Cleaning things is so important in organizing the house, but actually doing that’s another story. It’s not that hard to let go of some unnecessary things—staring at you, expired coupons, dried-out pens, and dead batteries—but there are plenty of other things that can be difficult to decide on.
Enter: “last chance box.” Organization expert Stephanie Dulgarian (@somewhatsimpleliving) shared this smart decluttering tip on her Instagram: “The next time you’re cleaning and come across something you’re not sure you’re ready to part with, put a piece of masking tape on it, write the date on it, and then put it in the last chance box.'”
Once you put items in this box, you’ll want to check back in a few months — three to six, ideally — or even a year for seasonal items, to see if you still want them or decide they should be donated, sold, recycled, or discarded. . It’s similar to the box-and-banish method, but it requires you to stay away from your “maybe items” for just six weeks.
There’s a good chance you won’t want the items after the allotted time. There’s an even greater chance that you’ll forget about the box itself, which makes your decision to declutter that much easier.
Does the “last chance box” work?
I wanted to know what other organizing professionals thought about this last-chance box, and I reached out to Molly Heartfield, founder and owner of Heart & Company, a home organization and design company.
Heartfield likes this idea because it allows you to have “fresh eyes” on the subject later when you’re ready to make a final decision. She also points out that this could be great for people who share their home because if you’re in the middle of organizing but aren’t sure what to do with their item, you can put it in a box and show them later and let them decide.
“However, you should really only have a small last-chance box to avoid it turning into a catch-all box where you put everything you’re not sure about,” adds Heartfield.
I can confirm that the size — and number — of the boxes are key. I currently have a trio of large rose pattern boxes in my home office. I haven’t opened them for a long time. Three months? Three years? Who knows? They just take up a little space on the bookshelf.
Following the last-chance box philosophy, I really should throw all three away — even if I’m sure one of them has paper or stationery I can use. Still, I like the idea of simply throwing away the contents of those boxes without (much) attention.
Heartfield expresses some doubt about the effectiveness of the last-chance box for those who are particularly indecisive. “[The last chance box] it deters someone from really making a conscious and thoughtful decision to use the space and things in your home efficiently,” she says.
So I decided to finally open my trio of boxes. It turned out that there were some things I wanted to keep, like completed diaries and family photos. But the rest were things I no longer needed, so they went into the recycling, trash or donation pile.
Heartfield says it’s a better idea to put more seasonal items like holiday decor in this box — you’ll either want them when the season returns or you won’t. I wish I could tell myself to use the box when I donated winter clothes last year. I know I parted ways with a hoodie or two too soon because I just got tired of them when the warm weather returned.
Suffice it to say, the last chance box worked for me. Will it work for you? It won’t hurt or take long to try. If you’re planning to store the box in a closet, set an alert on your calendar a few months from now to take a peek. If you’re happy to be reunited with anything in it, then stick with it. But if you’re like me and were shocked to see exactly what was in that box (or boxes), then congratulations: you just cleaned up your space without a lot of decision-making angst.