It’s not easy to declutter your home, but we have a challenge for you!
While everyone wants to live in a clean and organized space, decluttering your home can feel pretty intimidating, especially if you have no idea where to start. With so many drawers, cabinets, and closets, you probably feel overwhelmed only thinking about how long it will take to get the job done.
Trust me, I don’t like to spend my weekends cleaning either, but I decided to take things slow and do everything my way. This helped me develop a cleaning challenge that allowed me to take control of my life and my belongings. It sounds silly, I know, but knowing that I only need to dedicate no more than half an hour each day to a cleaning task made it more manageable than spending Friday to Saturday putting everything together.
If you want to declutter your home efficiently and without too much effort, you can join in on this challenge. Don’t take it too hard, though. You can pick up a few tasks and take care of them in a day or a week. This is only a guideline, in case you only have a few minutes a day to make your house sparkle. So, if you want to declutter your home, here’s my cleaning challenge:
Day 1: identify your space and start with a task
The first step to decluttering your home is to identify the spaces that need cleaning and organizing. Some of the hot spots are closets, pantry areas, entryway drop zones, storage rooms, and maybe your fridge or drawers. Take some time to go around your home and pick a task to start with.
For instance, my mind gets crazy when there are dishes in the sink or food left on the countertops. If you’re like me, that’s probably the place you should start. You don’t have to spend a lot of time doing it. Put a 30-minute timer on, blast your favorite music, and get that area organized.
Day 2: clean out your fridge and your countertops
One of the areas that gets easily messy is your fridge. Since you use this appliance every day, it might have expired food, lots of condiments, and leftovers that nobody wants to eat. Take everything out and sort your items. Throw away what you no longer consume, get rid of anything that’s expired, and put the good products in a different pile.
Now that you know what’s getting inside the fridge again, give your appliance a good scrub. When you’re done with that, put your food back in and organize it in sections (dairy, meats, fruits, veggies, drinks, and cooked food) so it’s more functional. If you want to make things easier, check out these fridge organizers. They’re easy to clean and they make you more excited to keep things in order.
Day 3: entryway and living room
Your home can look messy if there are lots of shoes or clothes in your entryway, so if you want to declutter your home fast, pick up the mail or the jackets that are thrown on your seating area and put them where they belong.
Dust, vacuum, and mop the floors; clean your mirror; then move to your living room area. Pick up all the items that crowd your space, dust your coffee table, put all the books, magazines, cups, and glasses, as well as clothes, blankets, and throw pillows back to their places, and give your couch, floors, and rugs a quick and good clean, and that’s it. Now you can relax.
Day 4: go through your closets
Out of sight, out of mind doesn’t work here. If you don’t want to feel like you have nothing to wear each time you open your closet, it’s time to embrace day 4 of this challenge. You can easily declutter your home by showing your wardrobe some love.
Take everything out and put it in different piles: things you keep, things you sell, and things you donate. Chances are you own multiple things you might not wear again, so there’s no need to hold on to them forever.
You can make a pretty penny by selling your items on platforms like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or Poshmark, giving them to a friend or family member, or donating them to a local shelter. Now that you know what you no longer keep, give your closet a good scrub and put your items back in a way that makes sense to you. For instance, I love to organize the clothes on the hangers by color and have multiple boxes for things I only use seasonally, like puffer jackets or tank tops for the summer.
Put the things you wear constantly in the front, so it’s easier to reach them, and use your space as wisely as possible. Are you ready to declutter your home some more? The challenge continues, so keep reading!
Day 5: organize your pantry
How often do you declutter your home? And what are the tasks you usually take care of during the process? Let me know in the comments below, because I’m always looking for others’ tips, tricks, and inspiration.
You took care of your fridge and kitchen countertops on the second day of our cleaning challenge, but your pantry deserves just as much love as other areas in your home. Take everything out and wipe the surface of your counters. Then look at your products, toss what is expired or donate what you don’t need, and find a better way to put back the things you want to consume. This will help you find everything easily, so you won’t go to the store as often.
You can organize your pantry into zones: baking ingredients, canned goods, snacks, and easy meals. To make things simpler, use lazy Susans, risers, and clear containers. It will save you a lot of space and time in the future, trust me.
Day 6: Tidy up your toiletries
Many self-care at-home spa days include an extensive selection of creams, serums, and accessories, all of which can quickly fill up your bathroom drawers or cabinets. If your bathroom feels overstocked with cosmetics, prescription drugs, and other items, take a few minutes to empty your cabinets, drawers, and shelves.
Make a list of the things you truly use and discard any outdated cosmetics, nearly empty bottles, and other items you don’t use regularly. Use drawer dividers or storage containers to keep items grouped, and only restock items you know you’ll use.
If you have multiple bathrooms, make sure you give each one of them the same treatment, so your home is put together. I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t want to see outdated loofahs and expired amenities each time you go into your bathroom, so let’s get to work!
Day 7: organize your cookware
If you want to properly declutter your home, you need to go back to your kitchen and start organizing the cookware. You now probably have a better idea of what items you regularly use and what are only space-eaters, so take out everything in your cabinets, dust them, and then decide what you keep, what you donate, and where you put everything.
