January. The first month of a fresh new year. I love the start of a new season and beginnings. After all of the holiday celebrations, I feel the need to clean out and start this brand new season with a fresh start. I usually start this off with a deep clean of my house.

Some people naturally just hoard stuff. The thought of maybe they will need something or maybe they won’t have something scares them. However, our American materialism makes our houses a mess of clutter and keeping things we don’t really need or use.

Here are some tips and tricks to clean out your house.

Step 1: Pick a Room.

Start small. If you try to declutter your entire house in one day, you will feel overwhelmed. Pick one room to start with. Set a realistic goal for yourself. What is the purpose of this room? What should be stored in here? Create a vision of what you want this room to look like before you start decluttering that office space or cleaning out that closet.

Step 2: Make Three Piles

Once you have established what you want this room to look like, start the decluttering. Go through every box, drawer, cabinet, and bookshelf. Create three piles: one for throwing away, one for goodwill, and one to keep. As you go through each box, categorize items into one of these piles. I have a general rule of thumb, if you haven’t used it in a year, you probably aren’t going to. While there are exceptions, most things will fall into this category. You do not need to keep all old meeting notes, books that you will never read, or old tapes you have never listened to. The more stuff you have in your house the more cluttered it feels.

Step 3: Get Rid of Stuff

Now this may be hard for some of you pack rats. But the reality is, you don’t need most of the stuff in your house. If your house looks more like a storage room of old notes and boxes of VHS, it is time for a good old clean out. Partner up with a support buddy and maybe some chocolate and start weeding out. A pack rat habit is good for no one, and your family will thank you because they eventually will not have to go through all your stuff.

Step 4: Pick your Organizational Strategy

This is my favorite part. Now is the time you get to organize. If needed, grab some storage containers from the nearest Target and get to work. Categorize your items into different storage containers. Label if needed. Make your room look nice and organized. An organized home is a happy home. If you still can’t fit everything neatly and organized into your room, you probably have too much stuff. It is time to weed out again. Repeat steps 2 and 3.

Step 5: Enjoy your handy work.

Once you have an organized room you can breath easy. However, be prepared to repeat steps 1-4 every six months if you have pack rat habits.