Out with the old, in with the new has come to take a whole new meaning in our house. Over the past few years, we have used the start of the new year as a mark to go through everything we own and organize the house. It started naturally as we received lots of presents at Christmastime. We now needed a place to put them and couldn’t find the space. It can also be a great time to spruce up your space to give your next project that added inspiration. Here are some tips that we have found helpful!
Declutter
We use a designated bin or basket to gather our giveaway items
Parting with things can be difficult. We like to have three different piles or bins that we sort things into-Giveaway, Sell and Think About. Giveaway can be to your local thrift store or a friend that might need or want that item. We find it is easier to give items away when we know that they are going to a good home or someone that is going to use it more than we did. The “Sell” bin are items that you can sell on Ebay, Craigslist or another selling platform. We try to be realistic about this, because as much as we want to sell everything, we have to realize that not everyone is looking for worn out “vintage” jeans. The last bin is “Think About,” these are items that you might want to see if you actually use them within a certain period of time. We give ourselves 90 days. If we haven’t used it within that time period it goes into the sell or giveaway bins. We love having a designated bin or area throughout the year that we can collect items that are going to giveaway and then once it is full, we drop it off at the thrift store. Our basket from Lorena Canals has been helping us collect some of the baby clothes we have outgrown to give to some friends that just had babies. Once we empty it, we will fill it with books and blankets to create a cozy reading nook.
Get Organized
Everyone has their own method that works for them. We like to create compartments and group things accordingly. This can be baskets, bins, or storage containers. For example, our bins underneath the toy table have smaller baskets that separate cars, train tracks, Legos and other toys. With little ones, we have found it helpful to have bins that we can just toss all of the toys into at the end of the day. They are even able to make a game out of it and make baskets as they put their toys away. Some families like to have labels on containers. At the same time, don’t get too bogged down on this that you create so much organization that it is overwhelming to stay organized.
Win a Lorena Canals basket, click here
Lorena Canals basket
Spruce Up Something Old
After cleaning and getting everything organized, you are able to assess what you have more clearly. You might realize that you have ten pairs of shoes and you don’t need another pair. We like sprucing up our “old,” by rearranging furniture. We love watching all the home improvement shows but typically don’t have the budget to do a whole remodel on the house. Instead, we can focus on different rooms and spruce them up. It can be painting an old piece of furniture a new color, buying some new prints for the wall, or adding a new throw cushion to the couch. We created a little reading and coloring space in the office for our little guy. He was wanting to spend time with mommy while she worked on stuff. We got some cushions from Lorena Canals that he could either sit on the chair or the floor and a bin to put all of his books and small toys into. We also added some fun wall hangings from their new collection to give the space a new look. We love that all of the items from Lorena Canals are machine washable. We don’t have to worry about keeping everything spotless, we can just toss it into the wash!
We spruced up our office with some pillows, wall hangings and a basket from Lorena Canals
We were given items by Lorena Canals, but all of our thoughts and opinio