You can be creative and install a few shelves above your stove, or get a pegboard and place it on the wall to hang some pots, cutting boards, and pans. This will make your kitchen look more welcoming and pretty. However, if you don’t like having your cookware on display, I get it, so I recommend you install drawer dividers to organize your lids and containers and hang your pots and pans on a pantry wall that isn’t in plain sight.
Day 8: tidy your bookshelves
There’s something unique about looking at your books being nicely displayed on your bookshelf. It’s like they invite you to grab one and flip it or read it. So, to bring back that special feeling put on your favorite music and start this task. With the proper song and a good coffee, I guarantee you can declutter your home in as little as 30 minutes.
You can organize your books by color, genre, or height. If these criteria don’t sound appealing, you can arrange horizontal stacks of 3–5 books and break each section with a small accessory, like a scented candle, a little trinket, a picture frame, a small flower vase, or anything that makes you smile. This will break the classical structure of a traditional bookshelf and will make your home look magazine-worthy.
Day 9: organize your makeup
How often do you go through your makeup to see what’s still good, what’s expired, or what you don’t use? I have to admit that I tend to forget to organize my makeup, and that’s not good, especially since I can get allergies from products that aren’t good anymore.
Trust me, I know makeup can be pretty expensive, so you want to hold on to it as much as you can, but even if that eyeshadow palette looks great, you should toss it since you first opened it a couple of years ago. Besides being unsafe, holding on to old makeup prevents you from using your new and safe products.
Take some time out of your day to go through your cosmetics drawer and toss anything you don’t use, isn’t good, or is dried out. Clean your brushes and sponges and let them dry completely before putting them back in their place.
To make your job easier the next time you declutter your home and makeup drawer, you can label each product. Write down how much time is available to use after opening it (6 months, 12 months, or 24 months) and also the date you open it. Put your products in clear containers so you can see everything better, and place the items you use the most toward the front for easier access.
Day 10: TLC for your medicine cabinet
You likely have some expired items in your medicine cabinet if you haven’t cleaned it out in a while, and since you’re so motivated to declutter your home, it’s time to pay attention to that cabinet. This not only means you’re throwing away useful bathroom storage space, but you also won’t have any options the next time you catch a cold and notice that your decongestant is expired.
Make sure you get rid of prescriptions properly and throw away your expired ones. A medicine dropbox is a feature many pharmacies have, so you can leave off old prescriptions or expired goods. This is an environmentally friendly option and is free, so check it out.
As for the remaining goods, split them into categories so you can easily find what you need when you need it. Experts say that you should empty your medicine cabinet every six months and get rid of any items that are outdated or have been opened for an extended period.
Day 11: clean out your attic
If you’re lucky to have an attic, you know that it’s a great storage space that usually ends up with way too many things. It’s time to declutter your home, so get ready to organize your attic. Clear the shelves and dig through any boxes to see what you have and use and what you forgot you even owned.
Sell what you don’t use or donate it to charity, and organize what’s left into different piles. For instance, your seasonal decor can go on a single shelf or in a box. To make things even easier, you can label each box, so you don’t spend hours looking for your Christmas tree star.
Depending on how big or small your attic is, this task could take from half an hour to multiple days, so have patience, because the results are worth it. This is the hard part: once everything is organized and labeled, it will only get better.
Day 12: don’t forget about your junk drawer
While not everyone admits it, many of us have a junk drawer. Or at least one. It’s like a universal drawer that has lots of useful things that simply don’t have a home. Since it’s all over the place, it can be hard to remember what you have in there, but not anymore.
You don’t have to let go of this important drawer, and you’ll still declutter your home. Get some small containers or drawer dividers to put all those pencils, scissors, rubber bands, and any other items you might have in there, so you can easily access them when needed. And, of course, don’t forget to get rid of anything that’s broken or that you no longer use.
Day 13: get your garage in order
Since you don’t spend that much time in your garage, it’s understandable that it doesn’t look as polished as other places in your home. But not anymore! Besides being a great shelter for your cars, bikes, or motorcycles, your garage is also home to your garden tools, pool toys, power tools, and maybe even workout accessories. With so many items in there, no wonder it can turn into a hot mess. All you need to do is invest in some clear containers and pegboards and put everything where it’s supposed to be.
Use your pegboards to hold your tools and gardening supplies, and put other items in clear bags that are labeled by category. And if these ideas are not enough, and if your space is generous enough, install some shelves for extra storage space.
Day 14: straighten up your hallway closet
We’re almost done with this challenge, but we can’t end it without mentioning your hallway closet. An hour or two is all you need to declutter your home and make your closet look clean and neat again. It won’t take you long to sort through your linen closet, fold everything, and get rid of the items you don’t need any longer.
Invest in additional shelves to make even more room, or purchase storage boxes to keep things organized. You can give each shelf a category, so you’ll know exactly where to look for additional pillowcases or towels when you need them. Set aside a shelf for towels and bedding, and add ornamental baskets to store extra toilet paper or toiletries. You might extend the declutter challenge by one day for each hall closet if you have multiple ones.
What do you think about our 14-day challenge? Do you think it will help you declutter your home? If you have any tips for us or if you have any requests for what you’d like to read next, let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed reading this article and you’d like to check out something else from Wipe and Organize, here’s a good post for you: 10 Great Tips to Organize Your Attic and Use it For Storage
