There is no better way to start a new year than with a fresh, clean, and organized home.
I don’t know about you, but I cannot function in a space that is not tidy. So from October through December, I could barely function in my home because it was bursting at the seams…. with JUNK!
I dedicated the time I had off during Christmas to getting organized so I could have a fresh start to take on 2018. Closets, drawers, cabinets; EVERYTHING needed cleaned and organized.
Here are some simple tips that helped me tackle this daunting project. Hopefully it will help you too!
Make sure you have plenty of time.
If you know that you have a big project on your hands, make sure you plan to tackle it when you have plenty of time. Having piles of stuff sitting all over my house is one of my worst nightmares, so I took a long weekend to organize so that the piles of junk only had to sit overnight until I could start again the next morning. Remember to be patient with yourself, too. From start to finish, my project took an entire weekend.
Get Energized.
Pick your favorite upbeat playlist and get your sing on! Any task becomes fun when you make it a karaoke dance party. I also diffused orange & peppermint oil which are known to help you stay motivated and productive. I also chose to treat myself to one of my favorite take-out meals for lunch, which gave me motivation to get things done so I could go enjoy!
Take EVERYTHING out.
After doing some research, I found that the best way to organize your space is to remove everything at the beginning. If you are cleaning out a closet, everything comes out of it before you start going through it. This gives you a fresh vision when it comes to reorganizing. Instead of just poking around a few things and leaving everything else where it’s always been, you are forced to look at every item and decide if it is something that you really need. This also helps to open your mind up to new and fresh ways that you can organize the space.
Donate.
Before you start organizing, choose a ministry or organization that you are passionate about & want to donate to. I found this to be helpful when I was having a hard time choosing what to keep and what to get rid of. Knowing that these items were going to women who needed them more than I did gave me the motivation to toss it in the donate bag!
Sleep on it.
If you have items that you are extremely torn about keeping or donating, put those items in a separate bag or box. Put them in another room/under your bed/etc. and if you haven’t gone to the box for it after thirty days, it’s probably something you can part with.
Reorganizing is a big task, but it is TOTALLY worth it! Ever since I tackled my hall & bedroom closets, I feel like a new person. I’m actually excited to walk into these spaces, instead of searching for my clothes with my eyes closed.
