Week 4 of the 30 Day Cleaning & Organizing Challenge
We are in the home stretch! This is the last week of the 30-Day Cleaning and Organizing Challenge
What are you working on this week?
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Laundry Room & Entryway
Tackling the extra areas of the house is my plan for this week.
Even though it has been less than a year since we renovated our laundry room, it still needs some organizing.
The laundry room becomes a catch-all in our house and that hasn’t changed even when we renovated it and it looks so pretty. (Old habits die hard).
What I do need is some organizing bins now that I’ve lived with the space long enough to know what I want to store in there.
It’s where all of our cleaning supplies are housed and I also keep my craft supplies in there and it’s worked out well.
I just need to contain everything in a more organized and cohesive manner.
I think collapsible cubes will work perfectly in my cabinets and I can label them so that I know what is in each cube.
Front Entryway
Since our coat closet was turned into a pantry many, many years ago, the entryway is where we hang all of our coats and where all of our shoes end up.
I need to get a handle on the coats and only have the seasonal coats here. I plan to make space for our heavy coats in our guest room closet upstairs. I also need to have a discussion with “Handy” about putting his coats and jackets that he isn’t wearing away. Everybody in the house needs to be on board for organizing to work.
I also need to figure out how to better corral our shoes. Or better yet, only have space for our current shoes and the others need to go upstairs in our closet.
I don’t really like looking at shoes so something to hide them is what I need. In my head, I’m thinking some type of small cabinet with doors will work.
Finishing Cleaning & Organizing
Whatever you’re working on, remember that it may take you more time to get everything the way that you want it to be.
When I open a drawer in my kitchen and it’s a disaster, I find that taking 10 minutes to just pull everything out and rearrange it makes a world of difference. I typically find one or two things that I don’t use and they go in my donate pile.
Organizing is an ongoing process but once you’re in the groove of it, 10 minutes here and there is nothing and it’s so nice to have an organized space.
There is nothing more calming than an organized home!
Simple Ideas
I was at my niece’s house right before Christmas and she’s done our 30-Day Cleaning & Organizing in the past. I noticed that right by her front door under an entry table, she has two totes that she monogrammed; one says Donate and the other says Cleaners. What a clever way to always have a spot to put your donations and dry cleaning.
When your headed out and going that way, you can grab the tote and just take it with you.
The bags came from LL Bean.
You can kind of see to the left that they have some natural crates that she probably got from Michaels or Hobby Lobby stacked up and they house things like shoes, probably now a diaper bag, her purse and I’m going to guess a dog leash. Very creative storage!
Paperless Project
When I originally wrote this I was going to keep going with my new found motivation and handle all of our paper! Well I’m happy to report that I did it. I spent hours scanning important documents into my computer and then shredding the originals. Putting important things that I need the originals (titles to vehicles, passports, mortgage release papers etc.) and organizing them in a binder and putting them in our safe.
We no longer have a free standing file cabinet in our house. I have a small hanging file drawer that has some of my things I like have at my finger tips, a few manuals but I need to even let those go, everything is on-line.
One I finished doing all of this work, I keep up with it. It’s been almost two years and I deal with paper daily and I don’t have any more piles.
Next Week
Next week you wrap up your 30-Day Cleaning & Organizing, I encourage you to give yourself a huge pat on the back. Spend some relaxing time with a pretty candle and a cup of tea, admiring your hard work.
We are in this together for the long haul and you can always join the Facebook Group where we can all stay connected.
I’m so proud of you and proud of myself!
Peace and Love,
A great way to save this idea is to add it to one of your Pinterest boards. You can find the pin button on the top left of the photo when you click on it. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest
living large podcast
Don’t forget to listen to my conversation with Amy Sadler. She is amazingly creative and somone you want to get to know.
Behind the scenes
Hi, I’m Lynn
I traded corporate life for cozy living and now share how to make small spaces feel beautifully intentional.
With a love of vintage finds, organized chaos (emphasis on organized), and a handy husband who builds my wild ideas, I’m here to show that living large isn’t about square feet—it’s about heart, style, and good bones.
I have really enjoyed this series. I too am finding my paper organization taking longer than I anticipated. WHERE did all that paper come from! But it is very cathartic to be working in it.
Hi AJ –
My paperwork is taking me longer than I thought too but I’m determined. Once it’s done, just think how liberating it will be! Thanks so much for being part of our cleaning and organizing challenge.