HOW TO purge your house in 6 weeks

January 21, 2023

Do you have the urge to purge your house but have no idea where to start? Follow my 4 step system and 6 week decluttering schedule to get organized fast!

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The Urge To Purge your house

I don’t know about you but I always feel the urge to purge the house at the beginning of a new year, at back to school time, annnddd sometimes even a little before the rush of the holidays. With 6 people in our home, the silent overwhelm of “stuff” definitely hits hard and often!

However, I’m also a realist. I’m well aware that organizing my ENTIRE house while also carrying on with all of the normal life things isn’t always attainable.

A few years ago I came up with a system. It’s a way to declutter and organize small spaces in just an hour or so a day for 6 weeks..

The results aren’t perfect, but the point isn’t perfection. The primary goal is to have a MORE organized home than before, in order to feel LESS overwhelmed.

This is real liFE.

JUMP TO CONTENTS:

WHY SHOULD YOU PURGE YOUR HOUSE?

10 WARNING SIGNS THAT YOU HAVE TO MUCH STUFF

KNOWING WHEN TO PURGE YOUR HOUSE

HOW TO PURGE YOUR HOUSE IN 4 SIMPLE STEPS

WHAT TO PURGE IN YOUR HOUSE

WHERE TO PURGE IN YOUR HOUSE

FAVORITE ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTS/BINS

READY TO STEP UP YOUR ORGANIZATION GAME?

Check out my FREE DOWNLOADABLE CHECKLIST with ideas to simplify and organize your home in 6 weeks.

Free Printable - 6 weeks to a more organized home — Click HERE for my small spaces checklist

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WHY SHOULD YOU PURGE YOUR HOuse?

Did you know that the average American home contains 300,000 items?

To be honest I didn’t believe it. Then in the summer of 2021, we downsized by half and moved our family across the country. We sold our home fully furnished, had enough personal items for a massive yard sale and STILL filled up a 20 yard dumpster.

It was MIND BLOWING to see how badly we had become slaves to consumerism.

Looking at the small 16ft container that we moved with, it was equally as mind blowing at how little we really needed. Talk about instant stress relief!

10 warning Signs that you have to much stuff

Just like an illness has signs and symptoms, so does having to much stuff! Here are 10 warning signs that you may have a few to many things in your home.

You regularly feel stress and overwhelm when you see clutter in your home.
You tend to lose everyday items regularly (keys, phone, wallet, etc)
The fridge and pantry have a good amount of expired food
There are so many little “piles” all around the house that you don’t know where to start when it comes to organizing.
You regularly convince yourself that you can’t get rid of something because you may need it later.
You are great at planning an organization project, but never follow through with it.
Items fall out of your cabinets when you open them and/or drawers don’t close properly
Your garage is being used as a storage room instead of as a place to park your car.
Your closet is so stuffed that you can never find anything to wear.
The kids have a million toys but never seem to know what to play with.

knowing When To Purge your house

Decluttering can seem intimidating but it doesn’t have to be!

If I have gone through a period where I haven’t purged much in the past few months, I’ll take a month (or 6 weeks) and designate it as intentional organizing time.

But let’s set realistic expectations!

Check out my FREE PRINTABLE CHECKLIST focusing on the small spaces in the home over a 6 week time period.

Like I said before, the primary goal isn’t perfection. It’s simply to be just a little more organized than before.

How To Purge your house IN 4 SIMPLE STEPS

Now that you know my thought process behind WHY and WHEN to purge, let’s talk about the 4 steps to actually getting the job done.:

Step 1 – Take everything out of a space. This may seem obvious but I love starting fresh and empty.

Step 2 – Organize items into three piles. One pile to keep. One pile to sell or donate. The final pile is trash.

Step 3 – Go shopping for containers or baskets. Don’t forget to shop your home first!

Step 4 – Give everything a designated home and label it. Consider color-coding spaces to make items more visually appealing and easy to find.

What To Purge in your hoUSE

Deciding what needs to go and what needs to stay in a home is a somewhat tricky topic. A lot will depend on the space you have and the needs of your family. However, these are the general rules of thumb I like to follow when it comes to deciding what to keep or purge.

Rule 1 – Keep items that are seasonally essential or that can be handed down to a named person.

Rule 2 – Consider keeping a few sentimental items, but not ALL sentimental items.

Rule 3 – When it comes to kids’ papers, keep a box labeled “portfolio” for each child. Allow them to help decide what is really important to keep.

Rule 4 – Go through kid’s items twice a year. I’ve hooked up with local bi-annual kids consignment sales for the past 8-9 years and I sell all of our outgrown items there.

Rule 5 – Be more willing to purge items that stand in the “what if” category. (i.e. What if my sister has a baby? (Ask them first) What if I decide to make a bunt cake in the next 6 months? (Can you borrow a pan from a neighbor?) What if my kids want this in 20 years? (But will they really?)

Rule 6 – Think about how often an item is used. I tend to be more willing to purge something if I know it hasn’t been used in the past 6-12 months.

Where To Purge your house

Now that you have the urge to purge, know when to purge, have the steps to make the purge happen, and the rules of what to purge, let’s talk about where to start.

This is where my 6-week FREE DOWNLOADABLE CHECKLIST will come into play. I mentioned before that I want this guide to be ATTAINABLE and not overwhelming. Therefore, the items on the checklist are smaller spaces that you can likely tackle in a small amount of time.

My goal for you over the next 6 weeks is to take 30 – 60 minutes a day, two times per week, and work on some of the small spaces on the list.

But don’t let this stop you! If you catch a wild hair and have the time to go beyond the goal, GO for it!!