The 5 Day Declutter Challenge

You’re invited to join our 5-Day Declutter Challenge — For a Purpose. As you know, our newest Hope Shop brick-and-mortar location was scheduled to open the first week of April here in Mid-City Baton Rouge.

We’ve pushed back our date due to the effects of the Coronavirus, but you can still help us plan for a future fundraiser!

This spring/summer, we are hosting a local garage sale with donated items from YOU. All proceeds from the sale will help us open the new Hope Shop location.

We’re accepting clothing, books, kitchen and home goods, toys, electronics and small furniture.

And what better time to declutter and collect things for our garage sale than now while we’re stuck at home?

We’ve teamed up with Baton Rouge home organizer Sara West of South Coast Organizers to put together this 5-Day Declutter Challenge. Our challenge will run Monday, April 13 - Friday, April 17.

DONATION DROP OFF DATE

We ask that you hold your donation items until the social distancing order has been lifted. We have a tentative date for drop-off at our newest location for Saturday, May 2.

HOW TO DECIDE WHAT TO DONATE

We’ll challenge you to clean out a different space in your home each day. You are free to donate all types of items for our garage sale - we’re simply offering suggestions in this post.

When deciding whether to keep or donate items, Sara suggests to touch every item by taking it out of its space.

Ask yourself:

  • Do you love this item?

  • Have you used it lately?

  • Do you plan to use it in the near future?

You can read more of Sara’s tips and even bring her into your home or virtually on socoorganizers.com!

DAY 1 - HOME DECOR

Let’s declutter your home decor. What decor no longer brings you joy? What do you feel like you spend more time dusting than enjoying? What could you purge and upgrade your space with? Walk around your house with an empty box. If you’re unsure about an item, store it away for a few days and see if you miss it.

Ideas: picture frames, lamps, trinkets, vases, candleholders, trays, clocks, artificial plants

p.s. looking for creative storage options? Check out our handmade baskets!

DAY 2 - YOUR CLOSET

Your first task is to take everything out of your closet and drawers. Stack similar items together - like a pile for jeans, a pile for sweaters and a pile for leggings.

This helps you see how much of one item you have. 27 pairs of jeans? Maybe you can donate a few. Sometimes seeing how much we have of one item opens our eyes to what we should keep or donate.

Sara suggests touching every item, then asking yourself if you’ve worn it lately or if you plan to wear it soon.

Another good question to ask yourself is - would you wear this right now if in season? If the answer is no, it may be time to donate.

DAY 3 - YOUR ACCESSORIES

Today, let’s tackle jewelry and accessories. This includes necklaces, rings, bracelets, handbags, hats, scarves and more. Consider what you still wear and love.

Sara says to display the accessories you keep. You should feel like you're in a story, ready to pick and choose your favorite things to wear.

DAY 4 - BOOKS

Let’s go through our books today! Keep books that you’ve read and that you truly love. Sara loves styling a bookshelf by color or topic. She also recommends adding your favorite treasures to your bookshelves that #sparkjoy.

For your other books, it’s ok to let them go and let someone else enjoy them.

DAY 5 - KITCHEN

Sara recommends to take everything out of the kitchen cabinets. EVERYTHING — one cabinet and drawer at a time. Decide what you still use and want to keep. Make piles of similar items to see what you have too many of. When putting your items back in the cabinets, she suggests keeping everything visible and easy to see.