Declutter Coffee Mugs & Other Cups {15 Minute Mission}

Today's mission is to declutter coffee mugs, and other cups and glasses.


This mission is designed to be done while working on the Kitchen Cabinet & Drawer Organization Challenge here on the site, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.

For many of us this is a type of item we have way too many of in our cupboards or cabinets, and we could free up a lot of space by getting rid of some of them.

My Formula To Help You Decide How Many Mugs To Keep

It is up to you to determine what is a reasonable number based on your family's needs and habits, but here's a simple formula to help you at least think about it.

Consider the number of people in your household who actually use a mug regularly, and then multiply this by the number of mugs they use in a day, and then multiply that by one plus the number of days between running your dishwasher, or otherwise washing dishes. That number you come up with is the base number of mugs you actually need in your home for regular use (plus see below where we add just a few extras for when you entertain or have guests over).

That may sound complicated, but I'll run through a couple of examples which will help you understand how simple it is.

Example 1: If two people in your home regularly drink coffee or tea each morning, and you both only use one mug per day, and you run your dishwasher daily, then you need 2x1x2 mugs, meaning, four mugs. It works out that you need two mugs to drink from, and two in the dishwasher, and you're set.

Example 2: Two people in your house drink tea regularly, and both of you drink two cups a day in a fresh mug each time, and you run your dishwasher every two days. Then you should multiply 2x2x3 and you need 12 mugs.

Of course in the scenario of 12 mugs if you don't have enough room in your cabinets for that many you could change your habit of drinking from a new mug each time, and instead drink from one mug all day long, which would halve the number of mugs you need to keep regularly.

Next, once you've determined how many mugs you need to use regularly for household members, add a few more in for when you entertain guests and then you've got a reasonable number of mugs to actually keep.

What About Mug Collections?

I understand that for some people mugs are not just a practical thing used as a receptacle to drink hot beverages, but instead, you collect them.

But it is important when doing this mission to understand there is a difference between collections and practical used items.

Now, I'm not saying you can't keep your mug collection. Everyone has things that bring them joy and the purpose of decluttering is not to make you unhappy. But you first need to really evaluate whether that collection makes you happy, or not.

I encourage you to narrow your collection down to the best of the best, so you continue to have a collection that brings you joy and fond memories, but that doesn't add headaches to your life because it is so large it is cluttering up your kitchen cabinets.

If you collect mugs, and you have space to store all of them, they make you happy, and you use them all regularly (or for holiday mugs, at least annually when that holiday comes around), don't declutter them. For you those mugs are not clutter. But be careful that all of your mugs in your collection that you keep meet the three criteria I mentioned.

Get more ideas for how to declutter collections and collectibles here.

Things To Consider About Your Mugs When Deciding Which To Keep

Here are some things to consider when doing this mission:

• Get rid of those which are chipped, broken or stained


• How much room do you really have in your cabinets to devote to mugs?


• Which ones do you regularly use, versus which ones have you not even touched in 3+ months? We all have our favorite mugs that we always reach for if they're clean. Those are the ones to keep, for sure!

Consider Repurposing Some Of Your Mugs To Get Them Out Of Your Kitchen

Finally, if you realize you don't use all of your mugs but you really don't want to part with some of them in your collection I encourage you to get creative.

I personally believe that a collection needs to be displayed and it should make you smile each time you pass it. If a collection is shoved in a box, or in the case of mugs, into the back of a kitchen cabinet, what is the point of having it?

If you have more mugs that you absolutely love, and do not want to part with, but that number exceeds the number you can regularly use that we figured out above using the formula, then get them out of those kitchen cabinets and elsewhere in your home so you can see them and they can make you happy.

Just a few ways to repurpose mugs include as a pencil cup or a small planter. I'm sure there are a lot of additional ideas as well, so make sure to tell me your ideas for repurposing mugs below, in the comments.

Below are some pictures from readers who've already taken on this mission, sharing what they decluttered. I hope this can inspire you to declutter yours as well!

Top photo courtesy of Ewen Roberts and before and after photos from a reader, Brandy

Now I Have Less Mugs & Maximized My Storage With An Extender Shelf

Michelle says:

I just decluttered mine when we recently moved and parted with a bunch of mugs. I gave them to Goodwill.

My cupboard for mugs is much smaller now, but I maximize the storage by using racks on each shelf. I can easily store 2 layers of mugs in my small space, without worrying about the mugs slipping from atop the row below.

I have a mix of Christmas cups in there now, but it looks like this.

Taylor says:

I love this idea of the extender shelf to keep more mugs in your cabinet, without having to stack them on top of each other, or to use a smaller amount of space for them.

Because even when you declutter them, the ones you keep can still take up quite a bit of room.

Here's The Coffee Cups I Decluttered

The photo above is from a reader Barbara, who already taken this mission.

Barbara says, "All cups going to thrift shop. I kept 6 additional cups that now have a great spot in me cupboard."

In addition, here's a photo submitted by Brandy, who also to get rid of some her mugs.

Have you done this mission? If so, please share your photos here and I'll add them to the page.

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Kitchen Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your kitchen, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in this space.

Get your 2 page kitchen decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Box of decluttered mugs courtesy of a reader, Kim

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Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Kitchen Cabinet Organization Challenge

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