3 Resolutions to Make for a Better-Organized Home in the New Year
How you feel in your environment affects you in many ways, so it’s important to make sure it is a place in which you feel comfortable and inspired. Keeping it organized and clutter-free will give you a clearer mind so you are ready to take on all the goals you have for the New Year.
To have a better-organized home in the New Year, keep these 3 simple resolutions:
Organizing Tips for a Better-Managed Home in 2017
Only Keep Things You Love
Over time, it’s natural for us to accumulate a lot of things and gradually run out of places to put them. This results in clutter and can even keep us from having room for anything new, which leads to a lot of frustration. It’s good to check in with things at least once every six months to a year to purge what you no longer want to make room for the new. There’s a way to get ahead of the game, though, and reduce clutter from forming in the first place.
The rule is simple: only buy/keep things you really love. It starts with being discerning when shopping. When you see something you’re considering buying, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I love this?
- Do I really need this?
- Will I still use it in 6 months? A year?
- Where will I put it?
- Does it go with other things I own?
Asking yourself these questions will ultimately save you time, money and space. Also, when you do buy something new, consider what you can get rid of to make room for it so you aren’t technically adding more to what you already have.
Put Away Things as Soon as You Use Them
Most of us can admit to having the bad habit of not putting things away right after we use them. We’ll make a promise to ourselves to “do it later” and later never comes. This is a surefire way to accumulate clutter, not to mention have trouble finding the item later when you need it again.
Some of the biggest victims of this are tools from the garage. If you haven’t already, take some time to organize your garage with better storage so it’s not only easier to find what you need, but also simple to put it right back. Here are some great ideas from Wayfair on garage storage.
Make this simple promise to yourself in the New Year: put things away as soon as you are doing using them. All it takes is a few extra seconds (or minutes, at most) and it will save you a lot of headache in the long-run. Your home won’t get cluttered as fast (if at all) and you’ll always know where things are when you need them. Try to inspire your family or roommates to do the same.
Organize Your Mail and Documents
Another thing that can quickly get out of hand is incoming and outgoing mail and documents. Paper piles up at what seems like lightning speed, littering your entryway, kitchen countertops, and desk area.
To keep it from taking over your home, employ three baskets or trays in a convenient spot: one for incoming mail, one for outgoing mail, and one for documents you need to file. This will keep everything neatly sorted and ready for organizing.
Once a week, file the documents in a filing cabinet or other organizer of your choice. We love Neat organizers, which scans documents of any size and digitally files them away in an online cloud so you have zero clutter in your home.
These three organizing resolutions are simple to do and will help you keep a well-managed home in the New Year. For more organizing tips and decorating ideas to improve your home, subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
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