Five Weeks to a Less-Cluttered House

It’s a new year, and my Facebook feed is full of posts promising me a clutter-free home. All I need to do is just click here! I really like getting rid of things, but I always appreciate a little motivation too. So I clicked. And then clicked again. I even signed up for a weekly email that I thought would tell me where to purge, but it turned out to be an ad for a book.

None of the pages I read were what I was looking for. I already know what to do with my stuff (throw it out or donate - I’m not willing to keep it all until spring for a yard sale), and I don’t really want organization tips, which is what most of them were anyway.
I want this junk out of here, not just in prettier containers.

Since I couldn't find any straightforward advice on getting rid of stuff, I made my own.

It's just a schedule of where to look each day for things you don't need.
Maybe it’s what you’re looking for too?
Let me know how it goes.


I'm going to assume you already know yourself and your purging strong suits and tendencies.  For myself, I go for the two-bag method: one white trash bag labeled "Donate" and one labeled "Trash".  I carry them around with me, and as they get full, I tie them shut and take them out to the car or to the garage.  I use white trash bags for a few reasons: my kids (and me!) can't see what's inside and rethink my decisions.  And I can write on them with a Sharpie and not risk confusing them.

Oh, and one more thing.  If I get interrupted, and have to stop my clutter gathering, I immediately tie my bags shut and take them out, even if they're not full.  No sense in risking that stuff staying in my house.  It's well worth a few cents for another garbage bag later.

Week One: Kitchen
We’ll start in the kitchen because there are just so many quick and easy opportunities here. Who needs two different garlic presses? Not me!  What about all the plastic food storage containers without lids?  Throw them in the bag without another thought!
Day 1: Drawers and Cupboards, Part 1 - silverware, cooking utensils, cutlery, and
eating dishes (plates, bowls, glasses, cups) and storage containers (Tupperware)
Day 2: Drawers and Cupboards, Part 2 - cooking items (pots, pans, Pyrex, measuring cups/spoons), and Small Appliances (blender, toaster, the food processor you got for a wedding present and used once to make carrot soup twenty years ago)
Day 3: Pantry - (open stale boxes of cereal, that soup mix that turned out to be nasty) and Spices/Seasonings (do I even know what that bottle of chunky old brown stuff used to taste like?)
Day 4: Junk/misc drawer and kitchen linens (dish towels, rags, oven mitts, tablecloths), under your sink (are there any cleaning supplies that you never use?), and the top of your fridge (get a chair and dive into that pile of whatever it is that you threw up there last spring)
Day 5: Cookbooks and recipes, and everything else (water bottles, lunch bags, whatever else is hiding in your cupboards)

Who am I kidding? I never use these cookbooks.

Ahhh.  That's better.  Now I can find my one good garlic press.

Doesn't your kitchen feel so much better when you can actually see your counters?

Week Two: Main Areas of Your House : Dining Room, Living Room, Family Room
This is the part of your house that your neighbors see.  Having less stuff makes it easier to keep this part picked up, which is pretty motivational, I think.
Day 1: China hutch, curio cabinet, or whatever large storage area you have here (why do I have four tablecloths? I only use two...)
Day 2: Videos, dvds, cds, whatever's in your entertainment center/closet
Day 3: Books and bookshelves
Day 4: Toys (remember not to get bogged down in reorganizing. Just donate or toss that stuff quickly, and move on)
Day 5: Coffee table, end tables, magazines and newspapers

Books have taken over my house. We've got about ten shelves just like this.

Books are one thing I find it hard to part with, but we managed to fill four big boxes to donate to our kid's school.

Being able to quick-clean your house is a gift.  Happy new year to you!


Week Three: Entrance
Day 1: Coat closet - put away all out of season coats and shoes, wash the dirty ones, donate anything your family won't use
Day 2: Front and back porches  (dead plants? muddy shoes, anything your kids left out there)
Day 3: Mail pile - if you find any past due bills, it's probably a good idea to take a minute and pay them...
Day 4: Desk/work area/paper organization area (this is my nemesis - it used to be a pile on my counter, then it was a pile in a hanging file, now it's a pile in a basket in my pantry)
Day 5: Purse/diaper bag (if you're like me, it will weigh a few pounds less when you're done... one time I found a packed coin purse of my daughter's at the bottom!)

Why is there so much garbage on my porch?

And YES, our Halloween pumpkin are still on our porch too.

These are your coming and going places, and they can inspire a lot of stress. You've just rid yourself of a lot of mental clutter. Breathe a big sigh of relief!

Week Four: Bathrooms and Laundry Room, and your Car
Day 1: Laundry Room - top of washer and dryer, shelves, (this is when you kiss that box of mismatched socks goodbye, seriously, goodbye)
Day 2: Bathrooms - personal products (empty bottles of shampoo/conditioner, old makeup, stinky lotion, hair products no one uses... just bring your trash bag with you to every bathroom and fill it up)
Day 3: Medicines and first aid supplies (outdated medicines, combine half full containers, toss the sticky bottle of infant Tylenol, you don't need it, your baby is four...)
Day 4: Towels (threadbare disasters that don't dry anyone? throw them in the rag bin or toss them in your trash bag) and anything else you store in here
Day 5: Your car - just grab two grocery store bags for this - one for stuff that goes in your house, and one for trash

This is the current state of our laundry. Don't you feel better about your life now?

Start now teaching those little ones how to make a bathroom shine!

I just love a clean sink.

Don't you feel cleaner already? It's like having a clean bathroom somehow makes you a better person.

Week Five: Master Bedroom and Closet
Day 1: Under bed, bedside tables, dresser top (these are places where "stuff" lives... get rid of it!)
Day 2: "The Pile" - you know what I mean.  It might be on a chair, your dresser, or even your treadmill...
Day 3: Closet floor - (this is where I tell my kids to put everything I'm not sure what to do with.  It can get pretty crazy in there sometimes)
Day 4: Closet shelves - shoes, purses, bags, scarves, accessories.  Anything that's not clothes
Day 5: Your clothes - be quick, and be decisive.  Today is not the day to try on everything.  It's not even the day to turn all your hangers around, or anything else.  It is the day to fill up a few "Donate" bags, and maybe even some "Trash" bags.  Only look at the back or sides of your hanging clothes bar, at the bottom 1/3 of stacks on the shelves, and the bottom 1/3 of your bins or drawers.  This is where what you don't wear hides.  Get rid of it.  You will love your closet so much more.

This is the corner of my bedroom. This is ground zero for me.

And my daughter's clothes literally spilling out of her dresser. Classy.

My husband's night stand. Books and inhalers, cause he's cool like that.

Throwing out stuff can be scary, but imagine if your closet only had clothes that you love. Getting dressed in the morning would be a delight if you didn't have to sort through all the stuff that is outdated or doesn't fit!

You've just turned your bedroom back into the sanctuary it was meant to be. Now go take a well earned nap in your quiet, stress free space.

That's it, five weeks to a new, cleaner, happier home. Will it work? I don't know yet; I'm trying it right along with you. But what have we got to lose besides all that trash?
Let me know how it goes for you, and I'll keep you posted on mine too. Happy purging!