Regardless of whether you make and commit to any New Year’s resolutions, there is something about entering a new year or decade that inspires us to shed old habits and improve in certain areas of our lives.
For instance, if you’ve been meaning to clear your home of clutter and up your organizational ante, January is the ideal time to get started on this goal. As a bonus, many stores tend to have sales on totes and other needed accessories at the start of the year, meaning projects like these won’t break the bank.
Still in need of some inspiration to get motivated and organized for the start of a new decade? Here are four tips that will help you get off to an organized start in 2020:
Create Cubby Areas
If you’re constantly scrambling to find your keys, jacket, hat, garage remote and/or anything else you need before leaving the house, experts suggest designating an area near the front door or garage to store these and other essentials. If you have kids, their backpacks and sports gear can be housed in this area, too. This seemingly small step will not only help you become more organized, but will also save you time by knowing where everything is located.
Get Rid of All the Clutter
It’s no secret a lot of people have an abundance of items in their homes that go unused or are completely forgotten about over time, but yet still sit around and never get thrown away. To help declutter your home, set aside five minutes every day to throw out, donate or recycle as many unused items as possible, which tend to include:
- Old stacks of newspapers and magazines
- Expired makeup and toiletries
- Unused food items in your pantry
- Moving boxes
- School papers and art projects
Go Room by Room
As you work on your decluttering/organization project, remember that your home didn’t end up filled with stuff overnight. To stay on track, go room by room and/or box by box and remind yourself that small progress adds up. Additionally, try to make this project as fun as possible. For instance, instead of going through items in an old box that’s sitting in your cold, dark garage, bring it inside and inspect the contents while listening to music or watching TV.
Add Some Attractive Storage
In addition to getting rid of as many unused items as possible, you’ll also want to find ways to organize items you use and love. To do this, you may need to invest in some organizational items. For instance, for the summer clothes you plan to keep but don’t have room to store along with your winter wear in your closet, buy an under-bed tote on wheels and tuck these garments safely away.
Additionally, once you whittle down your collection of DVDs to the movies you plan to watch, consider buying an attractive bookcase that can double as a DVD/general organizational unit. In addition to offering a wide selection of attractive bookcases in a variety of styles and finishes, Jerome’s Furniture offers free delivery, which means you don’t have to ask your neighbor to borrow his pickup truck to pick up your new furniture.
Slow and Steady Wins the Organizational Race
It’s amazing how quickly your decluttering efforts will begin to add up. As with clean-up project, you’ll likely get inspired to organize other areas of your home as you go through old boxes and declutter messy closet spaces. Before you know it, you’ll look around your house and see a peaceful and clutter-free zone filled with things you plan to use, rather than a chaotic space jammed with waste.