Seven Decluttering Tips for the New Year

Buried under too much “stuff”? These seven decluttering tips are proven, effective ways to give your home a refresh to welcome 2017. From “a place for everything and everything in its place” to “don’t organize clutter,” get ready to take action today.

Buried under too much “stuff”? These decluttering tips are proven, effective ways to give your home a refresh to welcome 2017.

1. Clutter is a postponed decision. Any tangible item that finds its way into your home should only be handled once. Decide what to do with it (e.g., keep it, relocate it, donate it, toss it, fix it) and take action.
2. A place for everything and everything in its place. Your kindergarten teacher was right! Once you finish using something, ask yourself, “Where does this live?” and put it back in its home. Get in the habit of building an extra moment into daily tasks for putting everything back in its proper drawer or cupboard. For inspiration, Apartment Therapy has hundreds of real life examples of storage solutions.
3. Now is the time! Once you make up your mind to declutter, get those bags and boxes out to your car so you’ll be ready to donate them. Take anything that’s broken or not donatable out to the trash bin. You’ll be amazed at how much lighter the simple step of removing extra clutter from your home feels.
4. You can’t organize junk. Don’t make the sad mistake of shuffling clutter from one pile to another. Many well-intentioned folks head out to the office supply store in January to “finally get organized” and come home with boxes, cartons, and other tools. The hard truth is that until you pare away the junk, you’ll just be wasting time and getting frustrated trying to sort clutter. Declutter first, and organize second.
5. Stick to manageable bites. Don’t dump the entire contents of your dresser or closet onto the floor. Instead, only take out what you are certain you can reasonably sort and declutter in one 15- to 30-minute session. Set a timer, put on some uplifting music, and get to work. When the timer goes off, resist the urge to immediately roll into another session. Instead, take five or ten minutes to clear your head, have a cup of tea, or take a walk around the block. Then you can return refreshed for another 15- to 30-minute session. For actionable, manageable decluttering tips, visit the Flylady website.
6. Never go anywhere empty-handed. Any time you walk from one room to another in your home, carry the items with you that you need to put in their home. Don’t set them down and get sidetracked along the way!
7. Get inspired. Clearing out the old makes room for something even better. Set the decluttering process in motion and watch the magic transform your home into a peaceful oasis.

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Juliet Grossman, Realtor

They call me "The Temecula Answer Lady" because I am your insider source for everything local. My husband Scott and I have been raising our daughters in the beautiful Temecula Valley since 2003. My passion for contributing to our amazing quality of life here in the Temecula Valley leads me to volunteer for organizations like National Charity League, Inc., Temecula Valley Chapter (a founding member and 2015-2016 president), Hillcrest Academy, MOMS Club of Temecula-Central (a past president), Congregation B'nai Chaim of Murrieta, among others. http://www.mytemeculadreamhome.com