12 Steps to an Organized Home {After the Holidays}

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By Contributing Writer, Brandy Ferguson

1. Clear the trash. If you’re anything like us, it takes a bit of effort to sort through the gifts, receipts, boxes, bows, and all the trash from gift wrapping, bags, on and on.
2. Put away new stuff. As simple as it sounds, putting away new things is something we have to remind our children to do.  Hang new clothes (or wash if you do that before wearing when new.)  Place new books on bookshelves.  Put new movies into TV cabinet.
3. Purge old, unwanted items as you’re putting new things into closets and drawers.
4. Purge the toy box as you’re putting away children’s new toys.  Get children involved if you want to teach them the value of sharing with others, of good stewardship, and organization skills.    image credit
5. Make a donation collection spot in your home and collect unwanted, unnecessary items to give away. Encourage each of your family  members to sort through the things in their rooms and bring to the collection spot anything that they can part with.
6. Put away decorations.  Clear the  mantle, undress the tree, clear dining tables, china cabinets, and any other household or front yard or front door decorations.  Since you’re likely heading to the attic and garage to put these items away, take advantage of the opportunity and put away anything else that you’ve collected from rooms that you want to hang onto, but aren’t ready to part with.
7. Clear the kitchen counters.  This may seem like a simple idea, too, but it can be incredibly refreshing to clear those kitchen counters after all the holiday cooking and baking and storing of food and decorations.      image credit
8. Clean out the pantry.  Get ready for a new year by purging any old, expired food.  Wash any jars or containers for storing bulk items like flour or sugar, and get ready to re-stock if necessary, for the new year.  The new year is a great time to make a commitment to eat healthier.  Make plans now to fill the pantry up with whole grains and nutritious foods from now on.
9. Clean out the refrigerator.  Inevitably, this time of year leaves us with an overstocked fridge, one crammed to the doors, so full that we can barely see what’s behind all those containers of leftover holiday foods.  To avoid waste, clear it out while there’s still time.  Use a simple homemade cleaning solution of vinegar and water for disinfecting both the interior and exterior of your fridge.  Leave a box of baking soda in the door to absorb any lurking odors from holiday party foods.
10. Clear dresser tops in each bedroom.  The tops of dressers seem to be the catch-all in every bedroom, and especially at this time of year.  Take a few minutes and clear off all the little piles, and give each dresser a quick dusting.
11. Clean your home.  Now that you’re this far, and the dust is settling, you might as well go ahead and shine things up a bit.  No need to go out and purchase any cleaning solutions.  Use all natural products that you already have on hand to get your home clean and ready to start the new year.
12. Redecorate mantle, tables, and living room as normal.

How do you get re-organized after Christmas?