Just A Big Old Cleaning Checklist To Help You Get You Organized At Home

Decluttering is one of the foundational ways to create a life-changing fresh start. Clutter that accumulates around you can exacerbate stress, confusion, and exhaustion. Getting rid of it can recalibrate your energy and allow new abundance to flow freely to you. 

This simple guide will walk you through decluttering each room in your home in a way that promotes better mental and physical well-being. You can use it as a starting point to make a personal checklist for your own home.

Setting yourself up for success

As you make your own checklist, you can also head into the garage, attic, storage rooms, and laundry room, etc. to write down all your projects in detail. This is just a start!

I suggest starting with very small daily decluttering projects—cleaning a drawer, a shelf, or a closet section. You might set a timer on your phone for 15 minutes and make the most of this focused time to complete one of these small projects every day as you build momentum. You’re much more likely to stick with your plan if the process is fun and not too overwhelming.

The living room

Furniture: Look around and ask yourself if you love and need the furniture in your living room. Are there extra tables or chairs that make the space feel cramped? Remove any furniture that doesn't serve a purpose. You can sell these pieces, donate them, or gift them meaningfully in Buy Nothing groups. 

Art: Do you have art on the walls that you don’t particularly like or want in this room? Can you move it to a better place? If it’s a painting, can you paint over it yourself? If it’s a photograph you don’t care for, can you blow up a favorite photo in your phone camera roll and swap it out in the frame? Your art is a major energy source in your home, so keep it fresh.

Decor: Start by removing extra decor from your coffee table, side tables, and shelves. Keep only the essentials and the decorative items that truly resonate with you.

Entertainment and electronics: Organize cords, remote controls, and electronic gadgets. If you have many visible wires, consider using cable organizers and beautiful extension cords.

The kitchen

Pantry and fridge: Sort through your pantry and fridge, discarding expired items and donating what is still good but you won't use. As you're decluttering the pantry, it’s a great time to wash the shelves well and transfer staples like cereals, nuts, flours, dried beans, and dried fruit into mason jars or large labeled canisters. As you clean out the refrigerator, give it a thorough scrub with warm, soapy water and a drop or two of your favorite citrus essential oil for a burst of joy.

Countertops: Clear your countertops and scrub them thoroughly. Store frequently used items and appliances, keeping surfaces as open as possible. If you keep spices out on the counter, see if you can find a spice rack that attaches to a wall. Or, check out rolling storage solutions like metal rolling carts with shelves that can house your small appliances (on the bottom) and spices/utensils you frequently use (on top). Speaking of utensils, keep only the ones you regularly use!

The bedroom

Closets: Sort through your clothes and reorganize things so that your fall clothes are featured when you open your closet. Donate or sell items you no longer wear, as well as outfits with memories attached to them that are no longer a match for your life.

Nightstands: Eliminate as much technology as possible from your nightstands, opting for a simple lamp and a basic alarm clock, perhaps a vase of fresh flowers, crystals, a candle, or a great book. Moving technology out of your bedroom can supercharge your sleep and create more of a love-filled sanctuary.

The bathroom

Toiletries: Sort through and discard all expired products, especially skincare and makeup. If you don’t already have one, consider a shower caddy to organize your soaps, body washes, shampoos, conditioners, and scrubs.

Towels: Organize your towels, keeping only what you need that’s in great shape. Animal shelters are a great place to donate towels that are slightly worn. Use baskets or shelves to neatly store the towels you do keep.  

Home office:

Papers and documents: Start shredding! A shredder is a wonderful investment if you’ve got years of paperwork on your hands. Sort through papers and documents, shredding unnecessary documents and creating an organized filing system for important ones.

Office supplies: Organize office supplies in drawers or containers (I use a mason jar for my favorite pens and markers) so that you can access them easily. If you’ve got extra supplies in abundance, gift them meaningfully. I’ve found many teachers on my local Buy Nothing Facebook group who were more than happy to take all the extra highlighters, pens, and art supplies I’ve accumulated over the years and put them to great use.

Technology: Update all your technology and declutter it as well, deleting emails, apps, music, photos, and more that you don’t need. If you want to store your digital files, a hard drive or two can be a good addition to your storage solutions. You can store photos, music, videos, and documents on hard drives to free up space on your computer.

The takeaway

When you declutter each and every small project on your list, celebrate your progress. This will help you to infuse each room with joy, intention, and purpose, creating an environment that reflects you at your best. By letting go of the old, you speed the new into your life in magnificent ways. Fresh starts, new opportunities, more peace, and so much empowerment is waiting for you!