Mother-of-two has ditched 4,000 items from her home

Mother-of-two fed up with the clutter of her family home reveals she got rid of 3,500 items including crockery, toys and old blankets – and now takes just five MINUTES to tidy the house

  • Casey Jones, 36, has decluttered her home, getting rid of nearly 3,500 items 
  • The mother-of-two, from Canada, wanted to cut the family’s possessions by 50%
  • She has faced some criticism however, when getting rid of her children’s toys 

A mother who wanted to streamline her family’s life revealed how she threw away 50 per cent of their belongings. 

Casey Jones, 36, from Niagra, Canada, decided that her family-of-four didn’t need everything they owned and wanted to reduce the amount of stuff in their home. 

Casey and her husband, Jason, also 36, a project manager, initially started selling their unwanted items to clear their debt – but continued to get rid of things or donate them to charity after realising they didn’t need it all.

In total they disposed of nearly 3,500 items including plates, her children’s toys and sentimental decor from her wedding day.


She has copped some criticism after revealing she also gets rid of her children’s toys. Pictured left is Casey’s daughter’s room before the tidy-up and right is the room after 

Casey Jones, 36, has decluttered her home, getting rid of nearly 3,500 items, in a bid to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. Pictured is her lounge before the declutter 

Casey’s lounge after the tidying. The mother-of-two says that tidying her home only takes five minutes now opposed to the hour it would take her previously


Casey said starting the clear out was the hardest part, but after building some momentum she became ruthless and was able to sort through the clutter with ease. Pictured left is her son’s room before the declutter and right after 

Casey said: ‘We’re so much happier now. We’re able to spend more time together as a family and focus on things that are important.’

The family now only keep the essentials. They only have four plates for their family of four and four coffee mugs.

In an effort to clear their clutter, Casey has so far ditched over 3,000 household items including blankets, cameras, and over 562 kitchen items.

The mother-of-two says maintaining the house is much easier to keep tidy, with it now only taking her as little as five minutes – 55 minutes less than it used to.

She said: ‘I now find that I’m cleaning less, not spending as much time looking for things and I have less to maintain.

‘Sentimental things are always the hardest to get rid of but really you only keep them thinking your kids will want it one day.’

Casey said starting the clear out was the hardest part, but after building some momentum she became ruthless and was able to sort through the clutter with ease.


Casey gets rid of any clothes that haven’t been worn in over a year and turns hangers backwards until the item has been worn

Casey explained that by donating the toys her and her husband are showing their children the process of moving stuff on

Casey gets rid of any clothes that haven’t been worn in over a year and turns hangers backwards until the item has been worn.

She said: ‘I turn our hangers backwards at the beginning of the year and as we wear each item I turn the hanger forwards.

‘At the end of the year I can see what hasn’t been worn and we donate those items.’

She has copped some criticism after revealing she also gets rid of her children’s toys.


Casey says she has people reaching out to her all the time, wanting to start decluttering their house but not knowing where to start. Pictured left is her kitchen before the declutter and right is after 

In an effort to clear their clutter, Casey has so far ditched over 3,000 household items including blankets, cameras, and over 562 kitchen items

She defended her decision saying she only removes toys if her children, aged eight and nine, aren’t playing with them.

Casey explained: ‘Toys are hard to get rid of. The kids are like ‘oh my gosh, that’s my favourite toy, I love it,’ every time I try.

‘So, I tell them that if they play with it in the next week or two, they can keep it, but of course they won’t play with it.’

Casey explained that by donating the toys her and her husband are showing their children the process of moving stuff on.  


Casey’s advice is to slowly build momentum, go into each room and approach same way. Do sentimental things last. Pictured left is a cupboard before her tidy-up and right after 

TOP TIPS FOR DECLUTTERING YOUR HOUSE 

  • Find out what you want to do it – write down what you’re hoping to come from it.
  • Start small to build up momentum – start in car for example, less sentimental areas, then try the bathroom draws and removing stuff from there.
  • Slowly build momentum, go into each room and approach same way. Do sentimental things last.

She said: ‘I told them it’s OK to pass things on and show them the good things that come from it – less cleaning of the toy room and more time for family playing board games.

‘Before, we had so many toys – they didn’t know what to play with and now they will play for hours and use their imagination more.’

To help keep tabs on what’s important, Casey and her family each have their own designated box to keep ‘special’ items in.

‘If the box gets full, we have to go through it and decide what’s meaningful and what’s not,’ she said.

Things like family photos remain safely tucked away, however, other potentially sentimental items like candles from her wedding day ended up in the bin bag.

Casey admitted that she was keeping ‘meaningless’ things, often in case of future use.

She said: ‘You always hold on to them thinking ‘one day I’ll need these dishes, but I haven’t used them once in the last five years, so they’ve got to go’.’

Casey says she has people reaching out to her all the time, wanting to start decluttering their house but not knowing where to start.

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