This Whole Home Cleaning and Organization Challenge focuses on deep cleaning, decluttering, and organizing your entire home in just 5 weeks! Use the free printable home cleaning checklists as your guide to start getting your home clean and organized today!
Okay… I’ve got a confession… I missed a few days during the first week of the Home Cleaning and Organization Challenge when I first did it a few months ago.
I had the best of intentions and I was gung-ho about finally focusing on cleaning and organizing the house… but once again, work got in the way. And I know I’m not alone… when I emailed my newsletter subscribers (over 30,000 people!) about this home cleaning challenge, I heard from SO MANY people that said they were right in the same boat with me.
Maybe you, too, feel completely overwhelmed and like you can’t keep up with everything on your plate.
After announcing the cleaning challenge and my own struggles with staying on top of the house work last week, I received countless emails from you guys saying that you finally felt seen… that it was nice to know that you weren’t alone in the domestic struggle bus… that you had been waiting for a step-by-step road map just like this one to help you out.
Well, today I’m here to tell you that it’s okay if you fell behind a bit too. Maybe your 5 week cleaning challenge will turn into a 10 week cleaning challenge. The important part is that you’re trying and, though it may not feel like it every day, you are making progress!
Just do like I’ve been doing and get as much done as you can, check things off your list, and catch up when you have the chance.
*By the way, if you have no idea what challenge I’m talking about, then check out this post for Week 1 of the Free Printable Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge!
So on to the Home Cleaning Challenge – Week 2!
*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click a link and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure for more info.
Whole Home Cleaning and Organization Challenge – Week 2 Jobs
This week is all about the kitchen! But I tried my best to break it up into very manageable jobs… For instance, all of the kitchen drawers are on one day, but the kitchen cabinets are on another day.
And at the end of the week, I threw in some easy, small closet areas so that you can play “catch up” if needed.
Here are the jobs for week 2 of the printable Home Cleaning Challenge:
Day 1: Kitchen Pantry
If you’re in desperate need of a printable home cleaning challenge, then chances are that your pantry is one of the messiest areas in your kitchen. So why not tackle that area first, right?!
Most of my pantry clutter stems from my kids not putting things back where they found them… like they just haphazardly throw the cereal on the shelf with the baking products instead of with the breakfast foods. So it seems like I’m having to clean out and organize the pantry every month or so.
Here’s a brief guide to declutter, organize, and clean your pantry:
- Take everything out of the pantry first. As you’re taking things out, try to group items by category. For instance, put all cereal together, all canned vegetables together, etc.
- Throw out expired foods.
- Relocate items that don’t belong in the pantry.
- While the pantry is empty, go ahead and deep clean everything. Sweep and mop the pantry floors, clean the baseboards and door trim, and wipe off all of the shelves and racks.
- Then replace all of the items that you’ve sorted by category.
Day 2: Kitchen Cabinets
Here are some steps for cleaning and organizing your kitchen cabinets:
- Empty all of the cabinets one at a time.
- Sort through items that you don’t want or haven’t used in the last year. Make piles for things to donate, trash, or give to friends or family.
- Organize the contents of the cabinet by category… all plates together, all water bottles together, etc.
- Relocate items that you want to store elsewhere.
- While the cabinet is empty, go ahead and clean the inside and outside. Wipe down the shelves and the inside of the cabinet door. Clean the front of the cabinets and any handles or pulls.
- Neatly replace all of the organized items.
- Then move on to the next cabinet.
Day 3: Kitchen Drawers
Today is all about cleaning out and organizing the drawers in your kitchen… and that includes the dreaded junk drawer! Here are the jobs for day 3 of the second week of the home cleaning challenge:
- Empty all drawers one at a time.
- Sort items that you don’t want or haven’t used in the last year. Create piles for things to donate, trash, or give to family and friends.
- Organize the items that are left from the first drawer into categories – silverware, medicine cups, dish towels, etc.
- Relocate items that don’t belong in that drawer.
- Wipe down the inside and outside of the drawer, including the knob or pull.
- Neatly replace the organized items.
- Move on to the next drawer.
And if your drawers are a super cluttered mess, then you may want to do an entire challenge just to tackle drawer clutter! I’ve got a free printable Drawer Decluttering Challenge for you to use, and you can even type into it to plan out what drawers you will work on for each day:
Day 4: Fridge and Freezer
The refrigerator and freezer is another area of your kitchen that’s prone to clutter and disorganization! But after today, it’ll be nice and clean, and you’ll actually know what’s in there!
And after you’re done with the freezer, be sure to check out this post for a FREE printable freezer inventory sheet that you can laminate and hang on the fridge!
