Saturday

Organize the Pantry

We know we aren’t the only ones with heaven-knows-how-old bottles of condiments and snacks tucked away in the pantry. It’s time to get it together once-and-for-all. 

• Check expiration dates and dispose of anything that has gone bad. (Try not to judge yourself.)
• After you’ve cleared everything out of the pantry, give the shelves a thorough dusting and wipe them down with an all-natural cleaner.
• Reorganize all of your pantry items into clear bins that allow you to find what you need quickly—no more rooting around for that rogue pickle jar.

Pare Down and Prep Your Closet

Your closet: the single greatest barrier standing between you and the woman we know you truly are. All those stained gym t-shirts and bodycon dresses that haven’t seen the light of day in a decade are yesterday’s news. You don’t even know her.

• Start by sorting through all of your clothing, and create three piles: Donate, Keep, Toss. Be brutal. If you don’t wear it, make like Elsa and let it go.
• Give all of your whites a nice refresh with a non-toxic bleach alternative. Lighter seasons mean lighter colors, and you want to be prepared to go out in those white high-waisted jeans (the ones that make your booty look GOOD) when the world is finally back in action.
• Check for hangers that need to be replaced. Swap old plastic or wire hangers with thin velvet hangers to maximize space.
• After all of your items are cleaned and sorted, give everything a good steam to avoid having to do so at the last minute. Your post-Covid-19 self will thank you.

Sort and Store Kids Artwork

We fully understand the urge to keep every single masterpiece your little ones bring home from school (we’re sentimental too!), but let’s be real: that’s a lot of paper around your house.

Rather than let the artwork pile up on the refrigerator or take up valuable real estate on the dining table, sort and store them away in a large, clear case that you can easily access (should you ever want to go back down memory lane).

*Pro tip: If you’re feeling guilty or having trouble throwing any items away, take a photo of the artwork, have it printed, and make photo albums to keep the memory while still clearing out space.

Sunday

Refresh Bathrooms

Girls just want to apply their serums in peace! Keeping your bathroom refreshed and spa-like is a great way to bring more calm to your morning and night routines, and a few simple proactive steps can make all the difference.

• Check for any worn towels that may need to be donated to your local animal shelter or repurposed as cleaning aids and replace them with new ones. We’re huge fans of the Coyuchi Cloud Loom Towels—they’re made of organic cotton and truly live up to their name.
• Interior Designer Lauren Liess recently shared this tip on her Instagram page: Take your regular bathroom cleaner (we love this clean, biodegradable one by Biokleen) and pour a bit into empty amber glass spray bottles. You can then easily store these in the bathrooms throughout your home (if you have more than one), or keep one out on the counter for convenient daily wipe-downs.
• Empty skincare bottles and expired mascara tubes tossed about in your vanity drawer doesn’t exactly make for a serene getting-ready experience. These simple skincare/makeup organizers from Amazon allow everything to have a designated place, and you can add as many as you need to suit your collection. Starting on a good foot on Sundays is crucial in having a cleaner home.

Wrangle the Toys

Overflowing and unending piles of toys: every parent’s mortal enemy. If you’re like us, you’ve also probably been in survival mode these last couple of months and may have added a few urgent additions to the collection to keep your littles preoccupied while you try to get some work done at home. WE GET IT! But let’s talk about how to get the situation under control now.

• Donate toys that your little one no longer plays with to keep the volume of toys at bay. In general, a great rule of thumb (when not in survival mode) is to only purchase one new toy after donating one old one. (We should probably also adopt this rule for our purchases, but don’t tell our kids that.)
• Of course, an ideal toy solution would be dozens of perfectly labeled bins and baskets that keep everything in its place at all times (and we encourage you to go this route whenever possible). But, we’re also big believers in extra large storage baskets that can quickly and easily corral the most-used toys at the end of the day.

Streamline Your Family’s Important Papers

Do you immediately feel stressed out at the idea of having to dredge up your birth certificate for a new passport? Do you break out in hives when trying to remember where all of your insurance documents are? We feel you! These file folder organizers from The Container Store will help you get those pesky important papers in a safe space once and for all. You can give each family member their own assigned file box, or sort by the specific type of document (i.e., identification documents, finances, medical, etc.).