3 Amazing Decluttering Challenges For 2026
Here are my top three decluttering challenges for people ready to kick off 2026 in a more organized, peaceful home.
1. The New Year Declutter Challenge (30-day guided)
This is the ultimate new year decluttering challenge! Each day of January has:
- guided assignments with specific areas to tackle
- catered tips
- a support network through our Community Challenge Hub
- rewards for decluttering your house
- tons of helpful resources that keep you motivated and on track
Here are a few before-and-after photos from our last decluttering challenge. I LOVE looking at them for inspiration. Have a scroll through for a dopamine boost!
With specific daily challenges, everyone is working on the same areas of their home and sharing their photos, stories, and struggles in the Community Hub. The energy is so supportive and encouraging, and we decluttered THOUSANDS of items together!
If you want to join in the fun for January, do it quick! Signups close soon:
2. No Buy Year (year-long challenge)
This is a challenge you can add alongside any decluttering efforts to greatly increase your progress, reset consumption habits, and save a TON of money. Check out the details here: No Buy Year Challenge.
And the best part is you don’t HAVE to do it for a full year. Just a month–or even a week, for my super spenders–of No Buy can have a huge impact.
3. January Decluttering Challenge: MinsGame
If you’d like to start the year with a shorter challenge, try MinsGame! It runs through January and will leave you with nearly 500 fewer items cluttering up your house. In fact, here’s your free tally chart to keep track:
Areas to declutter for a fresh start in the new year.
The areas you focus your decluttering efforts on can make a bigger difference when it’s strategic. Here are a few spaces to consider for a fresh start.
Junk drawers
The junk drawer is the perfect place to begin a January reset because it gives you a fast, visible win. It’s small, contained, and usually full of items that don’t actually matter to you, which means you can make noticeable progress in under ten minutes.
Take everything out, wipe the drawer, and only return the things you truly use. Pens that don’t write, keys that unlock nothing, dead batteries, old receipts, random plastic bits, chewed-up toy parts—these are the low-risk decisions that warm up your decluttering muscles.
A cleared junk drawer reintroduces you to the feeling of function, and that momentum carries beautifully into the rest of the home.
Tip: Dump the whole drawer into the trashcan without looking. This works for most people and is…quite fast.
Cleaning supplies
Cleaning supplies are notorious clutter-hiders because we tend to stash them in multiple places: under sinks, in the laundry room, on shelves, in linen closets. January is a perfect time to gather them all into one spot and take inventory.
You’ll usually find duplicates, expired products, or cleaners you tried once and didn’t like. Toss what’s worn out, consolidate duplicates, and keep only the tools you actually use.
When your cleaning supplies are simplified and easy to access, maintaining your home becomes easier, which is exactly the kind of energy you want for the new year!
It’s also a pretty accessible and quick category, giving you an easier win to build momentum.
Holiday decorations
January is the natural moment to reassess your holiday decor because everything is already out. As you pack it away, do a quick pass: What didn’t get used this year? What felt like a chore to put up? What’s broken, faded, or no longer matches the look you want for your home?
Letting go now prevents you from storing things for twelve months only to unpack the same frustration next December. Keep the decor that makes your home feel warm and magical, and release the rest.
Your future self will thank you when next year’s decorating feels easy instead of overwhelming! You can also check out this post about Minimalist Christmas Decor for some inspiration for a simpler holiday season.
Kids rooms & kids toys
Kids’ spaces accumulate clutter fast, especially after the holiday season. New gifts come in, but not much goes out, leading to crowded shelves, overflowing bins, and decision overwhelm for little ones.
A January reset doesn’t have to be dramatic. Focus on removing what’s broken, unloved, outgrown, or missing pieces. Rotate toys if you want to keep the variety without the constant mess.
Many people swear by the post-gift season purge, where you let your kiddos play with their new gifts for a few weeks, then let them choose a certain number to keep (from the new or old toys), allowing the others to be passed on to other children who aren’t as fortunate. In my experience, many gifts have a few days’ worth of novelty, then the kids are over it. The post-gift purge allows for some flexibility AND avoids the clutter overload.
Declutter your home with a challenge that works.
The New Year Declutter Challenge 2026 is going to be one for the BOOKS. Here are just a few things people had to say about the last one:
“Doing this challenge helped me to take one step daily and the benefit on my mental health was unimaginable.” – Kat ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“[The Community Challenge Hub] was super motivating! I think it was the reason I stayed consistent through the full challenge”. – Abigail ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I’m a visual person so having the all the bells & my chart is what helped me to see how my progress! I decluttered SO many items in 30 days.” – Gisèle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So what are you waiting for? Take control of your life and let’s get this done for the new year. I can’t wait to see you in there!
