With summer is full swing and July right around the corner, it is now time to do a great mid-year cleanse to bring in a burst of fresh energy into your home. The first six months of this year have been a bit of a whirlwind for me with work life and family life and for this reason alone, my home is in a complete disarray, which is why I completely understand if your home is also in a disorganized funk! Since I like to try to be on top of these things (from time to time ;), I would like to share a few tips today to get your home back into tip-top shape when it comes to decluttering and organization.
Photo Credit: Style Estate
CLOTHING & SHOES
Let’s start with where we all tend to collect unnecessary/ unused items – closets-which include clothes and shoes. We all have clothes and shoes in our closets that we really need to let go. I know we have emotional connections to some of these items, but if we never rid our spaces of these, we will be slowly walking down the hoarding lane (we don’t want that, right?). So, if you have items in your closet that you have not worn in the past 6 – 12 months, it’s time to toss them and donate them to your local Salvation Army, GoodWill or charity of choice. Nine times out of ten, if you have not worn these items in the past couple of months, it will be highly unlikely that you will be wearing these items in the near future. Make sure you do a thorough cleanse here and go through both the closet and the dresser. It’s fair game to clear out old/ mismatched socks, belts,etc.
Photo Credit: Decoist
COSMETICS
We all have those eyeshadows and lipsticks we’ve been telling ourselves we are going to use one day, and GUESS WHAT?, that day has yet to come. Instead of continuing to tell ourselves we are going to wear this lipstick or this eyeliner, let’s toss it already or give it to a friend that we know will use it. I can’t tell you how many times I have told myself I’m going to use a scented lotion that came with a perfume bottle, or I’m going to try this new eyeshadow. And GUESS WHAT?, years have gone by with some of them and I have yet to wear it. Let’s try and not lie to ourselves anymore, and just toss those things to the side or simply not buy them.
Photo Credit: Anna Giller
BOOKS & MAGAZINES
We all have books that we have read in the past that are no longer needed and have milked every bit of information from it that it is stored in our brains forever (sorry Tony Robbins, Zig Zigler, and Wayne Dyer). Instead of keeping these, let’s give them to someone who might learn a thing or two from them. More empty storage space on the bookshelves = more decorative accessories 😉 Just kidding, we need to rid ourselves of those too and stop buying things from the checkout lines at Home Goods (temptation, temptation LOL).
Photo Credit: Lisa Cohen
POTS & DISHES
Pots and dishes are things we overlook when decluttering our homes, but often times we do not even need half of the pots and dishes we have stored away. Especially cups we collect from events and pots we have had ever since college graduation. Who needs this anymore and who is using it? (cough, cough…..umm NO ONE (^_^)) Let’s all do us a favor and gather what we are not using in the kitchen and eliminate them from our home.
Photo Credit: The Coveteur
PURSES & BAGS
Last but not least, when was the last time you did a thorough cleaning of your purse, work bag, etc.? We do not need our grocery receipts from January, business cards, notes, pens or whatever else we have been collecting in our bags for the past six months. I know I am not the only one guilty of this. A clean purse = a clear mind, I swear so let’s all make a pact to keep this better organized because we have to stop losing our own wallets inside of the bag (yes, it gets that bad).
Have more ideas on what we need to declutter? Share them in the comments!
Cover Photo Source: Unknown