The Maid to Shine Organizing Challenge

Organizing your home can sound so difficult, so time consuming, and so boring. Unless you love to clean, like us! We’re encouraging you to take on the Maid to Shine 3-Step Organizing Challenge. Set aside about three hours to accomplish this task, but most importantly, have a reward waiting for you at the end. Maid to Shine is giving you permission to treat yourself! So, once you’ve finished our challenge go out and grab an iced coffee or buy yourself a new outfit. A little self-bribery never hurt anyone. With your reward in mind, let’s start the Maid to Shine 3-Step Organizing Challenge!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A couple of trash bags
• A duster
• A box for items you wish to donate
• A cleaning rag and some disinfectant 

WARNING: This is an organizing challenge! The duster, rag and disinfectant are just to clean any items you move around. You don’t want a dust spot on your shelf when you decide to reorganize your knick knacks do you? You may as well clean areas like that if you’re moving things that don’t often leave their spots. 

CHALLENGE #1

Go to your catch-all-area…this might be next to your front door, your kitchen table, a dresser, wherever you’re throwing stuff when you walk in to door. We’re tackling this one first! Everything needs to go to it’s proper place. Start by picking up each item, asking yourself “do I need this?” If so where should it go? Sometimes the answer is simple: the trash. Other times you might have to take it to another room or toss it in your donation box. No matter what, don’t leave any item there UNLESS it actually belongs there. Once that space is clear, wipe it down and start brainstorming ways to avoid that mess in the future. Maybe you need some storage bins, or a bowl to catch your keys? This is an easy way to keep your space clean, plus you might get to go shopping!

CHALLENGE #2

With our first task accomplished let’s head to the dun…dun…dun…closet! When’s the last time you cleaned out your closet? It’s never too soon to do it again! First, look for any loose hangers that don’t have clothes on them. Take those out and set them aside so you have more room to work with. Now let’s focus on one thing at a time. Look at each clothing item and think about these things:

1. When was the last time I wore this?
2.  When is the next time I might wear this?
3. Do I even like this anymore?

Those questions should guide you to an answer. Put clothes in your donate pile or save them to take to a consignment shop or a place like Plato’s closet. That way you can make a few bucks off your old stuff. If you opt to do that you need to promise yourself that you will actually take it to one of those places in the next couple of days. Otherwise, they might sit in a bag for ages…trust us, we know! Don’t forget to review your shoes too when you’re taking care of this challenge.

CHALLENGE #3

Drawers! Start with your junk drawer if you have one and get to clearing it out. Put all your pens together, choose a spot for your scissors. Throw away that coupon that expired 5 months ago. Then move on to every drawer in your home. You’ll be surprised by how many oven mitts you’ve accumulated over the years. Throw things away, donate items, and get organized! 

BONUS CHALLENGE:

If you have an extra 30 minutes or so do a speed pick up of your home. Return any shoes, bags, etc. to their rightful homes. We sometimes like to turn on a song and see how much we can get done before the music’s over.

You’ve done it! You’ve completed all of our challenges, now go get yourself something nice! Thanks for working hard, you and your home will feel so much peace not having all that clutter around. What will you reward yourself with when you finish Maid to Shine’s 3-Step Organizing Challenge?