Here’s a quick guide for organizing your refrigerator and freezer:
- Work on the fridge first until it’s completely done, then move on to the freezer. Remember, you don’t want your perishable foods sitting out on the counter for too long.
- Take everything out of the refrigerator. As you’re removing items check for expiration dates. Trash anything that’s expired.
- Group foods by category (sauce, meats, salad dressings, etc).
- Wipe down the inside of the refrigerator including all shelves, side walls, and drawers. I just use a hot soapy rag for this.
- Neatly replace all sorted food items.
- Then move on to the freezer and follow the same steps: take everything out, trash expired items, group foods by category, clean inside of freezer, and put everything back.
- Pull out the fridge/freezer and clean the floor and wall area behind it.
- Wipe down the outside of the fridge/freezer.
Day 5: Kitchen Deep Clean
The good news is that you’ve already deep cleaned your cabinets, drawers, pantry, and fridge, so you’re already halfway to having a super tidy kitchen! Today is all about finishing up the deep cleaning kitchen jobs that you haven’t done yet.
- Declutter the kitchen counters. I’ve got loads of tips and ideas for how to declutter kitchen counters here!
- Relocate items that don’t belong in the kitchen… If your kitchen is anything like mine, there will probably be a lot of random things that need to be put away. Our kitchen is definitely the “drop zone” of our house!
- Clean and disinfect all countertops.
- Wipe down the outside of appliances (stove, toaster, etc).
- Clean and disinfect the kitchen sink and disposal. I really like these garbage disposal cleaning tabs.
- Wipe down the wall and backsplash.
- Dust light fixtures and decorative items.
- Clean the baseboards.
- Sweep and mop the kitchen floors.
*If you’re looking for an easy way to clean your kitchen floors, then I HIGHLY recommend this steam mop! So much easier than an actual bucket of soapy water and a mop head! And this thing even removes acrylic paint and mashed in crayon from your hard floors… don’t ask me how I know that.
Day 6: Coat Closet
Now that your kitchen is super clean and organized, it’s time to move on to an easier area of your home… the coat closet! Your coat closet is probably pretty small, so it should feel much more manageable. Here’s how to clean out and organize your coat closet:
- Take everything out of the coat closet.
- Sort items that you don’t want or haven’t used in the last year. Make piles for donations or to give to family or friends.
- Relocate items that don’t belong in the closet.
- Dust off shelves and closet rods.
- Clean and dust the baseboards and door trim. Wipe down the door handle.
- Sweep, mop, or vacuum the floors of the closet area.
- Neatly replace all items. You may also want to get rid of old wire or mismatched hangers and replace them with matching hangers for a cleaner look.
Day 7: Cleaning Supplies Closet/Area
Whooo! You made it this far! Today, the Home Cleaning Challenge should be easy! You’ll just be tackling the area where you store your cleaning supplies:
- Remove all items from the closet or cabinet.
- Get rid of things that you don’t want or don’t use.
- Sort cleaning items by category – bathroom cleaning items, floor cleaning items, miscellaneous household items like extra air filters, etc.
- Organize items into plastic bins or totes.
- Clean the inside of the closet or cabinet area.
- Neatly replace all items.
And then you’re done with Week 2 of the Whole Home Cleaning and Organization Challenge! Yay!
Free Printable Home Cleaning and Organization Challenge – Week 2 Checklist
Ready to start working on week 2 of your cleaning and organization challenge? Use the free printable checklist below to get started!
Click HERE for the Free Printable Home Cleaning and Organization Challenge Checklist for Week 2!
And after you’ve printed the home cleaning challenge checklist, you may want to bookmark this page in your internet browser, or you can PIN this post (Pinterest image down below), so you can find it when you’re ready to move on to week 3 of the challenge!
Other Kitchen Cleaning Checklists and Tips to Help You!
Want to really dive dip into this Whole Home Cleaning Challenge? I’ve got lots of other cleaning resources and free printables to help you! You can use these posts as supplements to the challenge, or just reference them for extra info on cleaning certain aspects of your home:
Free Printable Kitchen Cleaning Checklists – These free printable checklists are great for daily and weekly cleaning… and they even have guides for decluttering and deep cleaning the kitchen, too!
How to Declutter Kitchen Counters Quickly – If your kitchen counters are always a cluttered mess, then read this for some easy tips!
I hope this cleaning challenge is really helping you to get your home in order! I know that having a messy and cluttered house can be such a big contributor to stress!
And I’d LOVE to know how you’re doing on the cleaning challenge? Did you fall behind a few days like I did, or are you right on schedule? Just leave me a comment down below and let me know how you’re doing! Or, if you have comments or suggestions about the Home Cleaning Challenge, let me know that too!
Grab the Week 3 Printable Cleaning Checklist HERE!
And don’t forget to PIN this post for later:
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