New Year Home Organization to Jumpstart your Resolutions

We have officially entered a brand spanking new year! Cue the celebratory kazoos. Along with this exciting time comes optimism, encouragement, planning, and of course resolutions. I’m personally not keen on resolutions, but enjoy the act of setting a course in order to accomplish a goal. I find that one of the best ways to kickstart a goal-getting year begins with your home. 

This route may seem “off course,” but new year home organization serves as a “Jedi mind trick,” so to speak. A motivator to get you going and set the pace for your goals to follow.

As I mentioned above, I like to plan. However, I find greater joy in looking back at the hard work involved in reaching a goal, and viewing the present success. In other words, I like results.  Though gratification for big goals is normally experienced far down the year’s line.

Therefore, viewing a long list of resolutions and considering all of the hard work that must begin immediately can be overwhelming for some, but organizing your home for a new year will produce near immediate gratification. Not to mention studies show a clean and organized living space makes for a clean and organized mind.

Ever clean your kitchen, room, or home and instantly feel in control, or as if you’re ready to conquer the world? Well there’s a reason for that. Along with organizing your house, you have organized your thoughts, instantly accomplished a goal, and motivated yourself to move on to the next task – Jedi mind trick. You’re welcome.

Now let’s get started! We’re going to look at the 4 things that will prepare your house for the new year, and your mind for new goals.

Declutter

We all do it – hold on to items we haven’t used for consecutive seasons and years in hopes that when the rare chance pops up to make use of this rare item we will be prepared. Well that vintage sconce that hung on your parent’s walls for years has yet to be hung in your new apartment due its clashing style with your modern decor. And those tall wide-leg J. Crew trousers you found on sale for your 5’2″ stature, over 2 years ago, have yet to make it to the seamstress. Just give them up.

The new year is a great time to get rid of the old and unused. You may even use this time to donate to Goodwill or the Salvation army, and begin your new year on a charitable note. So get under your bed, in your closet, shelves, drawers and cupboards, and just purge! After you purge, put away any used items that previously had no space for storage.

Clean

Now is the time to make your house glisten with cleanliness. After you’ve decluttered, dust and and/or wipe down EVERYTHING. It’s really not as labor intensive as it sounds. Grab a clean cloth and some multi-surface Pledge and go to town.

Use this time to also freshen your home’s scent by switching out any old plug-ins or go the natural route and create your own scent through the use of essential oils or food. One way to accomplish this is to change your furnace or air filter, and add a few drops of essential oil to the new filter. Every room of your home will smell dreamy in no time! Don’t have any essential oils? Throw some orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cloves into a pot, add some water, and simmer on the stove while you clean.

Switch it Up

My favorite part of the new year home organization process: switching up your decor. No I don’t mean, that you should go out to Homegoods and TJ Maxx and purchase their entire shelf of knick knacks. Use what you already have! You’ve been looking at the same set up for an entire year, and you’re probably bored with some of it by now. Swap out some of your decor from one area, with decor from another area. Take the vintage teapot that sits on your shelf, stick a faux flower in it, and sit it on your nightstand instead. Take the mini golden statue on your nightstand and place it on a stack of books on your dresser.

Move some items around until you have the look you desire. This will get the creative juices flowing within you, and inspire you to continue creating, which is such a large aspect of walking into any new task with a large goal in mind.

Finalize Home Completion Plans

After all of your decluttering, cleaning, and re-decorating, you may have a few areas of your home that received little attention because they just aren’t complete. There may be an empty room in need of purpose or paint, an unfinished basement, or simply a neglected repair.

Now is the time to make plans to address and complete those tasks. I’ve discussed this in my post on creating a Home Design Completion Plan, and provided a worksheet to organize your plans for those home projects that seem to get away from you. Tackling them all in one day would be impossible, but making a plan and budget for when to tackle them throughout the next year begins to make each task possible.

After your new year home organization is complete, stand back in awe of your work, and soak in this instant gratification! I hope this has given you the motivation needed to begin tackling those larger goals for the year. Just remind yourself that each goal has a process, and all will be accomplished in due time. If you need another motivational kick down the road, this Jedi mind trick is always up for a repeat.