Steps to Organize and Simplify Your Home
A new year has begun!! While I don’t love January as a whole because I am a warm-weather girl, I do love the notion that a new year gives us a fresh start. Monday morning, a new day, a new month, a new season, January 1; all of these ignite a fire in me! This post, Steps to Organize and Simplify Your Home & Accomplish More is a result of that ignited fire.
I absolutely love the thought of a new beginning and what a perfect time to organize and simplify your home. It’s probably why I love this verse in Lamentations 3.
No matter what the day before held for you, God’s love never ends. Every morning he provides new mercies for a new day. He is faithful no matter what the previous day, the current day, or the future holds.
Christmas is Over
January 1st, in particular, allows us the perfect opportunity to refocus, set some new goals and dream about what the coming year will bring. While I absolutely love the Christmas season, by the time New Year’s Eve arrives I am so ready to take it all down.
There is a feeling of calmness and stillness and peace that ensues when all is simplified and organized in my home for the new year. In the post How to Transition Your Home for the Holidays and Not Lose Your Mind I shared with you how to prepare your home in November for Christmas decor. January is here and it’s time to put it all away and refocus.
The main goal of this post is to help you accomplish more at home and to enjoy your family and home more in the coming year. It has become clear to me over the past several years that our home and family function so much better when things are simplified and organized.
Allow me to share with you some steps to get you there in order to start the year off well and primed for success.
Overcome the Overwhelm
I get that you may feel so deep in disorganization and overwhelm, that even thinking about accomplishing a simplified and organized home makes you want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over your head. Trust me when I say I understand and I’ve been there.
More than likely, there are a plethora of new things in your home from Christmas. Old toys and new toys are everywhere. If you live in a colder climate there are winter coats and boots and gloves and hats scattered about.
The fridge is full of leftovers no one wants and the pantry has so much junk food left from the holidays that you can’t find anything. I feel you mama. That is precisely how I felt the day everyone left to go back home.
This year we had our kids and grandkids home for Christmas. They were here for a little over a week. It was such a magical week filled with games and food and time together.
I danced with my grand babies (See Instagram Reel Here), played Play-Doh, read books, and chased them around the house. This was my priority and so everything else got pushed aside.
There is a quote I often say to myself, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, Kim”. Do you ever talk to yourself? I find myself doing it often 🙋♀️? I have a to-do list that is typically way too long. I’m working on that 😘. Perhaps you do the same thing. So my first piece of advice is don’t get overwhelmed. Start small.
Let’s Go
Let’s be honest, when my last child and his family left at 6:00 AM on December 30th I should have gone back to bed! I was pretty exhausted. However, there was no way this mama could rest. I was ready to tackle all the things and take back our home!
I did a quick clean-up just to feel somewhat organized, and started laundry…there were mounds of it left from the week. The rest of the day was putting away Christmas and deep cleaning.
If you are a mama of young children I get that you can’t do this in one day. You’ve got other priorities. Cleaning, organizing, and simplifying may take you all of January in little increments. And that is okay! Give yourself grace but be persistent and get’er done!
Put Christmas Decor Away
Do your best to organize your Christmas decor as you put it away. You will be so happy you did this when you pull it all out next year. Rid yourself of any decor you haven’t used in a few years.
Storage Containers
Purchase storage containers in red or green so you can delineate your Christmas decorations from other storage items. It’s a tiny investment for years of future organization. We bought a bright red Christmas tree bag this year and it was so much better than a box. It is linked below.
I’ve linked a few storage containers here:
Deep Clean
It’s time to clean up the dirt and dust. I honestly don’t know how so much dust is accumulated in one month’s time. Prepare for your everyday decor to be put back in place by cleaning your home before you get it back out. Here is my list of cleaning to-dos.
- Vacuum
- Dust
- Clean out fridge
- Clean out pantry
- Wash sheets and put them back on the beds
- Mop floors. I love this O-Cedar EasyWring Microfiber Spin Mop
- Give countertops, glass, and mirrors a good shine.
- Deep clean all bathrooms.
I am slow at putting back all my decor. I have a great need for simplicity and open space right after Christmas. So my advice, take it slow. Keep it clean and simple and then add back in more decor as you feel the need and bandwidth.
Take Inventory & Purge
Taking inventory is a key part of this process. Go through the toys, dishes, food, clothes, etc. and purge anything you don’t need anymore. If your kids haven’t played with it, worn it, or used it in the past six months get rid of it. PURGE.
Put it in the trash, donate it, or sell it. January is a great time to do this, especially after all the new things added from Christmas. Out with the old and in with the new.
Organize and Simplify Your Home
Now it’s time to organize what you have. Get creative with storage containers and create a space for everything. Baskets, boxes, bags, hooks, OXO containers for your pantry, etc. You can find storage at the Container Store, Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Ikea. Again, it is a little investment for a big reward…peace of mind and a sense of calm.
Give everything a place. When everything has a place life becomes a little less chaotic and a little easier to manage and maintain. Remember what I said earlier? Start small! I would say drop zones and high-traffic areas in your home are a great place to start.
