Not sure where to start with your big New Year clearout? Here are some ideas on how you can get organised after the festive holidays.
Once the decorations have come down and the Christmas tree dusted off and returned to its box or planted in the garden for another year, it’s time to take stock of your possessions old and new. You will no doubt have received many new gifts and are now wondering where to put everything.
It is a fact that the more ‘stuff’ you have and the less room you have to store things can often lead to stress and worry. And more stress often means you can’t function properly. With this in mind then the number one task has to be:
1# Sort and De-clutter
Be methodical in this and if necessary be ruthless. Make lists of the things you want to keep but haven’t the room for. For instance, summer sports gear or camping gear that is taking up space in your home but is not needed for a few months could be put into self storage.
2# Donate or Recycle
Keep the Christmas spirit going a while longer. Donating unwanted items of clothing or children’s toys is a great way to do some good and at the same time create extra space in your home. Contact your local charity shops to see what they need or check out local free-cycling sites.
3# Redecorating or Re-modelling?
Most people redecorate the house before Christmas but it could make more sense to do this in the New Year. A full reconfiguration of the house decor can be best achieved when you have space to work in so why not consider cheap self storage to temporarily protect your large furniture items and any valuables or breakables. And when planning your new décor remember that to be eco-friendly some furniture items should never be thrown away.
4# Involve the Family
It is never too early to start teaching the kids about the virtues of the old adage, ‘tidy room, tidy mind.’ A reward system may be needed to get them started so how about encouraging them to de-clutter their rooms with the promise of extra pocket money through selling their old toys, clothes or electronic items on eBay?
5# Sort Out your Paperwork
Most of us are probably guilty of keeping a pretty haphazard system when it comes to important paperwork like tax returns, bank statements, house documents and such-like, with documents randomly stuffed into drawers and cupboards ready to be sorted. Go through these and decide which have to be kept and which can be destroyed. Securely shred any personal documents you don’t need to keep and consider a self-storage unit for any that need to be kept for any length of time.
6# Save Classic Items of Clothing
Certain styles never go completely off the fashion radar. The classic tailored shirt, real denim jeans and pure wool camel coat will always be in demand so why not keep your wardrobe classics for posterity? By storing your classics carefully you’ll never have cause to regret getting rid of a much-loved item of favourite clothing.
