There’s no denying we’re officially into the new year. The holidays are over, the décor is (hopefully) put away and we’re no longer eating gingerbread for breakfast. That said, we know there’s always a lot of chatter about decluttering and minimizing before the new year. And I’m here for it. But, let’s play devil’s advocate for a minute. Yes, it’s great to go into the new year fresh and organized. But I want to make an argument for decluttering post-New Year’s, and here’s why.
Holiday clutter is still lingering
Unless you’re super on top of it, chances are you still have a lot of holiday décor and such hanging around on January 1. Getting this all put away should be an organized task all on its own, not another checkmark on your decluttering list. Take this time to go through your decorations, ornaments, wrapping supplies and toss anything you don’t want to carry into Christmas 2020. When we lump in undecking the halls with our new year decluttering spree, we have a tendency to just shove it back in for the sake of putting it away.
You can score deals on storage
January is a big month for sales because stores know that a lot of people aren’t really shopping post-holiday season. This means lots of markdowns and deals on all the things you need for your new minimalist vibe. You can even get major deals on new furniture or décor if you need to give your space a quick revamp for 2020.
New stuff = time to purge
If you decluttered before the holidays, you aren’t really taking into account all of the new stuff you probably received over the holidays. I don’t know about you, but I received about 20 new books for Christmas. So many so that I had to make a December 26 trip to IKEA to build a new bookshelf to store them. Take stock of what you received or purchased over the holidays, and then see what you can donate in order to make space for the newness. We don’t want to keep adding stuff on top of stuff, which is a lot easier to do if you don’t do a post-New Year’s decluttering sesh.
It’s more enjoyable
I know there’s a lot of joy around the concept of going into January 1st with a freshly decluttered space. But is it realistic? Those days should be used for family time and lazy brunches, not hauling bags of trash to the dump. Once you get back into “real life” mentality, it’s easier for you to make conscious decisions about what to toss and what to keep, and how you can organize your space based on your lifestyle.
Donations are a-plenty
Lots of people purge and donate in December, which is fantastic. But if you do a post-New Year’s deep clean, you’re taking donations in at a time that isn’t as heavily populated as others. This means people in need of warm clothes in February are able to take advantage of your decluttering session. There’s usually a lull in donations to charities in between New Year’s and spring cleaning, but there’s never a lack of need.
Main + featured image is from our home tour with Gray Benko
