The Home RESET Method:
How to Finally Get Your Home Under Control
Your home doesn’t need another big organizing overhaul. It needs a way to handle the clutter, create homes for your things, and build habits that work in real life.
The Home RESET Method is my five-step approach to doing just that. Instead of trying to fix everything at once, you’ll make small, manageable changes, see how they work in your everyday life, and adjust as you go.
You don’t have to start over every time the mess comes back. You can RESET.
You declutter. You organize. You finally get everything looking the way you want it.
And then life happens.
The mail starts piling up again. The kitchen counter becomes the landing spot for everything. The closet you spent an entire Saturday organizing somehow looks like you never touched it.
Sound familiar?
Here’s what I’ve learned after years of organizing my own home and helping other women with theirs:
Getting your home under control isn’t about finding the perfect organizing system. It’s about creating a home that works for the way you actually live.
And that means doing things in the right order, working in manageable spaces, and being willing to adjust your systems when life shows you they aren’t working.
That’s exactly why I created the Home Made Lovely RESET Method.
What Is the Home RESET Method?
The Home Made Lovely RESET Method is a five-step approach to decluttering, organizing, and creating a home that’s easier to maintain.
It’s designed to help you make lasting progress without emptying your entire house, spending every weekend organizing, or starting over whenever life gets busy.
RESET stands for:
R — Remove the obvious
E — Edit one small space at a time
S — Set temporary homes
E — Experience the space
T — Tweak what’s not working
Each step has a specific purpose, and each one builds on the step before it.
Instead of trying to declutter, organize, and maintain everything all at once, you work through the process in an order that makes the next step easier.
And you don’t have to do an entire room at once.
You can work on one drawer, one shelf, or one small area at a time, making progress that fits into your actual life.
The Five Steps of the Home RESET Method
1. Remove the Obvious
Before you start sorting through everything you own, remove the things that clearly don’t belong in the space.
- The trash
- The empty packaging
- The dishes that belong in the kitchen
- The shoes that belong by the door
This isn’t the time to make difficult decisions about sentimental belongings or figure out how to organize an entire room.
You’re simply clearing away the obvious stuff so you can see what you’re actually working with.
And sometimes, that alone makes a space feel noticeably lighter.
2. Edit One Small Space at a Time
Once you’ve removed the obvious clutter, it’s time to decide what actually belongs in your home.
But here’s where I do things a little differently…
Instead of emptying an entire room or pulling everything out of a closet at once, we work in small, manageable areas.
One drawer.
One shelf.
One surface.
I call these micro-zones.
Working in smaller spaces means you can make decisions without creating a bigger mess than you started with.
You’re deciding what stays, what goes, and what you actually need in your home.
And you’re doing it in a way that allows you to make progress without needing an entire free afternoon.
3. Set Temporary Homes
Once you’ve decided what stays, everything needs somewhere to live.
But that doesn’t mean you need to buy organizing products or come up with the perfect storage solution right away.
In fact, I encourage you not to!
Instead, give your belongings temporary homes based on where you use them and how you naturally move through your home.
The goal isn’t to create a picture-perfect organizing system.
It’s to create one that makes sense for you and the other people who live there.
And we’re calling these homes temporary for a reason.
Because you haven’t actually tested them yet.
4. Experience the Space
This is one of the steps that makes the RESET Method different from simply decluttering and organizing.
You live with the space.
You use the drawers. You put things away. You move through your normal routines.
And you pay attention to what happens.
- Are things easy to find?
- Are they easy to put away?
- Does everyone know where they belong?
- Do certain things keep ending up somewhere other than their designated home?
You don’t have to answer all of those questions immediately.
You’re simply giving yourself and your household time to experience the systems you’ve created.
Because something that looks organized isn’t necessarily something that works in everyday life.
And that’s what we’re trying to create.
A home that actually works.
5. Tweak What’s Not Working
Here’s where the magic happens.
You’ve decluttered. You’ve organized. You’ve lived with your systems.
And now you’ve discovered that something isn’t quite working.
- Maybe the basket is too small.
- Maybe the place you chose for the mail is too far from where everyone naturally drops it.
- Maybe putting something away requires too many steps.
- Or maybe the organizing system itself is fine, but you need a simple habit to help everyone use it consistently.
Whatever the problem is, you don’t need to start over.
You just need to make an adjustment.
Move the basket. Change the location. Simplify the system. Create a small habit that makes putting things away easier.
The goal isn’t to get everything perfect on your first try.
