The New Year is upon us and with it comes the usual need to sort your life out for the 12 months ahead! “2022 is my year” – you know the one! I’m a big believer in doing things whenever it feels right rather than waiting for a start date, but the beginning of the year DOES feel right for many! We’ve had family time, indulgence, time off work to reflect on our lives currently and actually have some time to think about what we want. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to change a single thing! However, if you want to, don’t feel silly because you’re fallen for the marketing, just make sure you do what’s right FOR YOU! One of the major things I hear people talking about is improving their homes, so to help with that, I’m bringing in the January Declutter Challenge! Last time I did this, it was a great success for some, including myself.
The home is where it all begins. It’s easier to get dressed when your clothes are organised, it’s easier to leave the house on time when you know where your shoes, scarves, gloves are, and it’s definitely easier to relax when you don’t have a ton of housework to do. The way to reduce housework massively is to declutter the home and then finding a place for absolutely everything that’s left. Messy homes are often only messy because their stuff has no ‘home’.
A place for everything and everything in its place
Where to start?
If you feel like you’re always throwing things away and there is nothing to declutter, start with the one drawer or box or the paper work you avoid each time you tidy.
If you have loads and feel overwhelmed, or you love all of your things and don’t want to rid yourself of any of it (you’ll find something), then this January Declutter Challenge will help you get started!
January Declutter Challenge
The best way to tackle decluttering when you are not used to it is to start small. You can choose to throw, donate or sell any item you declutter, but you should do so before the end of the month – otherwise it doesn’t go away!
Day 1 – Remove 1 item from your home – donate, sell, throw.
Day 2 – Remove 2 items
Day 3 – Remove 3 items
…and so on!
By the 31st January, you will have removed 496 items from your home!
Sound overwhelming? Don’t think you have that much? While it sounds overwhelming, you’ll be surprised at how much you can get rid of, and how much space you can create, making your home easier to keep organised and tidy. They don’t have to be large items, and after Christmas we definitely all have things we could lose and some that might even be better placed with others.
Have nothing to throw away?
If you get stuck for ideas, here’s a few to get you going:
- Old makeup/skincare/toiletries – remember some lasts only 6 months! You can donate these to shelters if in date and unused too!
- Batteries – who even knows which batteries work and which don’t? Test them and throw them.
- Pens you never choose to use or barely have ink – test and throw.
- Food in the back of the cupboard that you’ll never eat – donate to a shelter if in date.
- Old worn out shoes and clothes that you can’t bear to wear outside or don’t fit properly.
- Boxes for items you use and are definitely keeping – are you really ever going to re-box them?
- Anything that doesn’t spark joy!
- Anything you have kept for longer than a couple of months and still haven’t used/have no use for.
- Tupperware that doesn’t have lids! (where do they go?!)
- Games you don’t play or books you still haven’t read.
- Jewellery – things you no longer wear, odd earrings, etc.
- Odd socks or embarrassing underwear. If you wouldn’t wear it to be seen, throw it out!
- Old magazines
- Paperwork
- Books – donate to local charities or find a swap shop nearby.
- Craft supplies – are you actually going to make something soon?
Despite having a fairly decluttered home and often working through even the smallest of spaces, I am going to attempt this with you!
Want to join me? I’ll be sharing mine on Instagram stories here using the hashtag #TeaIsForTeam. Use yours for shares and to connect with others taking the challenge!
Let me know if you’ll be joining and enjoy your tidy, decluttered homes!
I love this idea. I’m gonna give it a go!
It’s definitely a good way to ease into it and you hold onto so much without realising! Good luck, keep me updated!