Christmas has come and gone – and now its time to organize Your Niagara Home.  This can be an exhausting time – so much fun and fellowship has left your house in complete disarray; with stacks of presents to organize, decorations to put away and your home isn’t quite feeling like it normally does!

With the new year upon us – this is actually a perfect time to freshen up your home and give it a new, clean feel.

Here are some tips on how to organize Your Niagara Home after the holidays.

Get a fresh start

Take the time to purge and simplify things in your house.  Start with those junk drawers and over- stuffed closets.  Go through the kitchen, bathroom and every closet in your home.  The results won’t be obvious at first,  but the first step is creating extra space and eliminating your junk that is just simply not being used.  This just feels GOOD.  It’s also a great opportunity to give new life to your items by donating them to others in need or to your local thrift store.

Sort your decorations before storing them 

Now that the holiday season is gone and you’ve taken down the decorations, it’s time to pack and store them.  (Think about all that extra space you now have from de-cluttering 😉  Before putting everything into storage, take the time to go through all your decorations to see if there’s anything you can get rid of, re-purpose or give to charity.  Why store broken or unwanted items?  Your goal is to make next year as easy as possible by keeping only what you can and will use next time.

Look for items you can Give!

A fun new rule to implement into your life is this; for every new gift you receive,  give away up to two items in your home that you no longer use or need.  You will not only feel good about yourself, your space will be more tidy by keeping only items you have use for!  It can be overwhelming to start that donation/give away pile, but this really is the perfect time of year to do it.  Why store extra “stuff” –  simplify.

Swap out the kids toys.

Do your children have piles of toys in their toy room that just seems unending?  Are you always looking for ways to store and separate these toys so you have space for other items in your home?  Why not create a new system for all these toys – consider a seasonal storage system.  Similar to swapping out your Winter closet for your summer closet, change out your children’s toys with each season.  Purchase containers of all sizes (ones that can stack) and label

them winter/summer, etc.  Then start sorting the toys.  Like mentioned in the above comments – make sure to create a donate pile as well:)  Toys are not necessarily looked upon as “seasonal” – however – this system can help keep you feeling neat and tidy when it comes to your playroom.  You will instantly feel less clutter and your kids will find new meaning and purpose with the few toys left out for them to use.  When new seasons arrive, switch out the toy buckets you created and just wait for the joy and fun your kids will have with all their “new” toys each time you do this!  It’s really a win-win for parents, children and your space.

Give your house a really GOOD cleaning.

A clean home ALWAYS feels good, and after all the hard work you’ve done by de-cluttering your space, and with the New Year approaching, it’s a really great time to give your home a deep clean.  Clean your windows, both inside and out, power wash the outside of your home, move your furniture around and give the flooring underneath a good mop and vacuuming, clean your oven, fridge and wipe down all your cupboards, the list goes on….  Why wait for “spring cleaning” when you’re on a roll now?

These tips are also really great ideas to do when thinking about listing your home for sale.  We would love to hear from you if you’re thinking about buying or selling.  We wish you a happy New Year and look forward to what 2018 has to offer.