Free Printable Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge – Week 1

This home cleaning challenge is the ultimate guided checklist to help you declutter, organize, and clean your home in just 5 weeks. Download week 1 of the free printable home cleaning challenge now to get your home in tip-top shape!

Okay… I admit it.

My house has gotten a little away from me the last several months.

Between working full-time, taking care of my kids and my husband, and starting a new business, it seems like the housework has taken a back seat.

And it shows.

So since Spring Cleaning season is upon us (or long overdue depending on when you’re reading this!), I decided it was high time to put some cleaning, organizing, and decluttering jobs front and center on my to do list.

And you know me, I had to make a cute printable out of it, because everything is better with a cute checklist right?!  Except instead of creating this one just for you guys, I made it purely for selfish reasons.  This is the exact cleaning plan that I’m going to be following for the next 5 weeks… Tackling one small and manageable area of my home each day and putting horse blinders on to avoid getting overwhelmed.

I invite you to join me on my cleaning journey!  We can do it together, and I’ll be your friend giving you that gentle push in the direction of your broom… Except it will be in the form of super cute cleaning checklists that you can complete for each week!

So here’s week 1 of the 5 week “adult chore chart”… err, Whole Home Cleaning Challenge! Feel free to print it out and hang it on your fridge, and know that somewhere in East Tennessee there’ll be a friendly blogger cleaning house right along with you!  

Why I LOVE this Whole Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge

As I mentioned, I created this challenge for myself… so I tried to make it super functional and easy to complete. Nothing frustrates me more than starting a challenge (like one of these 30 Day Challenge Ideas) and not being able to finish it because it’s simply too much!

But here’s why this Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge works:

• It focuses on one small area at a time – This home challenge consists of lots of “bite-sized” cleaning and organizing jobs so you don’t get overwhelmed.
• The challenge combines decluttering, organizing, and cleaning jobs in to one – Unlike most challenges that only focus on decluttering your home or deep cleaning jobs, this 5 week Home Cleaning Challenge combines those tasks into one epic guided checklist! If you’re decluttering your bedroom, you might as well go ahead and clean it too, right?!
• The challenge includes super cute cleaning and organizing checklists to keep you on track – Hang them on your fridge or tape them to your bathroom mirror so that you’re reminded to complete the cleaning jobs for the day!

Tips for Doing the Home Cleaning Challenge

• Stock up on organizers before you start cleaning – There’s nothing worse than starting a job and not having all of the proper tools to finish it.
• Print one week of the Home Cleaning Challenge at a time – That way you don’t get overwhelmed… that’s why this post only focuses on the first week of the cleaning challenge!
• Give yourself some grace – If you don’t have time to completely finish all of the jobs for one day, then just carry them over to the next day… but don’t just give up because you miss a day or two!
• Think about your schedule – Don’t start the challenge during a super busy season of your life… You probably don’t want to tackle the Whole Home Cleaning Challenge when you’re starting a new job or during the holidays.

The Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge: Week 1

For the first week of the cleaning challenge, you’ll be tackling your master bedroom and bathroom.

Why start cleaning there?

Because the next 5 weeks may be challenging, so you’ll appreciate having a nice and clean bedroom to retreat to at the end of the day. Here are the cleaning challenge jobs for week 1:

Day 1: Nightstand drawers and tops

If your nightstands are anything like mine, they can get cluttered quickly. While all of those extra drawers are nice to have for random storage, you can quickly fall in to the trap of “out of sight, out of mind”, meaning if you don’t see the mess hiding inside those drawers, then organizing and cleaning that area isn’t a priority.

Until today… Today is all about organizing and decluttering your nightstands to start fresh:

• Empty all nightstand drawers or cabinets
• Clear everything off the top of the nightstand
• Get rid of things you don’t need and relocate items that don’t belong there
• Organize the nightstand items that remain into piles of like items – put all electronic chargers together, all personal care items together, etc.
• Dust the tops, sides, and handles of the nightstand
• Wipe down the insides of the drawers and cabinets
• Neatly replace all items

Day 2: Dresser drawers and tops

Here are some steps for cleaning and organizing your master bedroom dressers:

• Empty dresser drawers one at a time – I find it easiest to only do one drawer at a time to keep it more manageable.
• Sort through clothes that you don’t want – Make piles to donate, sell, give away to friends, etc.
• Wipe down the insides of the drawers
• Neatly fold and organize the clothes you want to keep and put them back in the drawers
• Clear off the dresser top
• Dust dresser tops, sides, and handles

Day 3: Master bedroom closet

The closet can be a tricky area to organize, because it’s probably stuffed to the brim with clothes, accessories, shoes, and random knick-knacks. Here are some steps for cleaning and organizing your closet:

• Sort through one rack or shelf at a time
• Declutter shoes, clothes, and accessories that you don’t want – Make piles to sell, donate, trash, etc.
• Change old hangers to matching ones – This is one of my best tips for a clean and organized closet! It may cost a bit, but it will look much more visually appealing… I just use the cheap white tubular plastic hangers.
• Declutter other items in your closet like old shoe boxes, winter items, shopping bags, etc.
• Dust tops of shelves and hanging rods
• Organize all shoes and accessories
• Organize all clothes by season/type

