As part of our reclaiming motherhood series, we’ve been tackling home management to help homeschool moms reclaim their space and routines.
Are you following along with our organization tips for moms? Maybe you’ve created your Master To-Do List already?
Admittedly, tackling big organizing projects can feel massively overwhelming. Not only do you need to choose how to organize, but you need the time to do it. And enough caffeine to propel you through the task.
Instead of tackling the giant goal of “Organizing My Home,” break them down into smaller, more manageable organization projects.
There’s a good chance it won’t go well if you try to wrangle these projects during the week.
You already have a packed schedule between homeschooling and essential home maintenance (like the never-ending laundry and feeding the children).
If you’re working and homeschooling, that’s a whole different can of pickles.
Instead of trying to tackle a massive home makeover, schedule an hour or two each weekend.
***Find the rest of the Reclaim Your Home organization series here.***
Short Weekend Organization Projects for Your Home
It might feel impossible to carve that time out, but consider the feeling as your home becomes a haven of calm and organization.
If you can get there one space at a time, isn’t it worth it? Take a realistic look at your schedule and choose one task from below that fits your time this weekend.
1. Clean Out Your Refrigerator and Freezer
Meal planning and nutrition is an essential piece of feeling in control. But it’s a huge subject all on its own.
If one of your goals is better health or pre-planned meals, this is the perfect weekend organization task to get you started.
You’ll have more time to finish it and feel more prepared before grocery shopping.
If you want a full tutorial on creating a kitchen inventory list, head here. Otherwise, here are the highlights.
The first step is to run a sink of soapy water for the reusable containers you’ll be emptying.
Next, go through each shelf. Get rid of expired food and take inventory of what you’re keeping. You’ll use that list later in your meal planning.
If you have more time, clean each shelf as you go. When there’s not enough time for that, simply clean one shelf. Next week clean the next and keep rotating through.
Once all the expired food is out, put your most used items in the front.
Remember that it’s not just about Pinterest-worthy images. (Although I’m admittedly a huge fan of Pinterest.) It’s more important that the items you use most frequently are easily accessible.
Action Tips:
- Create a master list of items in your freezer to know at a glance what’s on hand.
- Invest in fruit and vegetable storage to store them in an organized way.
- Put like items together on shelves so you can find items at a glance.
2. Organize Under Your Bathroom Sink
Has your bathroom cabinet gotten cluttered with toilet paper, hair care, cleaning products, and a strange collection of random items?
Don’t worry if you haven’t organized under your bathroom sink in a while. This project is usually a bit quicker than you think at first glance.
But this project is usually a bit quicker than you think at first glance.
Being a small space, you can usually finish it in under an hour. Before you begin, make a list of all of the categories that are appropriate to store under there.
When you come across something that isn’t in that category, set it aside and move on to stay on track. Once you’re done, close the cabinet and address the items that are left over.
Find them a forever home that makes sense, or throw them away.
Action Tips:
- Consider adding a collection of apothecary jars for beauty and function.
- Embrace storage bins to keep similar items together.
- Use wall space to add creative and functional towel storage.
3. Wrangle Your Pantry and Cupboards
Admittedly, this is a big organization project – dun dun duhhhh – the pantry and kitchen cabinets.
This is another overlooked area because you only open those cabinet doors when you need to get food or put it away.
The next time you have a free afternoon on Saturday or Sunday, take some time going through your cupboards and food pantry.
Not only can you throw away old and expired food, but you will discover a lot of food you probably forgot about. You can then organize what you are keeping using bins, baskets, and can organizers.
Action Tips:
- Use labels! Labels for everything!
- Get creative in your storage. Move beyond plastic bins.
- Wrangle your cans and make a routine of rotating the newest to the rear.
- Create categories that make sense to you. i.e., dinner, breakfast, beans, baking…etc.
- Use vertical space on the backs of doors and empty walls for aprons and towels.
4. Declutter Your Hall Closets
Do you dread having to dig gloves out of your closets? Or maybe you’re not even certain what is in there.
If you haven’t organized them in a while, how much clutter they can accumulate is impressive.
Because it’s out of sight, out of mind.
This might be a lengthier project, depending on the size and state of your closets. Generally, you’ll want to start with one closet per weekend rather than tackle them all at once.
Begin with a list of items you think should be in the closet. Then, launch your decluttering.
