After taking down the Christmas decorations, I spiraled into a cleaning and organizing rampage. I didn’t realize how much clutter the holidays can bring from storing gifts, receiving gifts, constantly wrapping gifts, along with adding more and more decorations to our already decorated home. My small space felt full yet still cozy, so I really didn’t mind. Once the holidays wrapped up and my husband and I started clearing out the tree, decorations, and finding homes for our new gifts then we could see our living space again and wow, just wow.
I was so inspired by the sight of it that I decided everything needed to be dusted, the floors completely swept and mopped and some deep cleaning to start off the new year… which led to my post-holiday home refresh!
So how did I ring in the new year? Well thanks for asking! I rang in the new year by testing out my “new” steam mop (ahem I might have bought it in July)! It worked like a dream. My place is beautiful, clean and ready for 2022! My next tasks are to tackle each room and do the same… dust, vacuum, mop, and organize. I got most of our master bedroom accomplished as well. All in time for me to go back to the office, ha.
Coming home every day this week has been a dream come true. To see our space not cluttered but open and clean has been the best gift I could have given myself entering the new year. I wouldn’t consider myself someone who likes to clean but I love when things are tidy and in their place. So the combination of both clean and tidy is a lovely combination. So how can you do this for yourself?
It’s not rocket science or anything complex or complicated. You can follow these basic steps to get you started on a new year home refresh:
1. Simply pick one room or area in your house or apartment to start with.
2. Clean up any piles or clutter that you’ve been avoiding or letting stack up. I know you have them, we all do. Throw stuff that isn’t important away. You’d be surprised with the items you hang onto but don’t need.
3. Dust by taking items off the shelf or surface of what you’re cleaning.
4. Move furniture to sweep and/steam mop.
5. Find a place or container for things so that you can keep it organized for a longer period of time.
6. Label and group items in areas that make sense and are helpful to you.
7. Ultimately once you are done, sit back and enjoy the beauty of your own home.
This is the process I used last week to declutter and refresh my home and let me tell you… it was worth the time and effort! Happy home refresh and have a sparkling clean new year!
The Salty Exchange 