It’s time to put your home on a diet! If you struggle with home organization, this room by room plan will help you get your whole home decluttered, deep cleaned, and organized once and for all!
Home Organization
If one of your goals has always been to get your home cleaned and organized, The Household Organization Diet is for you! I have a whole new set of FREE organization printables for you as well as The Home Decluttering Diet book to provide you with a constant source of inspiration and encouragement!
If your home is bursting at the seams, this home organization plan will help you take back your home! The Household Organization Diet is a year long plan designed to take away those feelings of being completely overwhelmed when it comes to getting organized. Throughout the year, we will systematically work on decluttering, cleaning and organizing every room in your home while creating new organization habits to help you keep it that way. You truly can have the clutter-free, relaxing home that you desire.
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may make a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase directly through the links.
What is The Household Organization Diet?
The Household Organization Diet is built on the same principles that you follow when you go on a traditional food diet. By changing the way you think about the process of creating your healthy and organized home, you can conquer that decluttering paralysis and start moving ahead with a steady plan to lose all of that excess house weight that bogs you down. Having too much stuff in your home costs you time, energy and unneeded stress, so get rid of that weight and spend your extra time and energy doing the things you love!
Make a Long Term Commitment.
Your house didn’t become filled with stuff and disorganized overnight, so you can’t expect to get things back in order in a weekend. Depending on how much weight your house has to lose, it will definitely take some time to make your home the way you’d like it to be. That’s totally okay! Have some patience with the process. Celebrate those small victories. When you go on a diet, you don’t expect to lose 50 lbs. in a month. You make a long term commitment to gradually lose the weight and adapt a healthier lifestyle. Our houses will take time to lose the weight too, so let go of the thought that this will happen quickly. It will not happen overnight, BUT IT WILL HAPPEN!
Develop New Healthy Home Organization Habits.
You need to be open to changing some of your old, unhealthy organization habits and truly commit to forming those new, more helpful ones. Just as we have to develop new eating and exercise habits to lose weight, we need to develop new healthy home organization habits to create {and maintain!} a clean and organized home. At first, this will likely require some intentional planning and focus; however, over time, these new habits will just become part of our regular routine and you will rarely have to think about them. In order to stick with it, we need to start small and gradually build on the habits that we are forming. It may take some trial and error and a few tweaks here and there but, with a plan in place, we can change those bad habits and replace them with organized new ones!
Get Rid of the Excuses.
“The best way to get things done is to just get started.” Don’t put off getting organized until you have more time, or more money, or more energy. Get started NOW! This plan can easily be tailored to whatever you want it to be – give it 15 minutes a day, a couple of hours per week, or 5 hours per month. Anything that you do will be better than doing nothing! Just get started – NO EXCUSES!
Set Your Personal Goals.
We always need some kind of internal motivation to drive us to do something new and challenging. The benefits always have to outweigh the bad. Like losing weight, I think many of us start out on these re-organization projects with so much gusto that we quickly burn ourselves out and give up. The bad quickly outweighs the good and we shut down. With this project, I am hoping to take things slowly, at a very manageable pace. Keep the “good” in mind – having more time to relax and spend time with our families, being more patient with our children, creating a calmer life. Think of what your own personal rewards will be and use them to keep you motivated. Focus on what you have done rather than what you still want to do.
Let Go of “Perfect”.
Your home does not have to be Pinterest-perfect to be clean and organized. The goal of this home organization plan is to get rid of all of that excess weight in your home that you do not need or love so you can enjoy and use those items that you do keep more. It’s to create more time for yourself and a more relaxing place to come home to. Be proud of what you are able to achieve and remember that those perfect images in magazines are often not reality.
Order The Home Decluttering Diet Book
While the blog is a great place to get inspiration, I really wanted to create a book that had all of my thoughts and organization ideas in one place and would allow my readers to easily keep referring back to the information that they needed to keep them motivated and encouraged. You can find my book, The Home Decluttering Diet, on Amazon as well as many other online retailers. The book is based on the basic idea of The Household Organization Diet, but is filled with additional organization inspiration, strategies, and simple DIY projects. For me, having something tangible that is right in front of me on a daily basis really helps to increase my motivation, and I hope this book will do the same for you. The book isn’t mandatory though, so join in either way!
Ready to Join In?
What’s New This Year
How to get Started
Make a committment.
Put together a binder.
Download the PDF files below and choose what printables you would like to have. The printable package includes a title page, room by room guides, and a notes page for each room. There are often two versions of the room by room guides – one that has been pre-filled in with tasks and a second blank version for you to pick your own tasks. {NOTE: There are some rooms that only have a blank version.}. Use the notes sheet to jot down organization ideas, items you may need for the space, or future design/renovation plans you may have.
