De-Cluttering the Home for the New Year

As 2017 approaches, it’s the perfect time to reorganize your home and get rid of all of the things you won’t be needing in the New Year. After the holidays, we often end up with more than we need; from wrapping paper leftovers to items we’ve purchased from holiday sales that we’re now regretting, there’s a variety of things you may have in your home that may be taking up more space than you’d like. Getting your home ready for the New Year by de-cluttering these extra items will allow you to have a fresh new start by the time the clock hits midnight. Here are some easy ways to start de-cluttering and reorganizing:

Divide and Conquer

First, start splitting up the clutter in your home in three main groups: junk, charity, and undecided. Items you decide to throw into the junk pile will eventually make its way to the trash or recycling bin.Things you put into the charity pile will—as the name suggests—be given away to charities or friends and family members who will have better use for them; this could include old clothes or shoes you don’t see yourself wearing anymore. Anything you put into the “undecided” pile will likely be an item you’re not sure about giving up.

Deciding What is Junk

Items you decide to throw into the junk pile will eventually make its way to the trash or recycling bin. This can include remaining holiday gift paraphernalia such as old shopping bags and crinkled or ripped wrapping paper and bows. Common items that may go into this pile include:

• Old prescriptions/medicines
• Chipped mugs and cups
• Old towels – You can also repurpose old towels to be used as cleaning rags around the house if you prefer to do that instead!
• Old chargers – If you can’t find a single electronic device in your home that can use the old chargers you may have, it’s time to toss them.
• Paper items– It’s good to invest in a paper shredder if you’re the type to keep a lot of your receipts and bill records. Shred/throw out any receipts from the previous year that aren’t for major purchases (i.e. television, computer, etc.). If you have any junk mail or old bills that have long been paid, shred them. Keep any recent bill payment records on hand.

What Are You Willing to Give Away or Keep?

After you’ve sorted out the trash from what you’re giving away to charity, it’s time to circle back to your “undecided” pile. If you come across an item that you may feel sentiment towards, it’s likely that you should keep it rather than give it away. If an object holds a memory you’d like to keep, then there’s no need to try to get rid of it; instead, set it aside for safe keeping.