After the Christmas festivities have died down and life gets back to relative normality, many of us like to turn our attention to getting our house in order – literally. While many New Year’s resolutions involve getting our bodies in shape, getting our homes in better shape also become a priority.
Starting the new year with decluttering can often be an effective way to focus on a new start. Not only does it help our house look tidier, but it can also have a positive impact on our mental health. All that baggage, but real and imagined, can be cleared out, allowing us to focus on the important things in life.
If you are considering a new year declutter, here are some top tips to follow.
Find your focus
If you set out to declutter your whole house in one go, chances are you are going to become very quickly overwhelmed. The best approach is to pick one area like your bedroom or hallway and concentrate and decluttering it before moving on.
Of course, decluttering one area can often mean shoving stuff into another area which then gets cluttered. The key is to have a plan for where everything is going before you attack a certain part of your home
Be ruthless
Sometimes a good clear out can lead to uncovering old items and reminiscing about the memories they conjure up. However, there may be some things that are doing very little other than taking up space. Be ruthless about what you want to keep and what you should throw away. Still got a mountain of CDs but no actual CD player to listen to them on? Ask yourself why you are still holding onto them.
If you have items such as clothes you no longer wear or old toys the kids have grown too old, but are in decent condition, bag them up and ship them off to a charity shop.
Storage is king
Before you even think about having a new year declutter, you need to have some storage solutions handy. Often, a room can be decluttered by not throwing anything out of it, but by simply making sure everything has a place to go.
Invest in some plastic boxes with lids for toys that can be easily slid underneath the bed. A hanging shoe rack can help tidy away all the footwear which is normally strewn across your bedroom floor. Even some nice decorative storage that can blend in with the décor of your living room can be highly effective while decluttering. A nice storage bin for newspapers or books in the living room can give you more space to stretch out and relaxed.
Pace yourself
You’re not going to turn your house into a palace in one day. If you do take that approach, you’re going to quickly burn out and resent the task altogether. Doing a little bit of decluttering a day over the space of a week can do wonders without wearing you out.