It’s a long-lasting tradition in our family to give our house (and consequently, ourselves) one major yearly refresh & cleanup. The perfect time is right after New Year, so we can feel like we’re starting the year refreshed, energized, and organized – ready to take on the world!
Are you also looking to freshen up your home? Then follow my tips to get a fresh, new home for the new year!
Get rid of the clutter
During the year, we all buy and receive many unnecessary items that we just don’t need. I, for example, am a sucker for freebies, so I can accumulate a bunch of things that I never end up needing or using.
That’s the best part of a new year’s ‘refresh’. You can de-clutter room by room, section by section, and evaluate what you can get rid of and what stays. With that, you’ll see how much junk you have accumulated and how much open space you can regain!
De-cluttering helps more than your home – it psychologically enables you to feel organized and cleansed.
Go through your closet
We’re all guilty of having a full closet… And then using only a few token clothing items from said closet. That’s why I make it a rule to go meticulously through my closet every new year.
First, I get to rediscover clothing that I forgot I even had (this happens to me often). Second, anything that no longer fits looks old, is torn or damaged, or hasn’t worn in at least two years, goes.
I’ve done this for a friend, and she had clothes that were over 15 years old, and she hadn’t worn them for at least that long! There is no need to accumulate clothes you won’t wear ever again… it just takes over valuable real estate in your closet!
Fresh linens = piece of heaven
This is my favorite self-pampering of the year: every new year, I gift myself with new bed linens.
It may seem like an excessive purchase to some, but there’s a good reason for it. First, there’s nothing quite like new or freshly cleaned linen, especially of good quality. After a hard day of work, entering a bed with fresh, new linen and bedspreads is like getting a small sampling of heaven. My bedroom is my personal haven away from stress and anxiety, so it needs to be a place where I can feel calm and at peace, and linen does that for me. It helps me feel ready to tackle the new year.
This year I’m looking into bed linens from Urbanara, which have a beautiful cotton flannel sheet in cloud blue with gray. The colors fit perfectly with my idea of creating a calm ambiance in the room. They look soft and warm, which is great because my current sheets are not doing it for me this cold winter.
I’m excited to pamper myself!
Now is the time to make changes
Maybe you’ve stared at a piece of furniture and thought to yourself that you need to refurbish or replace it. Or, perhaps like me, you have been thinking about how you would like to move the sofas to the other side of the living room.
Well, what better time than now to make a decision and act on it? Otherwise, we all know it will just drag on and on, endlessly being procrastinated.
Do what you need to do! End the prior year’s procrastination.
Fill your home with delicious scents
One of the best ways to feel like your home is fresh is to ensure it has a heavenly, clean scent. Once finished with the actual cleaning, consider adding natural fragrances to your home, which can be done easily by placing scented, fresh-cut flowers. Alternatively, you can always buy some wonderful scents, oils, or sprays that will add just the right amount of scent to your home.
Do you refresh your home for the new year? Share below or tell us any tips I missed!
*Thanks to Freepik for creating free vectors so we can create featured images!
I need to do some serious de-cluttering. My house is a mess. I need a dumpster, actually!
Good info – I am starting this week to de-clutter my basement. Oh my what a job!
I cleaned my closet and room during the holidays it felt so good to find space. Now i need to work on the rest of my house.
Wait? Did you take pictures of my closet? LOL I really need to declutter…thanks for the reminder.
The thought of this is daunting at times. I did a big clean up last new years. This year I have painters here and what a mess… I will be going thru a lot of things to clean them and most likely throw some stuff out
I go through decluttering phases. When one hits me I just go from problem spot to problem spot decluttering.
I agree that having some new bed linens does make a big difference and is such a nice way to pamper yourself!
We totally need to get rid of clutter here!
Perfect timing. I was just thinking that I was going to devote next week to getting my house in order!
Fresh linens make such a difference! I’d love to have some new colors. Light blue and turquoise sound great.
It’s great when you can freshen everything up!
I really love your closet! I have been slowly working through my house. This is the year that I will become a minimalist and so far I have done really well. We’ve gotten rid of about 8 bags + boxes full so far! And more on the way.
Fresh linens really are awesome. My grandma always had crisp linens, I bet she ironed them (she ironed everything). And I remember how great they felt when I’d spend the night on a weekend. 🙂
I’ve slowly been going through our cabinets and closets and getting rid of clutter that has built up. It’s definitely helped free my mind, if you will, because if your home is cluttered then you’re going to feel cluttered, too.
This is my life. The clutter has to go. Thanks for the reminders and tips!
I am actually pretty good about staying on top of my clutter. I really like the peek a boo storage boxes you sued in the top of the closet.
I will definitely be taking some of these steps this year. Time to go through things!
I usually just wait until Spring and do a real spring cleaning. Those are all great tips though.
I usually do mine in spring. These are good ideas.
I like all the tips you gave here for getting the house clean and fresh. I like the idea that it is good to freshen up the house all year long, not just for the spring.
Ever since right before Christmas I have be decluttering and deep cleaning my house. I love a fresh clean house. Thanks for the tips.
I’m doing all of this, mostly because my beau is about to move in with me (my future husband). We’ve tackled a little bit of everything. The closet seems to be a sore spot. I really need to downsize, so I’ve considered participating in Project 33. Have you heard about it?
These are some fabulous tips. I really need to go through my closet. Even after I feel as though I’ve gone through it with a fine toothed comb, it’s never quite enough!
Our 2015 goals are full of cleaning and purging. thanks for this inspiration!
I totally need to declutter right now as we prepare to put our house on the market!