Key Places to Start Your Organizing Journey
The kitchen counter that is a catch-all could be that place. Or it could be the drawer that collects all the junk. Buy a drawer insert with compartments for all the little things in a junk drawer. It can transform that junk drawer!
How about the space by the door your family uses to come into your home? Add hooks for coats, purses, and bags, and place a basket for shoes, hats, gloves, and scarves.
The refrigerator and pantry are great places to begin your organizational journey. After all, we are in them every single day! You can check out my post, Laundry Room Makeover to see more ideas for organizing your mudroom/laundry room.
For me, it was my master bedroom closet. I have a good friend who is an organization expert tell me about a sweater/shirt folder. If you are in my area and need an organizer reach out and I will give you her information.
I ordered this folder on Amazon and it has been a game-changer for me. You can find the one I have {HERE}. I use it all the time and it makes my closet shelves look 10 times neater.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, clutter can be like a noose around your neck. It increases overwhelm and anxiety which can be paralyzing to you as a mom. Order in your home allows for better functionality. Yes, it is absolutely a lot of work, especially in the beginning, but trust me when I say it will be worth it!
Simplify
At this point, you have put away Christmas, cleaned, taken inventory, purged, and organized. Now it is time to take it a step further and simplify.
I did a little simplifying on my hutch. Cleared it out, reorganized it, and left just a few things on the buffet.
Simplify is a word I have focused on a lot in the last couple of years. Simplify your home. Rid yourself of extra and unused clothing, dishes, glasses, towels, blankets, home decor, and furniture.
A clearer, more simplified canvas around your home can free up your visual space and in turn, free your mind.
The Impact on Your Home & Family
I did not realize the impact of simplifying and organizing until I actually did it. With us entering January and coming out of the Christmas season the impact of a simpler home really stands out.
When everything is put away and has a home you feel like a weight has been lifted. You can breathe easier…go ahead take a deep breath and relax when you are finished. Rest becomes more peaceful. All of this will allow you to be still and reflect a little easier.
Reflect vs. Evaluate
I recently listened to a podcast called The Lazy Genius. The host, Kendra Adachi, made a great point. She said that when it comes to January a lot of people like to evaluate the previous year.
Kendra’s encouragement was to not evaluate but to reflect on it instead. I love that. To evaluate seems like a chore and can sound negative. Reflection sounds so much more upbeat and positive and honestly a little zen, right?
By reflecting, we have warm fuzzy feelings about the past year and it puts us in a better place moving into the new year. With your home being organized and simplified I promise you WILL accomplish more in this next year.
Having a sense of order in your home and in your brain will allow your mind more freedom to dream and imagine and be productive.
The Minimalist Moms Podcast posted this on Instagram:
The Cost of a Cluttered Home
This is good. Really good. Think about what clutter actually does to your family and home life. So just do it, mama! Take the time this January to put your home in order. You won’t regret it. It could honestly be life-changing for you and your family.
Training Ground
Life keeps moving and things will get a little messy again but at least now you have a place for everything. I highly recommend working with your children to put things in their proper place.
This is a great training ground to teach them discipline and organization. They are capable of more than you think even at a very young age.
When the system breaks down and things get messy again, reign it back in and get your family to help. Try associating clean-up with a song. We always sang the Barney song “Clean up clean up everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share…” Find a song that goes with your cleaning time and make it more fun.
Any chore you can associate with fun will not seem so much like a chore.
You may need to work on your hubby too. Or…could it even be that you are the one who doesn’t put things in their proper place? I’m the worst at this in my own bathroom. It is perpetually the messiest room in our home. There is always room for growth, mama.
Benefits of an Uncluttered Home
As we’ve read throughout this post there are many benefits of an uncluttered, simplified, and organized home. Above all else, if you organize and simplify your home, it will allow you to accomplish so much more for your family and in your home. It will allow you to focus more intently on your kiddos and enjoy those precious fleeting moments.
Freeing up your mind from clutter and chaos, allows your brain to think more clearly, your body to have more energy, and your heart to be more at peace. I’ve got a three-part series on the blog called 7 Attributes of a Happy & Peace-Filled Home (Part 1), 7 Attributes of a Happy & Peace-Filled Home (Part 2), 7 Attributes of a Happy & Peace-filled Home (Part 3) If you are curious about what a happy, peace-filled home looks like check out these three posts!
One of my passions is to help you to create a home that your family loves, now, and for years to come. Simplifying and organizing are steps that will help you on that journey. You’ve got this mama. I believe in you and I know you can do it!
Here’s to organizing and simplifying and accomplishing more at home! But even more importantly, here’s to finding beautiful moments together with your children because you have an organized and simplified home that everyone loves to live in.
Much Love~Kim💗
LINKED BLOG POSTS:
How to Transition Your Home for the Holidays and Not Lose Your Mind
7 Attributes of a Happy & Peace-Filled Home (Part 1),
