easy things to do around the house this January

Do you get that itch to organize and deep clean each January?

It always feels like such a fresh start. We enter a new year with a zest to be better and with the best of intentions.

Will it last all year? Doubtful. But why not strike while the iron is hot and spend those dull dreary January days whipping your house into shape, little by little?

If you are lacking motivation to get started, there is always the new Marie Kondo Netflix series.

I love how she never forces anyone to purge-the lady who said two bathrobes sparked joy I was just sure would be urged to pick a favorite by Marie. Instead Marie seems to love when items spark joy and never suggests something shouldn’t.

It is refreshing compared to the world of HGTV where every single house is criticized for it’s “outdated granite” or bad paint colors. In this series there is never one mention of outdated color schemes or furniture or the more blandly decorated homes that could have used some art work or accent walls, only happiness for people who can tidy up.

The whole sparking joy process is a big project. If you are ready to tackle that then more power to you! I have definitely filled some trash bags this weekend, thank you to the Netflix show.

But if you want to do a little less (and still feel a big impact) here is a list of my go-to quick and easy around-the-house tasks so you can bask in a sense of accomplishment:

1. Ligth bulbs. Is it just me or do you ever limp along with less than ideal lighting because a bulb or two has gone out? I currently have one bathroom and two kitchen bulbs out and have done nothing about it for 2 months. January is a great time to not only go ahead and swap these out, but to dust your bulbs and clean your fixtures!
2. Junk drawer(s). If you only have one, I am impressed. Of the top of my head I have two in the kitchen, one in the utility room and one in the bathroom. And I like to think I’m a fairly organized person! Anyway, there is nothing wrong with a drawer for a few odds and ends, but when it becomes too stuffed to use it’s pointless. Cleaning these out is one of my favorite organizing tasks. They stay organized for about 5 days, but who’s counting?
3. A place for everything. No, I’m not saying to go through your whole home with a label maker and become ultra-organized overnight. But, I do truly believe in the saying “a place for everything and everything in its place.” It is easier for me to keep the house picked up because I
   know where to put (most) things. And if you stick with this, your family members know where to put things as well. Eventually, you all just start putting items in their homes from the start! Anyway, what I mean by this task is, have you come into something new that doesn’t have a home yet? For us this year it is arts and crafts stuff for the kids. Being 2 and 3, we haven’t done a whole lot of painting or playing with clay, glue, glitter etc. until the last year. Recently it seems like we have a mountain of play-doh, coloring books, markers, colored pencils, stickers, pipe cleaners, paint sets, googly eyes, glue etc and, I love it, but I just don’t know where it goes. Whatever your odd items may be, take a little time to gather it up and create a specific space.
4. Clean your appliances. The inside of the washing machine, the dryer lint area, the microwave, the oven, the dishwasher (if you haven’t ever cleaned your dishwasher, I’m telling you to do it now. The filter will horrify you.) You don’t have to do all this at once. But spaced out in 15-20 minute increments over the month of January, imagine how great you’ll feel with fresh clean appliances!
5. Vacuum the edges. I have a Roombathat I love. I also have a Shark that I love. Between these two, our home is vacuumed fairly often (mainly because we have a dog).But, have you ever taken the slanted end hose attachment and run it along where the carpet or floor meets the wall in every room? A lot of dirt and dog hair can get stuck there and the vacuum doesn’t always reach it. So get the edges of the rooms as well as the corners of all your closets the next time you get the vacuum out. It shouldn’t add more than 20 mins to regular vacuuming.
6. Shoes. If you have kids, you might have a few outgrown or worn out beyond wear shoes tossed aside in the closet. And if you are like me, the bottom of your own closet may look like a sea of shoes with some random clothing price tags scattered about. I like to pull every shoe out, vacuum, and organize them into rows. It’s an early look too on what shoes everyone needs for spring. I wear my sandals to death so don’t let the first warm day sneak up on you without a pair ready to go! I did this task over the weekend and it took no more than 15 mins for my closet and it’s so much nicer to look at now!
7. Medicine cabinet/bathroom drawers. Wherever you keep the toothpaste, contact solution, make up remover, deodorant. This place could probably use a good purge and a wipe down. Get a new toothbrush or refill the jar of cotton balls. I sometimes leave an empty product just sitting there for whatever reason….so pitch stuff like that, check expiration dates, etc. This is a quick task but since you use this area every day you will appreciate it!

That’s my own little list for January. Of course there are a few large projects I want to tackle including finishing painting the bathroom tile I started back in March on the third bathroom. I just left the area behind the shower curtain and it’s so out of sight out of mind I have let it go 10 months…oops!

I’d love to hear if anyone else is planning any particular cleaning or organizing this month! If you have not watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo I do recommend the quick 8 episode series or her book for some motivation!