Decluttering for the New Year
January 10, 2024
For Buyers & Sellers
The start of a new year offers a chance to wipe the slate and start fresh. That can be especially challenging if the physical space around you feels cluttered and chaotic. Eliminating clutter in your house is one of the best ways to get the year off on the right foot. Decluttering is also an important part of the home selling process. If you're trying to prepare your home for the spring market, our real estate agents can help you get started. Whether you're preparing your home to sell or want a fresh start in the new year, consider this your official guide to decluttering.
- Make Four Boxes
In an effort to stay organized while you dive into decluttering, get four boxes or bins, and label them "trash," "recycle," "donate" and "sell." Throughout the process, everything you decide to get rid of can go into one of those four bins. - Start with Seasonal Decor
If any out-of-season decorations are still up, taking them down offers an opportunity to clean and declutter! Seasonal decor — especially holiday decor — has a way of accumulating throughout the year until we have more than we need or could ever hope to display. Any items that you aren't excited to put out next year are great contenders for the donation bin! - Set a Time Limit
Spending a full day trying to declutter your entire house is a recipe for burnout. A better way to go about it is to do a little each day and limit the amount of time you spend working on it so it doesn't start to take over your whole life. It doesn't even have to be something you work on every day, though it can be if you really want to chip away at it. Even if you spend just 15 minutes decluttering each weekday evening, and an hour on the weekend, you'll move through it at a great pace. - Tackle One Zone at a Time
Rather than looking at your home as one massive project, break it down into zones that are easier to tackle, and work one zone at a time. A zone could be a room or closet, or it could be a single drawer, cupboard, or cabinet. - Reclaim Your Kitchen
If you're not sure which area of your home to start decluttering first, consider the kitchen. In addition to being one of the most-used rooms in the average house, it's also one of the areas that is most prone to becoming cluttered. Eliminating kitchen clutter can make a huge difference, and starting with this room can be a very rewarding and encouraging step. - Decide What Has a Place
When you declutter your home, it's not always easy to decide what stays and what goes. A good general rule to go by is that everything in your home must have a purpose and must have a place. This is especially true if you are in the process of staging your home! If you haven't used something in the last year and you don't have a good place to put it, that's a sign that you don't need it. - Accept Help
Decluttering doesn't have to be a solitary project! In fact, it can be a lot of fun if you have a friend to help you out. So don't be shy about asking for help, and if someone offers their time to assist you, don't hesitate to accept. With the right partner, decluttering can become a party instead of a chore.
Contact us today to learn more about starting the new year off right. If buying or selling is one of your goals this year, our local real estate agents can help you get there.
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