Closets tend to collect everything that doesn’t have a place. If it’s a hall closet, pull everything out and sort it into one of three piles:
- keeping
- throwing away
- donating
Once you have sorted everything, you can put the trash and donating piles into bags to be dealt with later and organize what goes back into your closet.
When you see everything on the floor in one glance, choosing an organizational system to access your most frequently used items is more effortless.
Action Tips:
- Define what should be in the closet.
- Create storage for each category – drawers, tubs, rods, etc.
- Clearly define each child’s space if they’re using the closet.
5. Go Through Mail and Paperwork
If you don’t have a weekly routine where you go through the mail and other paperwork yet, then at least schedule some time for one weekend a month.
Mail piles up quickly in my home office. I bet yours is the same. Especially bills you don’t need to open immediately.
Consider investing in a shredder at home to dispose of mail you don’t need to keep.
The rest can be filed away for reference, and you can make it an organizational goal to establish better financial management routines.
Action Tips:
- Create a paperwork organization station.
- Color code or clearly label the different categories of mail and paperwork.
- Utilize wall space with hanging file folders.
- Schedule paperwork maintenance time weekly and monthly.
6. Handle the Junk Drawer
Junk drawers are small but mighty spaces. Often in the kitchen, they are full of random objects.
Realistically, you probably have NO idea what is in there. Take an hour or two one weekend to go through it, find better homes for the things that don’t belong, and get rid of the stuff you don’t need.
Because no one really needs 18 packets of ketchup, eight pens that may or may not work, one double AA battery, a small scribbled-in notepad with a unicorn drawing, and…
Action Tips:
- Start with a blank slate – take everything out.
- Decide on categories by function or need. Don’t put anything in that doesn’t fit.
- Line the drawer with contact paper or wallpaper to create visual interest.
- Consider smaller containers rather than one larger tray for more functionality.
7. Manage Your Desk Drawers
When you work from home and homeschool, you spend substantial time in your office space. Rather than tackle that entire area, choose the drawers on your desk or the kid’s desks.
Follow the same routine for deciding what should be in there before you start and setting the rest aside to contemplate as a pile.
Empty all the drawers, sort through everything, and organize what you’d pre-planned into your desk drawers.
Filter through the rest. Throw away things you don’t need and find a better home for items that don’t belong in the desk drawer.
Organizing your desk drawers will help keep clutter at bay, making it easier to stay productive when working.
8. Consider Your Homeschool Keepsakes
Are you a “curator of educational resources?” Otherwise, known as a curriculum addict? Tackling your homeschool space can be daunting if so. Instead, start by organizing the keepsakes.
Assignments that need to go into portfolios and artwork that needs a home. I love gifting children’s art to grandparents, aunts, and other loved ones.
You can also take pictures and create a keepsake book.
Consider moving on to the bookshelves if you have the time and energy. Are there books you’re keeping because you enjoy having educational resources available?
And, are you sure that you will eventually make time to read those 18 Usborne books on animals?
Make realistic choices based on their length, your children’s interests, and grade levels. Not to mention the quality of your local library.
Best of luck! We’re focused on unit studies and literature-based learning, so our bookshelves overflow with books I struggle to get rid of.
9. Get Rid of Unworn Clothes
Admittedly, one of the longer ones on the list, ensure you have several hours blocked off.
Also, this one is tricky if you have a goal of better health this year. If you’re like me and struggle with homeschool stress eating, you’re holding on to a few things you don’t fit.
Rather than eliminate things that don’t fit, try to narrow down your collection by eliminating items that are out of style or you never really loved.
You’ll have space and mental health to embrace where you are now. Spend the time to get organized. You deserve an organized closet with clothes that make you feel good.
10. Sort Through Kitchen Utensils
Another shorter task is to wrangle your kitchen.
Your kitchen utensil drawers are the perfect place to start. Toss out any plastic utensils, straws, old dish towels, or pot holders you no longer use.
If items no longer work, they should be discarded. Donate them if they have been sitting in your drawer for years and you’ve rarely used them.
Organizing your kitchen drawers will help keep the clutter at bay and make it easier to find the necessary items when cooking.
Ready? Set? Declutter! Weekend Organization Projects for the Win!
These weekend organization projects should get you started on tackling home management and decluttering other areas.
But the truth is that there’s no wrong place to start decluttering. Pick one area and go from there rather than handle your entire house in one go.
Before you know it, your anxiety levels will begin to drop, and you’ll flourish in an organized homeschool space.
Do any projects make you feel like you’ve conquered decluttering? Share in the comments below.
