Top 5 Areas of the Home to Tackle in the New Year
Photo by Allison Elefante
The new year signals a fresh start, making it a perfect time to tackle easy home projects. As a team, we’ve been busy tossing and organizing at work and at home. If you’re looking at making some updates to your home at the start of the new year, we’ve pulled together some simple, low-cost tasks that will help tidy and declutter, making your home feel peaceful and run more efficiently.
The top areas of the home to tackle include:
Pantry: Take everything out of the pantry and throw out all expired goods. Be ruthless about items collecting dust. If nobody ever liked that bulk bag of lentil chips, throw them out. Improve pantry organization with clear containers and bins, and utilize lazy susans in those pesky, hard-to-reach corners.
Primary Bedroom: During the holidays we tend to focus on sprucing up areas of the house that guests will see, while neglecting private spaces that we spend most of our time in. The same goes for many of our clients. They say the primary bedroom isn’t a top priority – until we remind them that it is probably the space they spend the most time in. Take time to assess the primary bedroom. Do you have a pile of unread books on your nightstand, or baskets of laundry waiting to be put away? For a quick and easy refresh – clear the nightstand, wipe down dressers, nightstands, window sills and the top of the bed (when was the last time you did that?), and purchase some new decorative pillows and a chunky throw for the end of the bed.
3. Entry: The foyer is the first impression people have walking into a house, but they often double as mudrooms and drop zones for shoes, bookbags and mail. Remove anything that does not belong in the foyer, such as overflow coats, and make sure everything else has a proper place to be stored out of the line of sight. Some of our must-have entry table items include: a decorative tray or bowl to collect keys and small items, baskets for shoes, a vase with greenery, a small stack of coffee table books and a candle.
4. Playroom: After the holidays, the playroom may be overflowing with new toys. Sort through books and toys children may have outgrown, are no longer interested in, or are missing pieces. If you can, donate the gently used toys and games. Throw out art supplies that are dried out and corral everything else into shelves or bins.
Photo by Allison Elefante
5. Freezer: I don’t know about you, but I never remember that I have meat or leftovers in the freezer after I put them there. Throw out anything that is old, expired, has freezer burn or is a mystery as it lacks a label. Go one step further and commit to eating freezer items this week so that you get value out of your freezer, and free up valuable space.
Of course, if you want to take it a step further and need help designing any of these spaces, inquire here.