It’s to create systems that become easier to use and maintain as you learn what works for your home.
Don’t start over. RESET.
Why Does the Order Matter?
One of the biggest reasons organizing can feel so frustrating is that we often try to solve several different problems at the same time.
- We start organizing things we don’t actually need.
- We buy containers before we’ve figured out what belongs in them.
- We create beautiful systems without knowing whether they’re practical for everyday life.
And then, when those systems don’t work, we assume we need to try harder or start the whole process again.
The RESET Method approaches those problems in a different order.
→ First, you remove the obvious clutter so you can see what you’re working with.
→ Then, you edit your belongings so you’re not organizing things you don’t need or want.
→ Next, you give the things you’re keeping logical homes.
→ You live with those systems to see how they work in real life.
→ And finally, you adjust anything that isn’t working.
Each step gives you the information you need for the next one.
And because you’re working in small, manageable spaces, you don’t have to wait until an entire room is finished before you can start enjoying the progress you’ve made.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you should declutter or organize first, you might also find this helpful: Decluttering vs. Organizing: What Should You Do First?
What About Home Habits?
Decluttering and organizing are important, but they’re not the whole picture.
Your home is a place where people actually live.
Things get used. Mail comes in. Laundry needs to be put away. Shoes come off. Dinner gets made.
Even a well-organized home will need regular attention.
That’s where simple home habits come in.
Once your belongings have practical homes, small, repeatable routines can help you keep up with everyday life.
And those habits don’t need to be complicated.
The goal is to make taking care of your home easier, not to create another long list of things you have to do every day.
Your organizing systems and your habits should support each other.
If putting something away is unnecessarily difficult, even the best intentions won’t make that system easy to maintain.
And if everything has a logical home but things still pile up, you may need a simple routine that helps you put the day away.
That’s why the RESET Method focuses on creating functional systems first, then supporting those systems with habits that fit your real life.
You Don’t Have to RESET Your Entire Home at Once
I know how overwhelming it can feel to look around your home and see so many things that need your attention.
Maybe every room feels messy.
Maybe you’ve started decluttering before but never quite finished.
Or maybe you’ve organized the same spaces over and over, only to watch the mess come back.
The good news is that you don’t have to fix everything at once.
The RESET Method is designed to work in manageable spaces, so you can make progress without turning your whole home upside down.
You can start with one small area.
You can work on your home for a little while and then get back to the rest of your life.
And when life gets busy, you can pick up where you left off.
You don’t lose the progress you’ve already made just because you didn’t finish an entire room in one weekend.
The goal isn’t to create a perfect home. It’s to create a home that supports your life.
Who Created the Home RESET Method?
Hi, I’m Shannon Acheson!
I’m the founder of Home Made Lovely, the author of Home Made Lovely and The Clutter Fix, and the creator of the Home Made Lovely RESET Method.
I’ve been helping women create homes they love living in since 2010.
And while I love decorating and creating beautiful spaces, I’ve learned that a home needs to work for the people living in it before anything else.
I know what it’s like to have a house full of people, belongings, and everyday life.
My husband and I raised our three kids in a few different homes, including a 950-square-foot bungalow with no garage and no basement, so I’ve had plenty of experience figuring out how to make a home function when space is limited.
Over the years, I’ve learned that creating a home you love isn’t about having more space, more storage, or more time.
It’s about making the space you have work better for the life you’re living.
That’s what I want to help you do.
Ready to RESET Your Home With Me?
Now that you understand how the RESET Method works, you might be wondering how to actually apply it to your home.
- Where should you start?
- What should you work on first?
- How do you make progress when you only have a little time each day?
- And how do you keep going when life gets busy?
That’s exactly why I created the Home Made Lovely RESET Club.
Inside the Club, you don’t have to figure out the entire process on your own.
Every month, we focus on one room together with a guided 30-Day Room RESET Plan.
You’ll get:
- Manageable 10–20 minute steps so you know exactly what to work on next.
- Lessons that walk you through the RESET Method and how to apply it in your own home.
- Practical resources, worksheets, and organizing tools.
- Simple RESET routines that help you maintain the progress you’ve made.
- Monthly live calls, a supportive community, and access to me when you have questions.
You can follow along with the monthly room plan, work through a different room at your own pace, or use a smaller RESET when that’s what you have time and energy for.
And when life gets busy?
You can come back and pick up where you left off.
No starting over.
Just one manageable step at a time, until your home becomes easier to live in and easier to maintain.
Don’t start over. RESET.