Day 4: Master bedroom deep clean

Remember how I mentioned that this Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge combines decluttering, organizing, AND cleaning… well, today is all about the latter. Time for a deep cleaning of the bedroom:

• Wash all bed linens
• Clean, deodorize, and flip the mattress
• Put away all items that are out of place
• Sweep, mop, or vacuum the floors and rugs
• Dust all furniture and decorative items
• Dust ceiling fan blades and light fixtures
• Spot clean pillows, comforters, curtains, rugs, and upholstered items
• Clean/dust all baseboards in the bedroom

Day 5: Linen closet

Our linen closet is actually in our master bath, so that’s why I included it in this week of the Whole Home Cleaning Challenge. Here are some ideas for cleaning and organizing your linen closet or cabinets:

• Empty one shelf at a time
• Get rid of items you no longer want and relocate things that don’t belong in the linen closet
• Re-fold all towels, blankets, sheets, etc. – You can find some awesome folding tutorials on YouTube
• Dust off all shelves or the insides of drawers
• Neatly organize and replace all items – This is where some good storage baskets can come in handy!
• Sweep/mop/vacuum linen closet floor
• Clean/dust baseboards and door trim

Day 6: Master bath vanity and storage

A large bathroom vanity can be both a blessing and a curse…

It’s nice to have all of the extra storage space, but just like your nightstand drawers, it can be tempting to just shove everything inside… out of sight, out of mind.

Until you need to find that one beauty product that you desperately need, and you open a cabinet and 52,000 things fall out.

Here are some guided steps to help you get your bathroom vanity and other storage areas cleaned and organized:

• Empty all vanity drawers/cabinets
• Get rid of bathroom items that you no longer use and relocate items that don’t belong in the vanity
• Sort vanity items into like categories – eye makeup, lipsticks, face products, hair products, etc.
• Wipe down the inside of the vanity – drawers, cabinets, shelves, etc.
• Neatly organize and replace all items
• Declutter and organize the vanity top
• Clean/dust items on vanity top – vanity tray, toothbrush holders, soap dispenser, etc.

Day 7: Master bath deep clean

Congratulations! You made it to the last day of the first week of the Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge! And to celebrate, you get to deep clean my least favorite room of the house… the master bathroom!

I despise cleaning my shower. It’s by far the LAST thing in my home that I would want to clean… and my husband knows it, so he often tackles the shower cleaning for me. But if all of the cleaning responsibilities for your bathroom fall squarely on your shoulders, here are some steps to help:

• Clean toilet including the outside and base (around the tile on the floor)
• Clean tub/shower including walls and grout
• Polish faucet, drain, and shower head
• Wipe down mirrors and glass
• Dust all light fixtures and decorative items
• Clean/dust baseboards and door trim
• Sweep/mop bathroom floors and vacuum and/or wash bath mats
• Clean outside of vanity and vanity top

Other Cleaning and Organizing Printables for Your Bedroom and Bathroom

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:

The Ultimate Bedroom Cleaning Checklist – Daily, Weekly, and Deep Cleaning! – Visit this post for a super cute bedroom cleaning checklist, divided up into daily and weekly cleaning tasks… This is a handy cleaning printable to have on hand after you’re done with the Home Cleaning Challenge to help you maintain your nice, clean bedroom retreat!

How to Declutter Your Messy Bedroom Today – Free Checklist! – If your bedroom is super cluttered, you may want to spend a day just focusing on decluttering and getting rid of all of that stuff! Head to the post for this awesome bedroom decluttering checklist to help you:

Bathroom Cleaning Checklists – For Daily, Weekly, and Deep Cleaning! – The bathrooms can be the most difficult room in the house to keep clean… but these free printable cleaning checklists can help! After you’ve gotten your master bath cleaned in Week 1 of the Whole Home Cleaning Challenge, keep it that way with these printable bathroom cleaning lists that you can add to your family command center or store in your planner:

Free Printable Home Cleaning Challenge – Week 1

Want the free printable version of the Home Cleaning Challenge?! You can print it off down below, and then use it to get started cleaning your whole house! Just click the link below to download Week 1 of the 5 Week Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge. Then, work through each day’s jobs and, when you’re done, come back to download week 2.

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 2 of the challenge!

Click HERE for the Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge – Week 1

After You’re Done with the Cleaning and Organizing Challenge

After you’ve spent the last 5 weeks doing the full home challenge, the last thing you want to do is have your home revert back to the mess that it was before! So it’s important to start a cleaning routine to maintain your nice and tidy home!

But don’t worry, this is easier than it sounds, especially with the help of a printable cleaning schedule that you can customize with your own cleaning jobs!

Check out this post for how to start a weekly cleaning schedule that works for you: Create a Weekly Cleaning Schedule You Can Stick To – Printable Checklist! And grab this cleaning schedule template to help you maintain your home:

Free Printable Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge – Week 2

Did you slay the first week of the home cleaning challenge and now you’re ready to tackle week 2? Congrats!

Doesn’t it feel SO great to have your master bedroom and bathroom cleaned and organized? Now it actually feels like a retreat where you can relax at the end of the day, right?

Come back next week to grab Week 2 of the Home Cleaning and Organizing Challenge!

And don’t forget to PIN this post to refer back to it when your home needs another refresh: