If there is one thing everyone knows about me, it is that I enjoy being clean, tidy, and organized. This year I decided I wanted to kick off the year in a new place. Not a new place physically, but a place that could give me a better mindset for the year ahead. I still had yet to put away some of my Christmas gifts. My laundry was piling up because who has time to do laundry while visiting with family? And I couldn’t even remember the last time I unloaded my dishwasher which was filled with clean dishes just sitting around. I’ll be the first to admit that these indiscretions were caused by many factors including the holidays, work, and being pretty darn busy.

But as I settled into the new year I could feel like nothing but a cluttered mess. I took stock of what I needed and set out to get rid of everything that was no longer serving me. Sure, I’ve written about my spring cleaning a few times, but this was much earlier than expected and very needed. Despite the chaos that something like this causes, I find it relaxing. Perhaps this is because it is a controlled chaos. I know everything has a place and everything will be where it belongs.

Maybe you feel like me and wanted to get rid of all the bad juju you’ve been carrying around or maybe you’re just looking to get organized. Either way, here is how I recently got my shit together. Well…in my home anyway.

NOTE: this post is NOT sponsored by Made By Design at Target but, as you can see, it should have been. I genuinely use and LOVE Made By Design products.

First Step: Pick a Room, Any Room

This seems like a no brainer, but whether you pick a bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen, just pick one. Don’t set about to do little things in each space. Do them one at a time and give it your full attention. I’m glad I didn’t take photos of the chaos that is created as I move from room to room one at a time. I section the room off even further and toss everything I’m keeping into the middle. Crazy right? Well, the point is to find the home of things that belong there or find them a new home at the end. This makes it easier to throw things away as well. I always carry a basket of some kind that collects things that have lost their real home while putting other things back where they go. Going room by room makes the overall task of cleaning and organizing less daunting. Just don’t keep moving things back and forth. If I wasn’t going to keep it in my living room, what makes me think I’m going to keep it in my bedroom?

Throw It Away and Don’t Look Back

Alright look, over the holidays we collected a bunch of stuff. Wrapping paper, bows, bags, tissue paper..the whole nine yards. What are you saving it for? Are you REALLY going to use that wrinkled tissue paper again? Odds are no. I’m going to go to Target, forget I even have that, and buy more. Toss it. That big pile of receipts I have there…what are you doing? Unless it’s a big purchase or something I need to keep track of (hey business expenses), I don’t keep it. There are many apps and other ways to keep track of these things. It’s not like anyone is going to ask for a proof of purchase for that H&M blazer you purchased last week. Don’t forget the tech either. If you can’t find a single thing that charger goes to…that charger has got to go. I know it’s hard to throw things away. What is the off chance one day you do need that one charger that nothing goes to? Just save yourself the struggle and break free of things. You’re going to feel much better especially if the things you are tossing have emotional baggage behind them.

If you do insist on keeping mementos (hey even I have them), I suggest using plastic shoe boxes. They are easy to label and reuse. Not to mention they are pretty small, they can be stacked, and they can hold quite a bit of important things. Everything your keeping can have a place of its own. There is no need to go crazy and throw away your entire life (although sometimes we feel like we could). Other things can stay out in decorative bowls and baskets for ease of use.

Do a Closet Clean Out

This one may be the hardest for me and the bane of my existence. Women, on average, only wear 20 to 30% of their wardrobe. This means there is plenty of clutter taking up valuable room in one of the tiniest spaces in any home. Like any woman, I find this task very daunting. I have my many go-to pieces. The classics I know that I can pull out on any day and feel my best. Minimal effort goes into creating outfits here. But as I clean out my closet I begin to find things I have worn once or maybe never worn at all (yikes). Suddenly I can’t get rid of these pieces. What if I suddenly need that t-shirt that is 2 sizes too big? The best thing to do is develop piles. My most frequently worn clothes in one, clothes I really love in another, and everything else I can stand to get rid of. These are the things that no longer fit, just don’t fit my style, or no longer serve any purpose. Same goes with my dresser drawers. The things I feel I need to get rid of, that are not worn away too badly or too old, can go to a new home. Donate them to a women’s shelter, charitable organization, or try to make some money off quality items with a service like ThredUp. Now it’s simply about resisting the temptation to fill my closet back up….

The things I put back in are sorted into the style of clothes. Sweaters, tops etc all come together in sections in my closet and drawers. I have a shoe rack that contains my most frequently used shoes and special ones (like knee high boots) go in plastic containers for safe keeping. Dust accumulates quickly in the desert and that’s not fashionable. At the end of each season, I put heavy sweaters and jackets away for safe keeping in large bins that fit in the bottom of my closet or under my bed.

Don’t skip the bathroom

The bathroom is just a naturally gross place to me. It’s super easy to go overboard with the cleaning. The bathroom tends to be the place where I move lotions, serums, and even random hair ties I find everywhere else. The biggest culprit are lotions that I’ve replaced with different ones but still need a home. The easiest place to start in the bathroom are drawers, shelves, and the medicine cabinet. If it’s expired throw it away. If I haven’t used it in a long while, throw it away. Whatever accumulates under the sink that I clearly have not touched in ages can go. Somehow that always becomes a giant black hole. Once I’m done throwing things away, I refill empty canisters (cotton balls, cotton swabs etc) and clean off every surface. This is especially true for spaces I rarely ever notice like the space behind my towel basket and the baseboards along the floor. Do not forget to replace the shower curtain liner. Those can get disgusting over time and go relatively unnoticeable. Same for the bathmat. Bathmats should be replaced once a year because they get worn down over time. Not to mention dirty if someone dare to walk on them with shoes which absolutely makes me shudder.

Once everything is cleared out and clean, I put everything back where it belongs. I have come to love the idea of trays. I originally thought they just looked weird and out of place. But I recently decided to use them to corral beauty product samples, hair ties, and keep lotions in line on a shelf. I use a large bin to store all my bathroom cleaning essentials under the sink for easy access. My life, and perspective, has been forever changed.

OH..AND THE KITCHEN TOO

As someone who cooks quite a bit, it’s easy for my kitchen to become a disaster area. I try very hard to clean it once a week typically when I’m meal prepping my salads. But every once in awhile (once a year minimum) it requires a deep clean. For this I start on one corner and move in sections. It feels less overwhelming that way. Plus there are top and bottom cabinets to deal with in addition to the countertops. It was especially needed this go round because my family had bought my quite a few pieces of kitchenware for Christmas. I was excited to give those a new, organized home. When it comes to cleaning out cabinets, if it’s not being used, it has to go. It’s taking up valuable space. When you have a good set of cookware, you don’t need 3 versions of the same thing, right? Plastic Tupperware is the bane of my existence. Somehow I always get a new set and a few months later there are bottoms but no tops or tops and no bottoms. I genuinely don’t know why kitchen cabinets LOVE to consumer Tupperware in uneven amounts leaving a miss matched set behind, but it happens no matter how hard I try. SO I end up going through tons and tons of containers trying to reunite loved ones. Anyone who doesn’t get reunited is invited to live somewhere else, let’s call it the Island of Misfit Tupperware.

This is the time to get rid of expired food and condiments. I mean, I really did intend to eat those plant based protein bites, but like they just got lost (pushed to the back of the cabinet) in all the sweets and treats of Christmas! I also use this time to clean my fridge shelves and every surface of the kitchen including the inside of my garbage can. That gets far more gross than you’d imagine. Any bit of storage will always be your friend even when it comes to k-cups!