The Good Riddance Professional Organizing team have been de-cluttering for 20-plus years - making them experts at what yearly resolutions for the home should look like. They understand what it takes to clean up, organize and distress.
"We come across clients who run into trouble around this time of the year," says Heather Knittel. "They put a lot of unnecessary pressure on themselves by setting their expectations very high."
Here are the team's top three organizing tips to jump-start the best year yet.
1. Resolve to call your children or anyone who has been storing their stuff in your home for longer than Coronation Street has been on TV. Give them a deadline for picking up what they want. Chances are 90 per cent will have been totally forgotten by the owners. Have a Plan B, like scheduling a pick-up from a local non-profit.
2. Resolve to eliminate one item for every new item you bring into the house. You will at least be able to maintain the status quo while introducing new stuff.
3. Resolve to rid your home of anything that has passed its expiration date. This includes food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, old paint and scary looking chemicals. Use responsible disposal methods.
