Welcome, 2017! This is the year you are finally going to get your home clutter free and organized to perfection… right? Right, because we are here to help. The battle against clutter is never ending so now is the time to start planning your attack.
Not sure where to start? Here are some vital methods to ensuring that this time next year, your house will be just the way you want it.
Clutter Clean Out Tips
1) Holiday Helpers:
Chances are the first thing you are going to tackle this year is taking down your holiday decorations. Instead of just packing everything away haphazardly this year, take the time to really sort through and organize everything.
- Separate and pack everything up by room.
- Sort through every item piece by piece eliminating everything broken, worn, or that you didn’t use.
- Put together a list of things you need to replace and pack it into the top of the box. That way when the season starts up next year, you can head right to the store with your list to get what you need.
2) Room by Room:
De-cluttering an entire house is a lot of work. By working through your home room by room, you can reduce the amount of stress you put on yourself.
- Make a schedule of what order you want to tackle each room of your home.
- Arrange the order in a way you find easy to handle. For example, start by getting the worst rooms of your house finished first so you have an easy finish or vice versa. Do whatever you need to do to make the schedule work best for you.
3) Identify the Major Clutter Problem Areas in your Home:
Are backpacks constantly being dropped in the entry way, shoes left in the hallway and jackets left in the kitchen? Take a walk around your house and find out what areas of your home attract the most clutter. Then fix them!
- Take advantage of the end of the year savings at home goods stores for their organizational items. You might be amazed how creative you can get in your spaces and transform the clutter out.
- Enforce a brand new list of rules to keep your clutter criminals in check through 2017.
4) Keep the Cycle Going:
I wish I could tell you with a couple months of work, your house will be clutter free forever. You know as well as I do that is not the case. Clutter is a never ending battle that you have to stay ahead of. Once you complete your de-cluttering cycle, start from the top again. Each time you complete the cycle, it will get easier and easier to keep it in check.
5) Don’t be too hard on yourself:
If you make yourself miserable, you will never get through your de-cluttering list! You have to make the most of the situation and try to enjoy yourself. Get creative in your solutions or organization methods. You might even start to enjoy organizing by the end of the year. (maybe).
Here’s to a happy, healthy, and organized 2017!
Header image via unsplash.com
My husband recently took a woodworking class in which he learned how to build shelves to fit any space. He then installed two sets of huge wooden shelves into our garage, out of the way so that no usable floor space was taken up by them. We now have space on the shelves to store all of our holiday decorations – we keep each holiday separately stored in large rubbermaid bins, and we have A LOT of them. Just thought I’d add this tip to your list, as I am trying to declutter room by room as well.