A Cleaning Checklist To Help You Get 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. 

Grab a piece of paper and a pen and walk through your home as you read through the list of ideas for each room, noting down every small project that you see. With a plan of action in place, you'll be ready to transform your space.

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!

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 décor from your coffee table, side tables, and shelves. Keep only the essentials and the decorative items that truly resonate with you.

Pantry and fridge: Sort through your pantry and fridge, discarding expired items and donating what is still good but that 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.

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.

Toiletries: Sort through and discard all expired products, especially skin care 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.

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.