Recently on Talk of the Town in Nashville I talked about organizing your home this year... I also covered this organizing calendar on Martha Stewart radio~ So here you go...the easiest way to assure that you will greet your next holiday season (starting in November) with a house in order and a smile on your face~
My organizing chores by calendar month~
Remember to devote the entire month to cleaning and organizing each area, this way you will take the pressure off and enjoy the process much more.
Pick one area per month to organize.
I have a suggested list here, but obviously you can attack each area in any order. As long as you attack them.
Check off the list 1 project per month, with my list of organizing chores you should finish by October, just in time for Holiday shopping and prep. PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR! Every month by area Start with January’s Kitchen Clean up.
1. January~ Kitchen clean up
*Go through every drawer throw out anything that you never use, old keys, file or toss old receipts, throw away broken utensils, or gadgets.
* Go through pantry and fridge and throw out outdated old food products, like jams, and dried spices that have been there for over 1 year.
* Categorize food items, like with like, in both pantry and fridge
*Clean counter spaces, store any appliances you don’t use everyday.
2. February~ Closet Clean up
* buy uniform hangers, like space savers
* donate any clothing that has not been worn in the last year.
* Categorize like clothing items together, like colors together, organize colors from the color wheel, light to dark.
* Designate a jewelry area, use a counter to lay out all the jewelry in plain view.
3. March~Reassess your living area
* designate an area to store magazines and books, a basket or wooden box work well for this.
* put away blankets and throws
*donate old pillows, and invest in new ones, great way to freshen your room, and look. Homegoods is a good resource for affordable pillows.
* think about rearranging your living area to refresh and give it a new look, maybe move furniture from other rooms, like the bedroom.
4. April~ Bathroom clean up
*go through drawers and throw away outdated meds.
* use baskets or Tupperware to contain your bathroom items under the counter, again like with like toiletries, and meds , and make-up
* take a look at your towels and maybe time for a new bunch, again very affordable fix at Homegoods. Use old towels as rags, cut and then stack them in your designated cleaning supplies area in your home.
5. You should be to May, and nice weather~ Clean the Garage and or Basement!
*Throw out or donate, old games, and sports equipment
* Designate a garden area, and start a garden.
* Shelves for all items and again like with like items together
* Donate or throw away things that don’t work or are broken, or have not been used in 2 years.
6.June~Master bedroom
* Donate or throw out old blankets, and comforters.
* assess your room , maybe a new comforter, how old are you pillows? Maybe new ones are in order?
7.July~Dining room
* reassess your dining room, do you use it? How do you use it?
*go through dishes and linens, throw out or donate what you do not use.
*edit the serving and decorative items on shelves or on the side board.
* Maybe repainting will give you the jump start you need to use the dining room if you don’t use it regularly.
8. August~Repurpose- have a place for shopping bags and shoe boxes, I like to have an area near the door ,where I can grab a recycled shopping bag to carry things to the car.
I use shoe boxes to store thing in the garage, and make sure you write on the outside of the box with a Sharpie, what is inside.
9.September~Create a Gift Closet
I like to have a closet with gifts, I buy these as I see them, sometimes items are great and on sale, this is a great way to stay on top of gift giving whether a hostess or a birthday gift is needed in a pinch
Having a closet filled with great gifts always gives me the feeling of being organized and on top of things.
10.October~Gift wrap station
My gift wrap station is always the hit when people come and visit, it is a tiny area, but neatly organized to wrap any gift like a professional, I suggest everyone have some form of this area in their home.
put together an area in your home, laundry room, garage, or basement.
This will be fun and useful once you start wrapping holiday gifts.
*collect ribbon and wrap as you see it on sale.
*put this into one area, with a table or counter, large enough to wrap a large gift.
Now you are ready to attack the holidays with a fresh focus and a clean and organized home.
