I turned 40 and realised I didn't want to carry all this clutter into the next decade – these 5 things had to go

I turned 40 last year, and it triggered a huge urge to declutter my home from then on, which is very unlike me as a self-confessed collector of things...

I didn't want to suddenly (and miraculously) become a minimalist. There's no way that would ever happen because I love home decor too much, and I still want my home to feel full of personality. I just started to look around at the things I'd been holding on to for years and wondered why I still had them.

Reaching 40 made me want to take stock, and it's probably because I know what I like far more than I did when I was younger. I've become much less interested in keeping things simply because I've already owned them for years. And it turns out I'm not alone in feeling like this after a milestone birthday.

'I think people often decide to declutter when they're navigating a home renovation, a move, family changes or a wider lifestyle reset and turning 40 can be a transitional period for some people,' explains Shannon Murphy of Simpl Living Co. 'It can be a good opportunity to reassess what you own and whether it still reflects the life you're living today.'

And I felt exactly like this, so I started clearing out, and once I began, it quickly spread from my wardrobe to other areas of my house. Here's what I've decluttered so far and why it's been really helpful.

5 things I decluttered when I turned 40

If you're tempted to do the same, Shannon recommends resisting the urge to pull everything out at once. 'One of the biggest mistakes I see is starting with good intentions but then losing momentum or direction,' she says. 'I always recommend creating a plan and giving yourself a reasonable timeframe. Try to fully complete one room before moving on to the next.'

It's good advice, particularly if you, like me, can get carried away once you start. 'If everything is half-finished, it can feel as though you haven't achieved anything,' Shannon adds, 'Completing a space gives you that sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue.'

1. I gave my wardrobe a reset

Decluttering my wardrobe was the obvious place to start. There were clothes I hadn't worn for years, things that didn't fit properly and pieces I'd kept because I thought I might wear them again one day.

Turning 40 made me want my wardrobe to reflect who I am and how I dress now, rather than being an archive of me at different ages. And that's something Shannon says is very common.

'With wardrobes, people often hold onto past versions of themselves,' she explains. 'As you approach 40, who you were and what you were in your 20s, or even your 30s, may be very different from who you are now.'

Her advice is to concentrate on 'who you are today and who you realistically want to be within the next year,' rather than filling your wardrobe for an imagined future version of yourself.

There were clothes I was keeping for when I might lose weight, occasions that might never happen and because I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them.

Shannon suggests looking at how your life actually works now. 'For example, if you only go into the office two days a week, you only need enough work outfits to accommodate that lifestyle realistically. You can apply the same thinking to other categories in your wardrobe: look at how you actually live rather than how you think you might live.'

Anything I didn't feel good wearing, consistently overlooked or was realistically never going to wear again was finally allowed to go, and I was finally able to maximise every available inch of space.

2. Home accessories I didn't actually like

This was probably one of the most satisfying categories. Working within interiors means I'm constantly seeing new ideas, and my own taste has inevitably changed over the years. Yet I still had accessories dotted around the house that I didn't particularly like anymore.

I had kept some because I'd spent money on them and others because they'd been gifts or had some sentimental value. But I did realise that neither was a particularly good reason to continue displaying something in my home.

'Our interior style naturally changes over the years,' says Shannon. 'Your home and the things you have on display should meet you where you are currently. If you no longer love or use something, consider donating or selling it.'

And her advice for those expensive purchases you're keeping out of guilt is reassuringly straightforward: 'I would never recommend keeping something you don't like simply because it was expensive or gifted to you – your space is precious.'

Instead of immediately replacing everything I cleared, I've actually enjoyed having a little more breathing room and being more considered about what I bring back in.

3. Make-up and toiletries I'll never use

Next came the bathroom cupboards and drawers. There was an embarrassing amount of half-used products, make-up I never reached for, and toiletries I'd tried and didn't like, taking up valuable storage space.

This wasn't emotional clutter like my wardrobe and home accessories, but incredibly satisfying, even though it felt like a huge waste. I could suddenly see what I actually owned and, more importantly, what I genuinely used.

There's also a practical reason to be ruthless here. 'All makeup has an expiry date, which is something many people don't realise,' says Shannon. 'Look for the number followed by "M" on the packaging. For example, 12M means the product should be replaced after 12 months of opening it.'

For products you've tried and simply don't like, Shannon suggests seeing whether a friend or family member could use them instead, where appropriate, rather than allowing them to sit untouched in a drawer.

4. Sifting through sentimental items

This was easily the hardest category for me, as I end up feeling guilty when I declutter sentimental things. I am super sentimental, so over the years I've kept an enormous number of things purely because they remind me of a person, place or particular point in my life. Unlike an old bottle of shampoo or duvet cover I never use, there isn't an obvious reason to get rid of them.

Turning 40 didn't suddenly make me want to throw away everything connected to my past. If anything, it made me think more carefully about which memories genuinely matter to me. I've started asking myself whether I actually treasure the item itself or whether I'm simply scared that getting rid of it means losing the memory attached to it.

Shannon recommends giving sentimental belongings a physical limit. 'Use a container to create a physical boundary for how much you can keep. Once the container is full, you have to decide what is most important to you rather than allowing sentimental belongings to become endless boxes and cupboards.'

There are ways to preserve the memory without necessarily keeping the object.

'For photographs, you can scan them and create photo books (this is a great budget choice from Amazon), and larger sentimental items can also be photographed before letting them go,' Shannon suggests. 'Often seeing a photograph of an item can bring back the same feeling and memory without needing to keep the physical object.'

I'm still keeping things that make me smile (my daughters' lovely artwork), transport me back to a particular moment or that I'd be upset to lose. But I've allowed myself to let go of some of the other things I've been carrying around for years purely because they felt too sentimental to part with. It takes time to rifle through these things and can feel overwhelming, but it feels like a fresh start to get rid of old things that I really don't feel I need to keep.

5. Books I knew I would never read again

Books were a surprisingly difficult category for me to tackle. I've always found them harder to get rid of than other things, even when I know I'm unlikely to ever pick them up again.

Over the years, though, we'd accumulated books we'd read once and wouldn't reread, books I'd bought with every intention of reading but never had, parenting books I no longer needed to consult and other books that had dated badly (My Booky Wook, by Russell Brand, anyone? Eesh) or that I'd simply grown out of. They were taking up space alongside books we genuinely love.

I didn't want to clear the shelves completely. I love the warmth and personality books bring to a home, and there are plenty I'll always keep. I concentrated on the ones I genuinely loved, would lend to people and realistically imagine picking up again.

The rest have gone somewhere they'd actually be appreciated and used. I donated books where I could, passed others on to friends and family and used Freecycle to give to people who want them. And I have now sorted them into categories and displayed them how I like, which makes it feel more like an at-home library than a messy collection.

I definitely don't want a sparse home, and I'm certainly not finished buying beautiful things, but after decluttering these things, I know my taste better. And I know what my family uses too.

I'm just much less willing to give precious space in my home to things that belong in the past. It feels quite liberating to accept that getting rid of something doesn't mean buying it was a mistake or that something wasn't once important to me.

I still have plenty of clutter because I have a busy family home after all, but I am being more selective about what earns its place in it.

My new rule for my forties is that I don't want to spend another decade storing things I don't use, need or actually love.