Declutter your Home in 21 days

If you're sick and tired of living in a messy home, but just the thought of organizing makes your head spin, don't worry! If you spend only 15 minutes a day decluttering and organizing, you can have the minimalist home of your dreams in only 21 days. The secret is tackling one thing at a time - not trying to do everything at once and giving up after a couple of hours. If you are patient and consistent, the hard work will pay off. 

Are you ready? Check out this great infographic from our friends at HappyCleans.

Start by looking through the papers, receipts and bills that accumulate on top of desks around the house. Throw them away or put them in a folder so that you know where to find them when you need them in the future. On the second day, take a good look through your fridge and freezer, and throw away any expired products that are hiding. Move things that are expiring soon to the front so you don't forget about them, and get rid of any packaging that only takes up space. Then, on day three, do the exact same thing to your pantry to tidy it up. Next, look through all of your kitchen cabinets and drawers, see what you need to keep and what you can get rid of. You will notice how much cleaner your kitchen will start to feel, and this sense of accomplishment will keep you going through the rest of the week! 

It's time to look through all the old magazines and books that you keep in random drawers around the house. See if you want to keep them, and if you don't, donate them to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or even to local libraries and theatres. Now, on the sixth day, we recommend tackling the infamous junk drawer! Take everything out and move them to their appropriate places, or simply throw them out. Believe it or not, the week has already come to an end! So on the seventh day, please look over all the amazing work you did throughout the week, and work on any of those areas that are starting to look messy again. The key is cleaning and organizing before it gets out of hand! 

The second week will start off easy; take all of the CDs and DVDs you have laying around the house, and ask yourself if you need to keep them. Nowadays, everything is available online through streaming services, so donate them to free up some space in your home. The next day can be used for tackling the medicine cabinet; throw away any expired products and get rid of anything you don't use. Move what you use most often to the front, and what you rarely use to the back, to keep things tidy. The next day, you can do the same thing to your bathroom cabinets. Great job! 

Look at your dining room table, on day eleven. Chances are you will find things that don't belong there, that have been left there for the sake of convenience. Put them away or, whenever possible, dispose of them completely. On day twelve, please look through your bedroom closet and donate any clothes that no longer fit you, and only keep what you actually like and use. This might be hard to do at first, but seeing how much tidier and cleaner your closet looks will undoubtedly inspire you to keep going! 

Day thirteen has arrived and you should now look through your socks and underwear drawer. Get rid of anything you no longer use - or no longer should use. Don't hold onto holey socks, toss them in the garbage bin! Just like a week ago, the last day of the week is a catch-up day - look at all of the areas you've cleaned so far and if anything needs some tidying up, do it right away. Seeing your progress should be inspiring! 

On the first day of week three, consider donating any linen you don't use to animal shelters or homeless shelters in your area. Only keep what you actually use, so you can free up some space and help someone else in the process. Tackle your laundry room on day sixteen, throw away any old laundry products, and tidy everything up. Look through your kids' toys on day seventeenth, see what they use on a daily basis and what they don't. You can have them participate, ask them to let you know what they would like to keep and what should be donated to other kids who would appreciate it more. Then, look through the kid's closet, see what they still use and what can also be donated. If you're saving some outfits for younger kids, please put them in a storage bin, label it, and store it away. 

Day nineteenth has arrived, so you should take a look at the garage, and throw away anything that could be hiding there even though it is not needed. Get rid of anything that is taking up space and tidy everything up. On day twenty, take two bags to your car - one for what needs to be taken into the house, and one for trash. Whatever you do take back into the house, please put them in an appropriate place right away to keep things neat. Congratulations on making it to the last day! Please look for any areas that still need some tidying up and work on them, to make sure you will start the new week with a fresh, organised home. 

Remember to always pace yourself. Don't try to do everything at once, as it's just not possible. And don’t focus on perfection, be flexible. Life gets in the way sometimes so, if you have to skip a day, don’t beat yourself over it, there’s always tomorrow.