Print out the optional calendar pages and add them to your binder.
{NOTE: These will be available later this week. I’ll leave the link here when they’re up!}
Writing your specific tasks down on a calendar is a great way to plan out your monthly organization tasks. Some of you might do a little each day and others will do things once or twice per week. It’s totally up to you! At the beginning of each month, fill in the calendar dates with the tasks you are committing to. Stick to it and hold yourself accountable!
Get ready to build those healthy organization habits.
There really is no end to this plan. Once you have completed all of the rooms, you should start to continuously cycle back through them again. As you build your new organization habits, you should find that it gets quicker and easier each time you re-visit a space. It’s also important to regularly re-evaluate how your spaces are functioning over time. Your needs will change over the years so be open to changing with them!
Follow Along
I’m always trying to share my little organization tips and tricks along the way. To make sure you don’t miss out, be sure to subscribe to my posts over on the sidebar and follow along on social media. You can always find me here….
INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / BOOK
Download The Household Organization Diet Printables
I’ve created a whole series of organization printables to help you map out your plan and keep you on track. The printables are divided into two files – the room by room tasks and the room notes. You might not need all of them so pick and choose what you would like.
ROOM BY ROOM TASKS
ROOM NOTES SHEETS
If you’re using a binder and would like a title page, here’s one for you. You can either download a blank one or use the customizable one to add your family name. Just download it and add your name in any photo editing program {I use PicMonkey}.
TITLE PAGE – CUSTOMIZEABLE
TITLE PAGE – BLANK
More Organization Ideas
I’m always sharing my favorite organization ideas and products on the blog and on social media, so be sure to follow along! If there’s a specific room or area that you’re looking for, you can always search for it using the search tab in the side bar. {This is found on the menu bar if viewing on mobile.} To see some room-by-room organization ideas from previous years, check out the posts below.
Happy Organizing!
I definitely want to be sure I am included in the 2017 Household Organizing Diet! Please add me to your list (I did subscribe). Don’t want to miss out! Thanks!!
Hi Katrina! I’m so glad you’re joining in and hope your decluttering is going well! I have had some problems with my subscription process {I think it’s all fixed now!} so your subscription may not have initially gone through. Sorry about that! You can just head over to the blog to subscribe again if you haven’t been receiving anything.
https://www.cleanandscentsible.com
What size binder would you recommend? 1 inch? 2 inch?
I use a one inch binder. 🙂
Pre-ordered yoir book!! Cant wait!!
Yay!!! Thanks so much! xo
Hi when will the 2017 printables be available please?
The January printables are already up! You can find them here…
https://www.cleanandscentsible.com/2016/12/the-31-day-home-detox-2017-january-decluttering-challenge.html
I have tried to subscribe 3 times, but I’m not getting the confirmation email.
Sorry! My email seems to be acting up this week! I tried adding you on my end – did you get a confirmation at all? Thanks for your patience!
I tried as well with no success?
I know – I’m sorry! I can’t figure out what’s going on with it!! Some people are still able to subscribe and others {myself included when I try on another account} don’t get the confirmation email. Darn technology! I’ll hopefully get it all sorted out tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!!
Hi Beth! I think the email subscription is finally all sorted out! I added you on my end but you should receive an email that you will have to confirm to start the subscription. Just let me know if it works or not. Thanks!
Hello. Could you please add me too. I’m not having any luck subscribing. Thanks!
I’m so sorry! I’m working on it. Technology is obviously not my strength. 😉
My house needs more organization! I need hand-holding for this!
Hope you’ll join us!! I can hold your hand. 😉
Thanks for the reminder to let go of perfect. Like many, I struggle with not being satisfied with good enough. Thanks for sharing at the #ThisIsHowWeRoll Link Party.
Yes! I think that’s a big one for many people!
I could definitely use this right now! Thanks for sharing with us at Merry Monday.
I hope you’re able to give it a go! Thanks for hosting!
This is post and you are right. Thank you for sharing at Dishing it and Digging it link party.
Hi There
I can’t seem to find any of the organisation information other then January’s. Is it available yet?
Thanks
Rebecca
It will be out on Sunday. 🙂
Finally an organizational blog (and now book!) that is realistic. I have read so many articles and several books about organizing. I have been able to pull useful bits and pieces, but as a whole, just not realistic for the busy woman. I discovered your blog today (a big thank you to those that pinned your blog to Pinterest!), and I have been reading and printing for the last hour! And. yes, I just pre-ordered your book. I am so excited to read it. Thank you for down-to-earth, simple, useful and yes, again, REALISTIC organizational ideas. I’m a month behind – but just have to spend the extra time to get caught up!!
