Happy weekend everyone! I’m so excited about today’s post! Ahhhh! We are going to get organized! All of us! Together! The whole house! Totally organized! Or at least pretty close. ;) You all know how much I love organization. It’s just the best. There are so many benefits to having an organized home! Just to name a few..
- We save SO much time when our homes are organized. Think of how much time you spend looking for things when your house is messy. We’ve all been there! Maintaining messy spaces, hunting for items we need. Wasting time we could be spending working on our goals, enjoying hobbies, family and friends.
- We save money by not buying duplicates of things or items we don’t use/love.
- When our homes are cluttered so are our minds. Our homes have a HUGE impact on how we feel each day! Happiness, self confidence, productivity.. an organized home helps with all of that. Your overall mental health will improve when your home is in order. Don’t underestimate how important it is!
If having an organized home is so amazing why don’t we all have one? Well. Because it’s not easy. But I will tell you this. It’s doable! And it’s absolutely worth the effort. My house is not perfectly clean all the time. It’s really not. Anyone who has kids and a busy family is going to have messes. Even if you have no kids and a low key schedule your house will be messy at times! That’s life. But when you only keep things you use and love and you have systems set up in each room to keep items organized, messes just aren’t a big deal and can be cleaned up quickly.
So are you convinced? Are you sold on the importance of having an organized home? Are you ready to organize with me!? I so hope you are all nodding your heads! :) To kick off March and Spring I thought it would be fun to host an organization challenge! There are 9 weeks in March and April combined. We are going to focus on organizing certain rooms in our home each week. If we really commit to this and work hard on one space each week think of how amazing our homes will feel 2 months from now!
Here is our schedule..
Week 9 – GARAGE (April 25-May 1)
I’m going to be doing this right along with you! Yes a lot of these spaces in my home are already organized, but some of them aren’t. I have several hot spots I’ve never really organized and I’m excited to knock them all off of my list for good! Also my organized spaces can all use a quick tidy/re-fresh. Even if your home is mostly organized I still think you can benefit from this challenge! We all can. It’s a great time of year to really determine if our homes, systems and routines are working well for us. If they aren’t.. it’s time to fix that!
The challenge starts this Monday, March 1st! This is what I want you to do this weekend..
It’s one large PDF but you can choose what you want to print!
There are 3 pages that include a general checklist and tips. If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.. follow this! Obviously every home is different and some things might not apply, but it’s a good general idea of what items are important to focus on.
I also included 3 pages of the same checklists that are blank! If you’d rather fill out your own checklist items for each space, print these out and get to work making your to-do list. This is helpful because our homes are so unique. Some of my home office items might be located in your kitchen, etc. There is also a printable that has every space on one page if you don’t feel like you need as many to-do lines. Most of us will need the 3 pages. ;) Print just a few or print them all! Use whatever is helpful and make these checklists work for you.
2 – Follow me on IG if you aren’t already. I’ll be sharing pictures, tips and my progress on my main feed and in stories. I’m going to use the hashtag #ssugetorganized and would absolutely LOVE it if you would share your before/after pictures on IG too! Tag me at erin_sunnysideup and use the hashtag #ssugetorganized and I’ll share some of your before/afters in stories to help motivate us all and give us more ideas! I’m thinking I’ll mail a few fun things to people participating too. :)
3 – Buy black garbage bags if you don’t have them already. A label maker is helpful too but not necessary! (I’ve heard really good things about this label maker.)
4 – Get a friend to do it with you! I’m serious. Right now call or text a close friend or family member and get them on board. It’s so much more fun and it will hold you accountable each week!
Ok.. that’s it for this weekend! *Print the printables, make your lists, get your garbage bags ready, follow me on IG and text a friend!
I’ll be writing one post about the assigned space to kick off each week with some ideas and tips that have helped me. Here are a few general tips to keep in mind before we get started..
General tips:
This isn’t a cleaning challenge. Cleaning and organizing go hand in hand so let me explain. The goal of this challenge is to get rid of items we don’t need and to organize the cupboards, drawers, piles, hot spots in our homes that are cluttering up our lives. If you finish cleaning out all of your bathroom cupboards/drawers and have time to then wipe off counters and mirrors and scrub your shower.. go for it! But the main goal is to PURGE like your life depends on it and organize all of the hidden messy spaces. Do that first! Then if you have extra time during the week you can do some deep cleaning too.
I’ll say it again.. be ruthless with purging/donating items! Pump yourself up before you start to get rid of as much as you can. Less is more. Trust me.. you won’t miss things! To truly be organized you have to be comfortable living with less stuff.
If you’re short on time one week and can’t really get around to organizing your space, just commit to purging items you don’t need/use/love. Just doing that alone will make a difference! You can come back to that space to organize it all later. Feel free to move ahead if you complete spaces early, just don’t get burned out! It might be better for you to put your feet up and rest if you complete a space early so that you have energy to tackle a new space the next week. :)
Don’t buy organizers YET. Wait until each space is complete to see what you really need. Then if organizers would be helpful you can order some.
Resist the urge to over organize and have everything labeled and color coordinated. Yes.. this is coming from me. The one who loves to over organize and label everything and make it all color coordinated. Ha. ;) That’s my personality (I have a touch of OCD in case you haven’t noticed!) and I’m a more naturally organized person and it’s part of what I do for a living. If that’s you too then great.. go for it! Live it up and label away! If that’s just NOT you.. take the pressure off of yourself immediately! The goal of this challenge is to get rid of clutter and to set up systems that work for you/your family and that will be sustainable. For example: If having all of your cereal dumped into clear cereal bins isn’t something you want to keep doing every time you get groceries.. don’t do it! Designate a spot for your cereal boxes all together in your pantry/cupboard and line them up. Done! Something you can easily maintain. (I’m talking to you mom.) ;)
Don’t waste too much time making decisions. You want to move fast and get as much done as you can in the time you have. I always say when it doubt.. donate! Plus moving fast keeps your momentum up!
