Pro Organisers Say These Are The 4 Things To Declutter In October To Get Ready For The Colder Months

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Ideal Home reports that professional organisers recommend four October decluttering tasks: sort Halloween decorations, review wardrobes, check baking supplies and organise household medicines. Their advice focuses on clearing unwanted items, checking expiry dates and making essentials easier to find before colder weather and busier seasonal routines.

Professional organisers quoted by Ideal Home recommend using October to sort Halloween decorations, wardrobes, baking supplies and household medicines before colder weather and the busier end-of-year season. The advice is a seasonal checklist, not a formal study: the organisers say clearing unused items and checking what is already in the home can make it easier to find and use essentials.

For Halloween decorations, Shannon Murphy, founder of Simpl Living Co, advises checking for items that are broken, no longer suit the owner’s taste or have gone unused for a couple of years. She says decorations in good condition can be donated while there is still time for someone else to buy them second-hand. The report frames October as a useful point to sort decorations before the holiday, rather than waiting until after the season.

Murphy also recommends reviewing clothes as summer items are put away and warmer clothing comes out. She suggests thinking about what was not worn during the warmer months, including garments that did not fit comfortably, were damaged or no longer suited the person’s lifestyle. The seasonal change, she says, makes it easier to remember which clothes were actually used.

Rebecca Crayford, founder of lifestyle management business RCLM, advises checking use-by dates in baking cupboards, removing ingredients that are unlikely to be used and arranging remaining supplies so they are visible. She says this can help prevent people from buying duplicates when partly used packets are hidden at the back. For medicines, her advice is to take everything out, check expiry dates and group similar products together. She recommends taking unwanted or expired medicines to a local chemist for safe disposal, rather than putting them in household rubbish or flushing them away.

Four Areas to Check Before Winter

The checklist ties decluttering to practical seasonal needs: making room for colder-weather clothing, finding baking ingredients and locating household medicines if someone becomes unwell. Sorting decorations before Halloween may also give usable items more time to find a new home through donation or second-hand sale.

The recommendations are presented as organisers’ advice, not evidence that every household needs to clear the same items or that decluttering will produce a particular health or financial outcome. Their common thread is to review what is already owned before storing it, replacing it or buying more.

Why October Is the Suggested Time

Ideal Home presents October as a point between the end of warmer-weather routines and the colder months, when households may switch clothing, spend more time indoors and prepare for seasonal events. The article says this timing can help people act on what they remember using over summer and make a few household supplies easier to manage ahead of busier weeks.

The source attributes the recommendations to Murphy and Crayford, both professional organisers. It does not report a survey, quantify how common these household problems are or compare October with other months. The advice is therefore best understood as a practical seasonal prompt rather than a finding about all households.

“Take a look at what you have and consider whether there are decorations you haven’t used for a couple of years, are broken or no longer suit your taste.”

— Shannon Murphy, founder of Simpl Living Co

Advice, Not a Household Survey

The report does not establish that these are the four most important items for every household to declutter, nor does it provide research measuring the benefits of doing so. It also does not specify a single disposal or donation service for decorations; local options may vary. For medicines, the source advises checking with or taking items to a local chemist, but it does not give location-specific disposal rules.

A Seasonal Check Before Cold Weather

The report offers no scheduled follow-up or formal next milestone. Its suggested next step for readers is to work through the four areas in October: inspect decorations, review clothes while changing seasons, check baking ingredients and organise medicines. Any donation or disposal choices can then be handled through suitable local services, with expired medicines taken to a chemist as Crayford advises.

Key Questions

What four things do organisers recommend decluttering in October?

They recommend sorting Halloween decorations, wardrobes, baking supplies and household medicines ahead of the colder months.

What should I look for when sorting Halloween decorations?

Shannon Murphy suggests identifying decorations that are broken, unwanted or have not been used for a couple of years. She says items still in good condition can be donated.

How should expired medicines be disposed of?

Rebecca Crayford advises taking unwanted or out-of-date medicines to a local chemist for safe disposal, rather than putting them in the bin or flushing them away.

Why check baking supplies in October?

Crayford recommends checking dates and making ingredients visible before more time is spent indoors. Seeing what is already there may also help avoid buying duplicate packets, she says.

Source: rss