Steps to Refresh Your Home for New Year

Odds are, you like to start your January with a clean slate. The New Year is a time for a fresh start. New beginnings. Getting rid of the ‘old’ that may have been holding you back or down.

This can be relevant in all aspects of life. Your health, weight, fitness, home, friendships, family member relationships, your job, etc. Over the next few weeks I want to make a point to share a little about how I try to clean up and restart/reboot all areas in my life to make them run more smoothly, efficiently and effectively throughout the new year.  I want to share my diet and fasting secrets. What I do for my workouts. The foods I eat in a day/week.  My friendship moto. My goals: as a mother, wife, daughter, a friend + my career goals, etc.

But, first – every year the week after Christmas, as I try to put away all of our new Christmas gifts and take down our decor to prepare for a fresh start on January 1. I always take a moment to spend a little TLC on each room. This usually takes me about 2 weeks to get through each room (a little bit each day). I find if I spend just a few hours each day, instead of dedicating several days in their entirety on it;  it allows me to not only proceed with the rest of my life as normal. But also gives me time to reevaluate each space daily as I sleep and move on to the next area.

I am starting in my kitchen this year, but the below steps are pretty standard for each room as I get to them.

1. Go through everything you already have. It is amazing, no matter how many years in a row I do this, I always find things I forgot I had in the back of a cabinet or in the cabinets I can’t reach without climbing above my refrigerator that I stuck there in a hurry. This allows you to see things you have multiple of as well as things that may be missing a lid for example that you no longer use.
2. Organize and put back only the stuff you still use, is in good condition, etc.  If the lid is missing, it looks too worn for your taste, or you simple just don’t use it ever – add to a donate pile (or even trash.) Set in a box in your car to remind you to take it to donation or schedule a pickup.
3. Make a list of everything you need to replace. Once you put everything back in you can see what you have room to add as well as what you need to replace. I do this with the obvious – pots, pans, dishes, etc but also with with dish towels, placemats, hostess items such as cake stands, large dishes and even our throw pillows for our bench.
4. Set a budget and decide what you want to splurge on and what you want to save on. I always splurge on all the items our guests see and use. ie. dishes, towels, blankets, chairs, pillows, table, etc!

Btw, my PJ’s are SO dang cute, feel appropriate to wear when guests are here and come in several colors and the plaid are on sale currently. I wear an xsmall:

Below are a couple of pictures of some of the items I like to splurge on as well as links below for everything that is available that we have!