5 Areas to Purge, Clean & Declutter

Here. We. Go. A new year & a new chance to purge and organize aaalllll the things! Am I right? Truthfully, I find there are various times throughout the year where I get in the mood to declutter & purge. And I, like many others, find the beginning of a new year to be one of those times.

While I'm sure I could focus on more than 5 things, these areas in particular are needing attention in my house right now. Maybe they're needing a bit of help in your house to?

+ The Pantry  Am I the only one who's pantry is an absolute disaster? I'm pretty certain some things just go into my pantry to die. Maybe it's the layout/type of cabinet my pantry is?  Whatever the cause, it needs help. It's needed help. Help is on the way. Well, here's hoping.

And actually, I'll throw in a bonus here and add my whole entire kitchen to this one. It's now been over a year and a half since we moved into our home (!) and I feel like maybe, just maybe, I'm finally getting a feel for what works in what cabinets and what doesn't. I have some rearranging to do.

+ The Entryway  Our entryway isn't so bad at the moment. It's basically just the closet that's a little chaotic. And maybe the fact that there's still some summer & spring things that never made it out in the turn of the seasons. So, the closet for sure needs some cleaning up.

+ Toys  Eeeek! These build up fast, don't they?? And since Christmas has just wrapped up it feels worse in the toy clutter department. I didn't get a chance to go through toys before the holiday, so now it's time to go through and decide what our kids have grown out of and what toys are actually played with.

+ Clothing  Kid's clothes & mine. Honestly, I held on to a good amount of my daughter's clothes from when she was a baby. Why? Because, we knew we wanted more kids and if there were clothes still in good condition I kept them (well, my favourites) in case we had another girl. When we found out we were having a boy I went through and picked out the gender neural items and then shoved the rest back into storage. So, I need to go through those (and my son's) and see what items we can pass on etc. And of course, my closet needs a good purge. Our "baby" is now one and so I feel like I'm finding out what fits and what doesn't. And let's face it, sometimes your clothes just need an update.

+ Paper  Oh. My. Word. There's got to be someone out there who has a genius system for paper clutter!?! I mean, I just need a system. One that legit works and I need to go through and shred papers we no longer need.

Those are the 5 areas I'm going to be working away at this new year. Do I want to get all of this done by the end of the month? I mean, wouldn't that be lovely? But that's totally unrealistic for me. It may work for some people and maybe I'll surprise myself. However, with two little ones and the tasks of everyday life, it's just not doable and I'm learning my limits. I'm also trying not to succumb to the pressures that everything needs to get done and be fixed right.this.second. It's great to make lists and set goals, but we've got to be realistic about it. This is what I'm learning. Baby steps. Little by little.

Tell me, what are the problem areas in your home that you'd like to work on this year? Also, if you have solutions that you've found work for you for the above problem areas please share in the comments below! I'd love to hear all about it!