Get Organized in the New Year

A Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place.

Start the new year off right by designating a place for everything in your home and sharing the plan with your family. When an item is no longer in use, put it back in its designated place. When you finish your morning jog, slip your sneakers back into your closet shoe caddy. When the kids’ playtime is over, gather the toys and put them back in the toybox. After work, hang your keys by the door until the next morning. Simple actions throughout the day can relieve a lot of clutter and stress! Consider getting bins and baskets to make a designed space for items be functional and have style.

Start with Your Bedroom

Don’t get overwhelmed with the idea of organizing your home! Most people can’t set aside an entire day to organize each room in their home. Instead, take small steps to lighten the load – a great starting point is the bedroom! We all know how discouraging it can be to come home to a cluttered bedroom. Begin in this room by decluttering and deep cleaning. That way you can lay your head down at night in a peaceful room, allowing you to feel energized and inspired to continue organizing the rest of your home.

Handle Your Paperwork Once

Ever find yourself flipping through the mail only to throw it back into a pile on the counter? Rather than creating a mountain of bills and junk mail each week, try to sort through your paper work each day. After checking the mail, separate it into two sections – things to take care of now and things to take care of later. Don’t need those extra coupons? Share with neighbors or throw them in the recycling bin. And remember to shred any unwanted mail that might have personal information on it.

Declutter in Piles

Just like with your daily mail, decluttering in piles is an easy way to sort through your items – this is especially helpful for organizing a closet! When you’re ready to tackle an area of your home, make three boxes: items to keep, store, and donate. Sort items into these categories and care for them accordingly. Remember: If you haven’t used or worn it in over a year, it’s probably time to let it go.

Stay Motivated

Organization isn’t a once and done kinda thing. You need to stay motivated to keep into place the systems you’ve created for a more organized home. Some ways to help you stay motivated are scheduling time to organize on your calendar, document the process with before/after photos, listen to music or your favorite podcast and treating yourself when you get the job done.

We hope these simple tips are helpful as you begin to declutter and organize! If you would like more information about organizing your home, or would like to speak with an ARC agent about getting your home ready to list, feel free to contact us at (205) 969-8910.