Try The “Bigger Than a Breadbox” Decluttering Challenge This Weekend

There is endless advice in the world about how best to declutter your home—some of it is helpful, a bit of it is masterful, and much of it is inconsistent. “Keep only the things that spark joy” they tell you… but, I mean, you need to keep your screwdriver and vacuum, no matter how boring or frustrating their utility may be. Point is, the “rules” don’t always work.

The only thing that has worked, for me, is toiling slowly around my home in small, actionable steps to clear away things I no longer need, and ideally leave a path of impeccable (ok, acceptable) organization in my wake. This weekend, we’ll all take a step in that direction together.

Apartment Therapy Weekend Projects is a guided program designed to help you get the happy, healthy home you’ve always wanted, one weekend at a time. Sign up now for email updates so you never miss a lesson.

Pick a spot in your home that’s messier than you’d like and in need of a quick decluttering. The only rule is that you have to choose a spot that’s proverbially “bigger than a breadbox.”

I’ve always liked this idiom because it’s sort of specific and vague at the exact same time. The spot you choose to declutter should be a space that will have a sizable impact for you in your day to day life. Here are some ideas:

• A crowded bathroom drawer or cabinet
• A single kitchen cabinet
• Under the bed
• Your clothes closet, or a drawer of the dresser
• A particular shelf, or an entire bookcase
• The hall closet
• The trunk of your car
• The inside of the fridge or freezer
• A box of who-knows-what that’s sitting in storage

Choose your area to tackle, then dig in. A great method is to remove everything from the area, give the empty space a wipe down, then sort through the piles of things and place what you want to keep back into the space in a tidy way.

If, when you’re through, you want to leave the door or drawer open to admire your handiwork for the weekend, you should know that’s a totally reasonable response and you have our permission to do it (just give everyone in the house a heads up so nobody walks into a kitchen cabinet or something).

You can catch up with weekend projects right here. Share your progress with us and others by posting updates and photos on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #atweekendproject.

Remember: This is about improvement, not perfection. Each week you can either choose to work on the assignment we’ve sent you, or tackle another project you’ve been meaning to get to. It’s also completely okay to skip a weekend if you’re busy or not feeling the assignment.