This blog post is sponsored by Spot Shot®Instant Carpet Stain Remover.
So, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve been doing as the new year arrived that have helped to make my home (and my mind) feel a bit more ready to tackle what is to come in our household.
Store away all the holiday decor and supplies – and purge anything you didn’t use.
I’m sure many of you have already put your holiday decor away. Good on you. But, I’d guess that you still have residual holiday stuff hanging around. A bin of gift wrapping supplies. Some discarded boxes and packaging from gifts received. Now’s the time to make your way around the house and rid yourself of all the ghosts of Christmas past.
Also – I like to use the slower time in January to purge any holiday supplies you don’t use anymore. I realized this year that I had several bins of decor I haven’t used in years. Instead of continuing to store them away, I hopped in the car to give them to Goodwill.
It’s better to do it now than have to sift through it all again next Christmas. (Trust me. I know this from experience.)
Pare down the decor you bring back in.
After all the excess of the holidays, our home was begging for a little more space. Before the holidays, I read the book Cozy Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith and it really challenged the way I use decor to fill up all the spaces. I highly recommend it – it’d be a great read as you are readying your home for the new year. It’s especially helpful for spaces that you don’t feel look “finished.”
But back to decor – I find January to be a great time to take away lots of the extra tchotchkes and decor. Instead of filling every spot where Christmas decor came down, I just added a few books and plants and let most spots breathe.
Our walls and mantel are pretty bare – but this gives me a better chance to see the space without all the junk cluttering it up. And I’m liking the way it feels with a little more room to breathe.
I also only kept out the blankets and pillows we actually use – instead of filling every seat with extra cushions.
Clean the spots you normally miss.
I don’t do a full-on deep clean in January, but after all the Christmas decor comes down, our home definitely needed some attention. So I cleaned the spots that often get looked over – like fan blades, trim, and windows. It made a big difference to feeling clean and neat.
Then, I just make sure the kitchen and floors are clean – and the house really does feel like new.
Spot clean carpets and rugs after inevitable spills.
Once my home feels a little less “full,” it’s also a good time to take care of any major stains on rugs and carpets. In our house, those happen over the holidays – from holiday meals, crafts and dirty paws.
Stains happen with two dogs and two kids and a full holiday season.
I keep Spot Shot®Instant Carpet Stain Remover on hand and it makes it easy to get the spots removed quickly and easily.
Just spray Spot Shot on the stain and let it set before wiping it away with a clean white cloth. Easy peasy to clean up any stains – even those that may have been there for ages. Our living room carpet had lots of little stains so I just used the can of Spot Shot to take care of them all at once.
And I also finally got around to wiping up some mealtime stains on our dining room rug – it’s hard to photograph but there was a red stain from our favorite raspberry salad.
Just a few minutes and it was as good as new.
Find Spot Shot Instant Carpet Stain Remover at Target. You can also print a coupon to save $1. And follow the Stain Fighting Community on Facebook to get more stain fighting tips and tricks.
Look ahead.
One of my favorite parts of the start of a new year is dreaming about what is to come. While lots of us make personal resolutions, it’s also a great time to make home resolutions.
Getting your home in a good spot in January is a great way to ready yourself for what is to come. For us, that means some new home decor projects and continued decluttering.
How do you get your home whipped into shape for the new year?
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