With 2020 on, everyone is looking forward to a good start. And cleaning the house is one such activity you can do for that. But with all the things you have accumulated throughout last year, it can feel like a daunting task. Here are some great New Year decluttering tips to help you start cleaning up.
New Year decluttering tip no. 1: Have a plan
Trying to clean up off all that clutter in a haphazard manner can end up making the work harder. As such, you need to plan out how to do the work. Survey the house to see how much stuff you need to dispose of. Decide where to start by assessing which rooms have the most cleaning to be done. A decluttering checklist/challenge like this one can be a helpful tool for planning the work.
You also need to think early about what to do with all the stuff. Do a quick look at the things to clean up and decide which items you can still give or donate to others. Call potential recipients early to know if they would be willing to take in your stuff. This way, you won’t have to worry about where these would go after cleaning them up.
New Year decluttering tips no. 2: Know which items to declutter first
To better organize your New Year decluttering, decide which groups of items to deal with first. Here are some of the ones to prioritize when cleaning:
- Gift-wrapping supplies: Roll up any unused gift wrapping paper for reuse later. Store them in an accessible place.
- Pantry items: Sift through the food stocks from the holidays to see which ones you can still prepare. Cook them for immediate consumption or distribution to others.
- Toys: Your kids are likely to have a lot of new toys over the holidays. So it is time to go through their old ones and see which ones can be given away.
- Bookshelves: Take out all of the titles that you didn’t like and give out or sell them. You would also want to organize your to-read section and stick to the ones you do intend to finish.
- Holiday decorations: Inspect the lights and other decorations to see if they are still good to be used. Consider giving away some of them.
Note that your list of priorities might differ from these. Still, the idea should be to take out the most cluttered items first. Once you have removed most of the unnecessary stuff, organizing all the other items is much easier.
New Year decluttering tips no. 3: Start early
A common mistake made by some homeowners is postponing the New Year cleaning until a week after the holidays. This can kill off all the initial enthusiasm once they see the work needed to be done.
To avoid that, it would be a good idea to start cleaning as early as possible. Since trying to clean everything in one go would be daunting, it would help to break the work into smaller stages. Start with decluttering a small area, such as your personal table. The next day, you can move to other sections of the house.
Another way to motivate yourself to start cleaning early is by having a set amount of time for the task each day. This could be as short as 20 minutes and you just sort out as many items as you can. Alternately, you can go by deciding on how many items you want to clean per day.
New Year decluttering tip no. 4: Store things wisely
Another challenge when it comes to New Year decluttering is working out how to store the stuff you do decide to keep. Don’t just throw everything in a large box. If you still have the original boxes for some of the items, reuse those for storage. On the other hand, you can use small boxes to hold items. Be sure to label them so that you know what each contains.
You also need to take care to ensure that the items will not be damaged while in storage. Take the weight of the boxes into consideration when setting them on top of each other. Also make sure the room you will store everything in is free of any leaks that might bring about water damage.
New Year decluttering tip no. 5: Recycle and upcycle
With all the talk about the environmental impact of the holidays, you would want to lessen the amount of trash you make. Immediately recycling some of the items will help you accomplish that. Look for ways to use some of the stuff right away. Boxes and leftover decor, for instance, can be reused for storing other items.
Another way to go is upcycling. This is the process of turning items into completely new ones with a different use. For example, you can turn the produce nets that come with fruits and vegetables into unique tote bags. The process requires some creative thinking and will be a great activity to do in your spare time.
Start the New Year right decluttering your home
The New Year decluttering tips above are just some of the nifty tricks to make all the work easier and more fun. Bring your family together and get started tidying up the house. You will be rewarded with a sparkling clean home to kick off the new decade.