This coming year, there is a possibility of us purchasing our first home, and I realized that I am completely unprepared for a move with the Kilcoyne clutter that has accumulated over the last three years. Ironically, I still have unpacked boxes from the last move deep inside an upper storage closet! So, in my planning for the New Year, I decided that I wanted to do a total sweep of each room in my house, focusing on one room a month, starting with the rooms I feel need the most attention in my home. In the event that we stay in our rental one more year, I am also going to focus on a little decorating too, not too much, just little updates and personal touches here and there. If you’d like to join in, I’d love to have you!

Each month will be broken up into four weeks of focused work in each room. By the end of the four week period, if I’ve followed my plan, each room will be left in tip top shape. Notice I said IF I follow my plan, ha ha! Either way, I figure that every little bit of effort will be worth it. I’ve learned to relax a little when it comes to goals, understanding that now that I have children in the home, there are usually hiccups along the way, but I still like setting my goals because when the hiccups die down, I can resume where I left off if things don’t go as I would like. That being said- If you join me for the Sweep & Keep Room-by-Room Challenge, please don’t drive yourself and your families crazy trying to meet these goals! Do what you can and then pat yourself on the back. If this isn’t your style, check out other sites like Flylady.net, one of my personal favorites for getting my house in order. I still use Flylady’s advice all the time, I just wanted to try this for this year because I may be moving and I was trying to think of a more specific way to target what I may need to get done this year. Bottom line- do what works for you. The real goal is a clean and efficient home so that we can enjoy our families more.

Here is what the basic outline for each month will look like:

Week One- Simplify- De-clutter & Clean: Going through each room clockwise from top to bottom is my method. De-cluttering means: categorizing items into groups for throwing away, donating, storing away, keeping and finally, yard sale items. Cleaning means: Using appropriate cleansers and tools to clean and disinfect surfaces, items and carpets.

This is also the week that I will examine for needed repairs and maintenance tasks for this room and I will make a Repair/Maintenance List to be worked on for the rest of the month in that room.

Week Two- Prioritize- Now the room will be broken up into ‘zones’ and I will figure out what each ‘zone’ needs for optimal function. I will ask the question of each zone: what is the priority of the function of this space, what do I want this space to do for me, the house, etc? If I need any organizational helps for this function, I will make a list of what is needed and head out to the store to get those items. I will also move furniture around for better function if needed during this week.

Week Three- Organize and Decorate- This week, each zone will be organized within the room I am working on and then I will decorate with a few personal touches here and there to make it more welcoming and comfortable. Again, nothing fancy here, just something to add a personal touch.

Week Four- Wrap It Up Week- Anything I didn’t finish in the previous three weeks will be finished during this week.

Because I have followed Flylady principles for so long, many of her methods are second nature to me as far as how to de-clutter and having detailed cleaning lists for each room. If you’ve never done anything like this before, I encourage you again to go to her site. She has a lot of great advice when it comes to gaining control over our homes.

If you decide to jump in with me on my challenge, I’ll be starting January 9, 2012 in my Master Bedroom and Personal Prayer/Study Space. I will share from week to week what I am doing, little ideas I stumble across that are helpful and hopefully some cute DIY decorating ideas on my Pinterest Board and here at the Fruitful Vine site. If you have any ideas along the way, I’d love to hear them! Either find me on Pinterest or post your comments and links here for others to see. I always have so much fun learning from others and seeing their creative ideas for organizing and decorating.

All right- Are you ready to jump in? Click here for the Master Bedroom Sweep & Clean Challenge!