January Deep Declutter

Harness that New Year Energy

Happy New Year, House Peacers. I hope your holiday season was merry and bright, and that you brought in the New Year exactly how you wanted to. With the flip of the calendar page from 2023 to 2024, there often comes a little excitement. For many people, the start of a new year brings with it an energy to make some changes. Maybe a healthier lifestyle choice or a word of intention came to mind as goals for this new year. If you’re the type of person that feels completely inspired by the start of a new year, allow me to make a suggestion: harness that New Year Energy toward a deep declutter this month. Consider a part of your home, or perhaps the whole home, and pinpoint areas that are desperately in need of a declutter. Only bite off what you can chew this month, but if the energy persists beyond your first goal, keep rolling to another space. Imagine how good it will feel to get a head start on some of that “spring cleaning” as you empty cabinets and drawers, purge what is no longer serving you, and thoughtfully put back what you’re keeping. Picture your future self in a few months when the weather warms up, looking back at January You with gratitude for decluttering your closet of items you no longer wear. Whenever I declutter and find items to throw away or donate, I imagine my house having lost weight. So maybe this year we put our homes on a diet in January, and whip them into shape.

What if I’m not a New Year Energy person?

Some of you read that last paragraph and felt exhausted and unseen. The new year doesn’t always conjure up the same feelings in everyone each year. Personally, I have had years where I have made huge goals for the upcoming year and been really inspired by the fresh start, but if I’m honest, it’s been years since New Year Energy has motivated me like that. If you’re someone who just doesn’t feel the January push, I’m here with you, and we can still use this time to our benefit if we can reframe it for ourselves a bit. I recently read a poem by David Gate on his Instagram that summed up my feelings about January perfectly:

January might not really feel like a time of new beginnings for you. The world is dormant. Social lives are on pause as cold and flu season sweeps homes with young children. The new-school-year excitement of August and September has waned, but the end-of-year excitement of May and June has yet to come. For many of us, January feels like a middle. If this is you, I want to encourage you that something good can still happen in the middle. As David says in his poem, now is a time for shedding the excess so that when the arrival of the newness of spring greets us, we will feel ready with a freshly decluttered space. Use this time of cold, grey days to really evaluate your home and pare back what you no longer need. Think of this slowness as a gift to yourself as you ready for a season ahead that is more full. Do the work now while you’re likely spending more time at home so that when the sun comes out, you’re able to enjoy it because the weight of your unnecessary belongings has been lifted already.

No matter what January means to you, if you’re not sure where to start, that’s what we’re here for. We’d love to help you get your January Deep Declutter started. You can inquire about having an organizer come to your home here if you’re in one of our 4 cities (Birmingham, Mobile, Atlanta, and New York City), or a virtual consultation with Tara here if you’re not.

Happy New Year - whatever that means to you 🩶

— Colleen

PS. You can get to know me and my family a little more here!