Out with the Old

Out with the Old  |  By Lianna Cotant

After opening gifts, eating our fill of delicious food, indulging in a few glasses of our favorite beverage and overloading on family time, many of us are now happy to be back in our own homes, drinking coffee and admiring the…mess?

While it’s true that the end of the year is joyful and filled with warm and fuzzy feelings, it’s also often also filled with stuff. Our homes should be havens, places where we can relax, enjoy friends and family and also places that reflect what’s important to us. If the past year has left your space feeling cluttered, read through these five tips to jumpstart the new year with fewer items so you have more time for what’s really important to you.

1. Get rid of extras. It may seem like you need several pairs of scissors or an overwhelming amount of empty gift bags, but chances are you would do just fine with one good pair of scissors and just a few, if any, empty gift bags taking up space.
   
   

2. Ditch what you haven’t used in a year. If you haven’t touched an item in over a year, you likely don’t need it taking up space in your home. Big items that you use infrequently can often be borrowed or rented and decor items that haven’t seen the light in awhile can safely be given away.

3. Leave empty spaces empty. It’s easy to clear off the top of a dresser or the inside of a closet and then immediately fill that space back up. Try to notice and appreciate the clean, empty spaces in your home instead of using them as additional storage.

4. Utilize technology. If a book collection is taking up a lot of space and doesn’t bring you joy, opt for an e-reader and borrow your books from the library. If you have printed photos, scrapbooks, yearbooks, letters and cards that have sentimental value, scan them into your computer, organize them on the cloud and part with the physical clutter.

5. Cultivate gratitude. Feeling grateful for what we do have helps us not always wish for more. Take a moment to thank the items in your life that bring you joy or that you utilize daily. Feel silly thanking your favorite shirt? That’s ok, you can just think grateful thoughts.

As an extra tip, we’ll leave you with this: there’s no point in decluttering if you just bring more and more items in the door - try to cut down on shopping and aim to give experience gifts over things. Plus, if you’re hoping to sell your home in the new year, you will likely want to cut down on items anyway so you might as well get started now!