Many of us made New Year’s resolutions for ourselves, and many of us may be wondering if we can keep them. Resolutions don’t have to be hard to keep, especially if they are for your home and you only have to work at them several times a year. Now is a perfect time to look at some simple ways to take better care of our homes and improve functionality and livability.

Streamline Your Stuff

It’s easy to accumulate stuff, especially around the holidays. In with the new, out with the old is a great motto to live by when you’re purging around the house. Don’t hold back. If you haven’t used it all year, chances are you won’t use it in the new year. Of course, some items have sentimental value, but for many items, go room-by-room clearing away that which you don't use, wear or absolutely love.

Donate, Donate

Once you’ve purged, make two piles, one to toss and one to donate to charity. Some of your purged items will simply need to be thrown away while others can be lovingly reused by someone in need. Create a donation bag or box (or several) and make a run to your nearest homeless shelter or Salvation Army or whatever charity you choose. Make someone’s day with gently-used kitchen, clothing, or other household items you no longer use or need. You’ll relish the cleared space and do a great deed at the same time.

Deep Clean

Another easy thing you can do is to deep clean your home, room by room. There is no timetable to set on this cleaning schedule, you have to do it anyway starting with putting away the Christmas wrapping paper and the tree, so start there. Did you have a New Year’s Eve party? There’s your next deep cleaning project. Just keep going from there. Go room by room, hitting the busiest rooms first. You’ll feel good and your home will look great. One room at a time.

Organize One Space

It’s one thing (and overwhelming) to say you’re going to organize your entire house, and quite another to say you’re going to organize your home office or garage. The latter feels doable. Pick one room or space to really dig into. If you’ve already streamlined and purged this space, go further and look at storage and organization solutions to make it as high-functioning as you can. Really research and examine ways to make this space as livable as possible. It will be a pleasure to be and work in and you will be efficient and happy there. Along these same lines...

Do Small Projects

Pick a day to do one or more small projects here and there. Do your gutters need cleaning? Do you have pictures to hang? Most of us have a few small projects around the house we’ve been putting off because somehow they feel big. It’s easier to tackle if you take a day and dedicate it to one thing. So, plan for it, and stick to it and you’ll be amazed at how accomplished you feel. Put it on your calendar. Take a day off work if you can or plan a Saturday morning and simply get started early. Make it fun with music and a partner. Once you’ve hung those pictures, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it earlier. And, you’ll move on to the next project.

Plan

Since these aren’t daily or even monthly resolutions, sit down for a few moments and plan ahead for the next time you’ll purge, donate, or deep clean. You can even plan for the upcoming holidays. The holidays may seem far off today but planning for them now can really impact your stress level then. Did you find you had too few serving platters or wish you’d had an additional kids’ table? Think about these things so that as the next year rolls by, you are prepared. Then jot down a few notes, maybe put dates in your calendar for when you’ll do these tasks again or purchase items you will need. And don’t think about them again until they come up. Then enjoy your New Year and your clean, beautiful, uncluttered home.

Create a Special Space

Finally, a wonderful way to go into the new year is with a special space in your home by adding a barn door. You can do this anywhere you want to add an additional separation from room-to-room or even in a large open concept room to add a special nook for reading or to create a home office. Contact us to ask how. We’re here to help.