Oh this makes me so happy to hear!! You’re never really “behind” with this plan as you can move at your own pace. All of the little bits and pieces that you’ve already learned will hopefully all come together as you work your way through this. Thank-you so much for your support and I hope you love the book!
How do I start this if I missed the Jan 1 start date? I badly need to declutter and organize but even reading a list of things to do gets me feeling overwhelmed. I think I can do this if I focus on 15 minutes is all I have to do each day but anticipating a whole week I can feel my resistance setting up! Help!
Just one step at a time!! The plan can be started at any time so don’t worry about getting behind. Even if you take two months instead of one month to get through the list, it will still be a start. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, I would just put the timer on for 15 minutes, pick a small area, and just work on that one spot until the timer goes off. Like you said, just think of each day rather than anticipating the week ahead. Also remember that this list is not designed to completely declutter your home as we’ll be working on the individual rooms each month. This “deotx” is just intended to get you started and clear out that obvious surface clutter that’s easier to get rid of. Once you’re ready to move on to the individual rooms, you can again work on whatever room you would like. If you’re starting now, you could either do the kitchen in March or skip the kitchen and do the Home Office in March with me. The hardest part is just getting started so put that timer on and get going!! Be proud of what you’ve done in that time and don’t think about the next step until the next day. I promise that it gets easier and you might even find that you’re inspired to keep going beyond the 15 minutes! {but it’s okay if you’re not!}
Jenn, I just found your site through Pinterest and am wondering if there will be June – December 2017 plans created? I didn’t sign up for your email yet, as I’m trying to see if you’re still going on this, or if May 2017 was your last one.
Thanks,
Lisa
Yes, it keeps going throughout the year. The June tasks should be up tomorrow night. 🙂 Hope you can join us!
Hi! I am so excited that I found this! It is exactly what our house needs! I cant seem to find the June pintables can you help? Thank you!
Hi Cyndie! Sorry – I’ve been sick so I haven’t got June up yet. Hopefully today or tomorrow. 🙂
It’s September 25, 2017 and I just found you!!! I love this idea of a household organization diet. Will you be doing this again in 2018? If not, I may try to find the printables from years past and see how i can modify for next year 🙂
thanks!
Yep! I’ll be doing it again! If you don’t want to wait until January, you can join in any time! 🙂
Did I miss September’s? I don’t see it linked on this post. I got a few months behind and I’m trying to catch up before November 🙂
No, I’m the one that missed September!!! It’s up now and linked on the post. The October tasks will be up on the weekend.
Hey! Looking for the September 2017 list?
Thanks!
Sorry, I totally sucked last month. The list is linked now and I’ll have the October tasks up on the weekend. 🙂
Do you have October ready? I just found your blog and I’m excited to get started even though its in the middle of the year. I’ve enjoyed and been inspired by your posts. Thank you.
Looking for October and November?
I subscribed but do not receive updates – help? Thanks 🙂
Hi Angelina! There are actually two options on the subscription services – one for updates when a new post comes out and one for the newsletter. I actually haven’t been doing the newsletter recently, so if you are subscribed to that one, that would be the issue. Just update to receive emails with new posts and you should start getting them. I do plan on returning to a regular newsletter in the new year, if you prefer to just wait for that. If you’re still having troubles, just let me know. Thanks so much for your patience!!
Hi Jenn
I was wondering where i might find October – December printable’s?
Loving this site and all the helpful tips and printable’s.
Dannii
I’m so sorry for the late reply! I didn’t end up doing October-December last year but have things all set to go for this year! If you get my newsletters, the whole set of printables for 2018 is available on there so you can mix it up however works best for you. Happy Organizing!! xo
When will the other months be available to your subscribers? I would really like to have them all so I don’t have to wait for the months like I have in the past and then forget to print them out etc…
When will the newsletter be available with the 2018 printables?
It’s already out. The link is in the Saturday newsletter. You can check either of your past two newsletters. 🙂
When the August one is updated, is there a chance you can put up a blank one that doesn’t have Kids Bedroom’s on it and Spare Bedrooms instead? I love these, but I don’t have any kids, so I wouldn’t find any use in August’s organization list you made.
I’ll try to do a spare bedroom one for you. 🙂
Will there be a list of printables for 2019?
Yep! They’re out at the end of December. 🙂