
3. Pick up each item and decide what you want to keep or discard
4. Put away items you want to keep, and donate or toss items you no longer want

It’s important to frequently take a good look at all the pet toys and supplies you have to make sure they are in good condition or still being used and enjoyed. I recommend you declutter your pet supplies and toys every few months, or at least once or twice a year.

Have fun with this! Include your pets in the decision making process (you will know by your pet’s interest or excitement level, and the amount of time they use or play with certain items – that those are their favorites). You could also make this be a family project, include your kids, you could make it into a scavenger hunt in the beginning to see who can find the most pet supplies and toys around the home. Have your kids help with the sorting and decision making, these are great skills for them to learn so they can apply this Marie Kondo method decluttering technique to their own things.

Your pets will be happier, and less overwhelmed, with only their favorite pet supplies and toys around. Your house will feel lighter and more organized too, just by decluttering your pet supplies and toys.

In the next part of this blog series, I will share with you how to organize your pet supplies.