I’m sharing a Declutter Your Home checklist to make cleaning and organizing every room in your home a stress-free and rewarding experience. Find the free printable absorption checklist at the bottom of this post.
The absorption of your home is not only about creating a visually pleasing space, but also about creating an environment that nurtures your well-being and enhances your everyday life. When your environment is free of clutter, it can significantly affect your mood and productivity.
The benefits of decluttering extend far beyond mere tidiness. Here’s how it can positively impact your life:
- Enhanced Mood: A clutter-free environment can promote feelings of calm and relaxation, reducing stress and anxiety levels. Feeling overwhelmed? Clearing that pile of mail will help!
- Increased productivity: When your space is organized, you can find things more easily, allowing you to focus on the tasks at hand without distractions.
- Improved focus: A clutter-free space helps clear your mind and enables you to focus better on your work or activities.
- Enhanced creativity: An organized environment can stimulate creativity by providing a clear mental space for new ideas.
Starting a decluttering project can be daunting, especially if you’re not sure where to start or feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items in your home. That’s why a systematic approach is the key to success.
Here’s a checklist to guide you through the absorption process.
Restore your home checklist
My method to remember: Start with the most visible surfaces (like countertops) and move further down the checklist to the deepest darkest corners.
Bedroom Declutter Checklist
- The floor – pick up anything on the floor! I hope you don’t have clothes on the floor, but if you do, I’m looking at you! Leave the clean clothes and throw the dirty ones in your hamper. If you have random things on the floor, like shopping bags or shipping boxes, tidy them up. Give your bedroom a quick vacuum.
- Shirt – What is in your dresser that you can remove? From cute ones to perfumes you never wear, consider keeping only things you need to access on a daily basis.
- Bedside tables (including drawers) – Nightstand drawers can be noticed for clutter. If you never wear the eye mask, consider moving it or getting rid of it. Recently I’ve had to thin out some books in print that I know I’ll never read.
Kitchen Declutter Checklist
The kitchen is a HUGE task, but it’s also one of the messiest places in people’s homes. Complete your checklist in one long day or chip away at one point per day for a few nights in a row. If it helps, try setting a timer and taking it off – 30 minutes a day can make all the difference!
- Benches – Keeping the flow from the surfaces to the hidden spots, start with the counters. My rule of thumb is that it can stay out if you use it daily. Even weekly devices I try to store elsewhere. If your kitchen is small, consider using other rooms like the dining room or living room for larger appliances (pot, waffle iron, etc.) that you only use occasionally. Consider the bonus that if they are stored inside a cupboard, they won’t accumulate as much dirt. Less to clean! Sort papers and put everything that doesn’t belong in the kitchen.
- Underpants + Cupboards – We often have more dishes than we need. If you don’t often host more than a dozen people, think about 8-10 of each type and call it a day. The same goes for Tupperware. You can always use a covered bowl or plate for leftovers, so try not to keep more than you need! This post has lots of ideas for organizing kitchen drawers.
- Cabinet – Check out this post for tips on organizing a closet!
- The junk drawer – Thin it out and organize it with clear acrylic drawers like these.
Office Declutter Checklist
- Desktop – Start relaxing with what you see when you sit at work. Remove anything not directly work-related from your desktop (except so you can keep that family photo!).
- Underpants – Desk drawers are next on the list of things to get rid of. Sorting paper can be tedious, but you probably don’t need to keep much. My rule is except for tax documents, if they are years old I don’t need them. Digitize anything using your phone’s digital scanner that you’re unsure about and upload it to the cloud storage of your choice. Paper shredders are available at most office supply stores. It cost me $10 to shred 10 years of paper!
- Shelf – If you have a shelf, now is the time to spend it too. Donate whatever books were from a previous era and keep only the decor you love!
Gift: Organize yourself Digital clutter!
Bathroom absorption checklist
- Benches – Just like in the kitchen, start with the counters to feel progress right away. A new organizer can help you keep track of items you use often, like your toothbrush or makeup. There are also clever organizers that stick to the inside of your cupboards to hold a hair dryer or other frequently used items. Check out my Amazon Store for all the organizing accessories I have.
- Underpants – Then tackle the drawers and lower cabinets. Most people have too much stuff here! I’m with you – I loved the samples and kept everything extra “just in case”. If it’s more than half used and you haven’t touched it in a year, get rid of it! Such items do not belong in your drawer, they take up valuable space.
- Wardrobes – Go through your linen closet if you have one or an overflowing bathroom accessories closet. Throw away anything that has expired or that you never use. Medicines are big in this department. This post has lots of medicine storage ideas.
Cupboard Checklist
- Most worn clothes – Start with the areas you access most often. For me that’s PJs, loungewear and workout clothes. All the sports fun! I start here and remove anything I haven’t worn in 6 months. If you’re nervous about donating things, you can put them in a box in the attic or garage and see if you think it’s worth going back to dig something up. If it is, you can keep it!
- Shelves and drawers – Then move on to your secondary clothes – all the things you are currently rotating. Refold and sort and remove anything you’ve forgotten or anything that doesn’t make you feel amazing to wear. If it doesn’t fit or it’s torn, it’s gone even if you once loved it!
- Combine hanging clothes – Then go through your hanging clothes: office wear, dresses, anything out of season as well. Donate what you don’t love. I always recommend the hanger trick: turn your hangers at the beginning of a season, turn them the right way once you wear and wash the garment, and at the end of the season, check your hangers to see which pieces you actually wore.
- Shoes – Sort your shoes! My latest rule is if it isn’t comfortable it’s a donation. That shows my age.
- Jewelry – Finally, sort jewelry and accessories. Just like clothes, my style for jewelry and purses has changed over the years.
Check out these 3 closet makeovers and don’t forget your linen closet!
Garage absorption checklist
The garage or sheds are always the hardest for me! They tend to house all the things you think you might need or don’t want to look at in your main spaces: holiday decor, yard supplies, kids stuff, seasonal stuff. Here is a post I did in our garage when we had one!
- Start from the waist / on the floor – Start with the last things you added. For us, this was the middle of the floor, aka there was no more room for it! Sort the floor first to get to the shelves and back more easily. Throw out anything that’s broken – the garage or storage is where I tend to put things that I’m done with but have delayed throwing away.
- Shelves – Then go through the shelves and sort by category. Group likes with likes and if you need some storage bins, now is the time to get some new ones!
- Things in bins – Finally, go through the bins or boxes you already have. You may not want to sort your holiday decor right now, but make a note to do so when you open the box next. Gardening supplies in the summer and holiday decorations in December!
Home Declutter Checklist
For you – a free PDF declutter checklist!
Check out this blog post for more throwaway tips for tackling other living room spaces + more!
THE MESSAGE CURE
If you’re getting ready to declutter, consider watching my friend Mia’s Clutter Therapy Workshop! Mia has an approach to clutter unlike anyone else, and her methods are truly transformative. If you can’t find a method that sticks long term, this workshop is for you!
You will learn:
- The bulletproof process for clutter-free living
- Why Most People Fail at Decluttering (and How to Avoid It)
- How to turn your home into the best support system
- How to optimize energy and flow in your space
You can also enjoy:
