The holidays are approaching. And I’m sure you’re excited to put the tunes on and give your home a makeover. With so much to do in such little time, it can seem overwhelming to take up a big decluttering project and try to accomplish it quickly.
Even though it’s always good to get done with the tasks that are likely to take a lot of time (like decluttering garage, kitchen cabinets & cupboards and bedroom closets), you can still make your home feeling Christmas-ready by taking up a 14-day Decluttering Challenge that won’t require you to work like a slave.
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The aim of this 14-day declutter challenge is to deal with the most problematic areas in your home one day at a time. While this challenge doesn’t come with any strict rules that you need to follow, you’re advised to manage your time in a way that the tasks get completed before Christmas. Give yourself breaks in between if that’s what you need, but make sure that you keep yourself motivated enough to reach the end of this challenge.
So, if you have worked out your schedule to tackle the clutter in your home, here’s the list of tasks you can take up during the 14-day period:
Day 1: Refrigerator
- Take everything out and place it on the counter or tabletop.
- Remove the shelving and wash it properly. Wipe down the inside of the fridge.
- Throw away stale, old and expired food items.
- Place everything back inside in a systematic way. Don’t forget to use bins, baskets and round containers to organize the contents of your fridge.
- Here’s a detailed post on how you can declutter your fridge within a few hours.
Day 2: Makeup And Skincare
- Get rid of makeup that is old, contaminated, empty, broken or unloved.
- Trash empty bottles of mist, body sprays and perfume.
- Donate or give away the duplicate products that you won’t be able to finish on your own.
- Here’s a detailed post on how you can declutter your entire makeup & skincare collection.
Day 3: Jewellery & Accessories
- Let go of the purses, scarves, wallets and hats that you rarely use.
- Get rid of the cosmetic jewellery that doesn’t go along with any of your dresses. Also let go of the pieces that you don’t love enough.
- Sell away the precious jewellery items that you haven’t worn in a while or the ones that you won’t call your favourites.
- Let go of the pieces that are hard to maintain.
- For a detailed post on decluttering your jewellery, click here.
Day 4: Pantry
- Take everything out and place it on the counter.
- Remove the shelving and wash it with soapy water. Wipe down the inside of the pantry and scrub the stains.
- Trash the old and expired food items.
- Take stock of everything that’s left and place the items back inside. Use vertical shelving to maximize the space and get a bunch of bins and baskets to organize the pantry.
- For a detailed post on decluttering your pantry, click here.
Day 5: Electronics
- Look through the drawer of charging cables and cords and get rid of anything that you haven’t used in the last year.
- Get rid of cell phones that are broken and items that are too outdated.
- Throw away old television sets, stereos, computers, monitors and CD players that haven’t been used in years.
- If you want to get into the details of decluttering your electronics, here’s a post that can help.
Day 6: Shoes
- Donate or give away the duplicate shoes and heels.
- Let go of the pieces that are damaged, worn-out or stained.
- If you haven’t worn a pair of shoes in the last one year, it’s a sign that you don’t love it enough. Donate it at the soonest.
- Use underbed storage to store the off-seasonal shoes. And make use of shoe organizers to organize the pieces that are worn quite often.
- If you wish to declutter your shoe collection thoroughly, check out this post.
Day 7: Kids’ Toys & Games
- Let go of the toys your kids have outgrown and the ones they don’t love playing with anymore.
- Get rid of the broken and damaged toys.
- Trash the board games and toys with missing pieces.
- For a detailed post on how to declutter kids’ toys, click here.
Day 8: Junk Drawer
- Take everything out of the junk drawer.
- Wipe down the inside of your junk drawer. Place a lining mat and a drawer organizer inside the drawer.
- Sort through the contents of your junk drawer and put away the items that don’t belong there.
- Start putting everything back inside the drawer in a systematic manner. Make sure that you don’t clutter it to the brim.
Day 9: Garage
- Sell old furniture, appliances and sports equipment that has been sitting in your garage purposelessly.
- If you have an old, broken car or bike sitting in your garage for years, now is the time to decide what to do with it. You can either sell it for some cash or get it repaired for your own use.
- Look through the items in your garage one shelf at a time and get rid of anything that is purely junk.
- Use sturdy bags, strong shelves, ceiling hooks and a lot of carton boxes to organize your garage.
- If you have time to declutter your garage thoroughly, here’s a post that can help.
Day 10: Clothes Closet
- Take everything out of the closet and place it on the bed.
- Pull the items out of the pile one by one and ask yourself the right questions to decide whether to trash, keep or donate them.
- Try on the clothes to decide if they still fit you or make you feel good.
- Get rid of clothes that are worn-out, stained, torn or unloved.
- If you haven’t decluttered your closet in a while and want to do it right now, here’s a post that can help.
Day 11: Books, Newspapers & Magazines
- Sort through your collection of magazines, and get rid of the ones you’ve already read or don’t intend to read in future.
- Preserve the important newspaper cuttings and keep only the latest newspapers in your bookshelf.
- Look through your book collection and donate the ones that you didn’t like enough to read again. Also get rid of the books that don’t belong to your genre of interest.
- For a detailed post on how to declutter your books, click here.
Day 12: Kitchen Cabinets & Cupboards
- Donate duplicate kitchen appliances and utensils.
- Let go of bakeware that hasn’t been used in the last one year.
- Look through the spice rack and trash the old and expired items.
- If you wish to declutter the kitchen cabinets thoroughly, click here for a detailed post on the same.
Day 13: Linen Closet
- Donate the threadbare towels and blankets to a charity or an animal shelter. You can also use some of the old linens as cleaning rags for your home or car.
- Let go of the excess comforters, blankets, pillow covers and towels.
- Let go of the bedspreads and sheets that don’t go with the size of your bed.
- Here’s how you can declutter your linen closet in a few hours.
Day 14: Junk Mail
- Trash the mail that isn’t important enough to hold on to. Get rid of bills that have been paid and receipts that are no longer required to be kept.
- Shred the unimportant/old mail that may have any confidential information.
- Use a mail organizer to keep your mail systematically organized.
So there you have it! Note that you will come across a lot of challenges during these 14 days. You may also find yourself feeling stuck because of all the fears that come with decluttering your home. But make sure that you don’t give up until you’ve cut the last bit of clutter in your home before Christmas.
Happy holidays!