Get a good playlist ready! Or download a good book on audible or find some fun podcasts to listen to while you work. Make this fun!
It’s time to party! My kind of party. And you’re all invited. #ssugetorganized
LET’S DO THIS!
:)
Fantastic!!! How fun! Thank you Erin! Can’t wait to get going! :)
Genelle you made my day! You are so welcome. I’m thrilled you’re joining the party! :)
I love this! Thanks for offering l the challenge! I hope I can stick with it! I just did my bathroom drawers over the last few days (and still need to do the cabinet) and you should have seen all the old makeup I threw out! I’m thinking of other rooms in my home and they can definitely be purged and organized.
Leah you got a head start on bathrooms.. love it! I’m so happy you are joining and doing it with me! Feels so good to get rid of old makeup/bathroom junk doesn’t it!? You can totally stick with it. I’m just focusing on what I need to do one week at a time so I don’t start to feel overwhelmed! We’ve got this. :)
Great timing…I’m starting a pantry organization and overhaul! Much needed clear out and even painting!! This will be fun to take on some more areas with you 💜
YEA! So fun Lynn! I’m thrilled you’re joining me! Painting and putting everything back organized is the best! :)
I’ve done do much of this many times and I continue to find more to donate or sell. Each time I purge another layer! I truly does feel great having less. Thanks for the inspiration and the printable too.
I agree Dianne! There is always more that can go! I’m excited to go through even my organized spaces and get rid of more. It feels amazing to have room to breathe in drawers/cupboards! So happy you’re joining! :)
Hi Erin ~ I’m in the process of doing this myself but it will sure be fun to share the journey along the way. It is daunting, especially for someone who finds sentimental value in EVERYTHING, but I’m committed to doing this. Fun times!
Yea! I’m so happy you’re joining Maria! I’m sentimental about things often too and have had to work really hard to get over that! I always remember “if everything is special than nothing is special.” For some reason that phrase helps me so much! I’ve also found that the more often I clean and donate items we don’t need the easier it gets. We’ve got this! :)
This is so useful. Thank you. ‘If everything is special then nothing is special’ . I hold so much value to sentiment that I feel so much guilt if I give away something somebody else gave me, even if it really is not my style or taste . I’ve have recently moved into a new home and I am unpacking our boxes trying to make a plan to make everything fit, when I should probably give half away! This challenge is well-timed. Thank you
I’m so happy that resonated with you Lindsay! It always helps me so much. I used to feel the same way about gifted items but I finally just decided years ago to let that guilt go! I usually wasn’t really displaying or using the items anyway so what good was it doing sitting in my cupboard collecting dust when someone else might love and really benefit from it? Moving into a new home is the perfect time for a fresh start. I’m so happy you are joining! Good luck! :)
So excited about this! Very much needed! I’ll need boxes too for a lot of the stuff I’ll want to donate that might be breakable, but luckily we’ve had lots of Amazon deliveries so I should have what I need.
YEA!! Perfect MaryJo! I’m so happy you are joining! :)
Hi Erin, I am excited to join you!, This is perfect timing for me!,
Yea! I’m so happy to hear that Pam! We’ve got this! :)
I’m excited for this! I got a lot of the house pretty organized during the pandemic but it’s now been so long 😢😢😢 that there are areas that could use revisiting. This is perfect motivation; thank you!
I know how you feel Jill! I want to give a lot of my already organized spaces a re-fresh too! Will be so nice to be back on top of it all. I’m thrilled you are joining! :)
Thank you so much for this. I’m really going to try and keep up with it. I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed w/ my home lately but after reading your post, I’m feeling so motivated. Looking forward to following along with your progress as well.
I’m so happy to hear that Shannon! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it all isn’t it!? Just focus on that one space each week! We’ll get there! :)
This is amazing! Love how easy you make it by telling me what to do, lol.
I have a huge house with a ton of cabinets and closets, I figured it would be easier to keep organized bc I have the space. What I find is that I am more unorganized because I can just stuff things in closets and hide it! I am doing this! Just got started today!
Rebecca I’m so happy you brought that up! I had the SAME experience moving into our current home! I thought it would be so easy to keep organized because I had more room/storage.. the opposite is true! It’s so much harder in a bigger house! We get lazy. I had to be ruthless in my smaller homes/apartments. I kept less and was more organized because of it! I”m so happy you are joining! Feels so good to get rid of things we don’t need!
I printed out the Challenge and I plan on tackling this when the grandchildren get out of school for the summer. I take them to and from school and keep the one year old so I cannot attempt this until they will be home for the summer. Their mom is a teacher so I get the summer off too! Haha My house has gotten out of hand the past couple of years. I had a car wreck, broke my back and had surgery. Needless to say, I am not able to do all that I used to and the house needs a complete overhaul, more organization and a deep spring cleaning. I love the organizing, not much on the cleaning part. It will get done this summer! I am determined and finally physically able to get this done. I so enjoy seeing your beautiful home and all of your ideas. Thanks for the inspiration.
Becky I’m so sad to hear about your back! That’s awful. I’m so sorry for all you’ve gone through with that. My dad recently had back surgery and it is NOT fun. I’m happy to hear you are feeling better! And yes.. definitely wait until the one year old is back with mom for a while! Trying to clean/organize with a one year old around is a lost cause. I remember that phase well. :) It’s so sweet of you to help with your grandkids! Your daughter is lucky to have you. And summer is a great time to tackle things! One week and one drawer at a time. :) Thank you for your sweet comment. I loved hearing from you! xo