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January is a great time to get organized. With the start of a new year comes of the feeling of wanting to change things and have a better life. Being organized can help you have less stress and lead to a calmer feeling in your home. If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to organize your home, here are our 2016 house organization Jump-start tips on keeping control of your holiday decor, decluttering your home, organizing for tax preparation and general home organization. Don’t wait for spring to clear out that clutter. There is no better time like the present.

You’ve surely heard of spring cleaning but January is actually a great time to refresh your home and get rid of clutter. You can begin by storing your holiday decorations neatly and in a way which they can easily be found when you need them. After Christmas storage containers are often on sale. Buying containers that are color coordinated by holiday can help you find them when needed. Red and green work great for Christmas decorations. Orange, red or brown work for fall decorations. If you have lots of rolls of wrapping paper there are containers shaped specifically for keeping all those rolls together. Wreath containers can also help protect wreaths from being crushed while in storage.

De-cluttering an entire house can be overwhelming so it’s best to start with little goals in mind. A good place to start is the entry way since that’s what people first see when they come in. Think of what normally collects there and how you can get it more organized. If you have lots of shoes, coats or winter items that collect there think of getting a coat rack, set of hooks or a storage bench with cubbies. Assign everyone in your home a drawer or hook so they know where everything is when needed. Near the door is also a convenient place to store your pet supplies. If you have leashes or collars they can be hung on a hook near the door or you can get your pet its own drawer or basket.

Once your entryway is neat, it’s time to move on to your bedroom. A bedroom should be a place to relax, not a collection area for stuff that has no other home. First go through and find what doesn’t belong in the room. A system with a bag for trash, box for donate and a pile for keep is a way to speed up the process. If you’re unsure of something, place it in a maybe pile and come back to it later but remember if you haven’t used it or worn it in a year you probably don’t need it anymore. Many items can be sold with apps like Varage Sale and Offer Up. Do a qBee Maids Professional House Cleaning Serviceuick search on what you’re selling and you’re likely to find an online platform on which to sell your items. Donation is also always a great option for items that don’t sell quickly. Once you finish with your bedroom you can use this same system throughout the rest of the house.

January is a great time to organize for the upcoming tax season. Grab a box, plastic bin or filing cabinet and collect all your receipts and other items you’ll need. This is also a good place to store past returns since you’re supposed to keep them for around 7 years. If you keep this bin in an accessible place throughout the year you won’t have to search for any items next year at tax time.

Organizing can be overwhelming without a plan but once you get started it feels so refreshing to let things go so that you can have more space, more time and more freedom in your home. Letting go of things can be difficult but once you see that organized space and are able to find what you need when you need it, you’ll likely want to keep up with your organization plan. Once you’ve gone through your house and decluttered it, plan a quick cleanup every few months to ensure that clutter never builds up again.