Happy 2017 everyone! I hope you all had a great time celebrating last night! We're on a spontaneous vacation and for the first time ever we celebrated with just our family, away from home. Nice way to start the new year right?!
Now it's time to look back on 2016 and look ahead to 2017! If decluttering and organizing are on your list of goals or resolutions, you're in the right place!
A Look Back at 2016
I didn't post as much in 2016 as I usually do. I started the year off with several posts about decluttering and organizing to kick the year off on an organized note. And then I stalled for several months. I hadn't planned to take such a long break... it just sort of happened. Between commitments to my family, our home, my clients, and several organizations I volunteer for, something had to give for me to not get totally overwhelmed, and blogging ended up being that thing. I was still actively cheering everyone on in the 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group though!
And I kicked it back into HIGH gear in October with another 31 Days series! Yep... I posted more in one month than the rest of the year combined. But I LOVED writing the Decluttering Sentimental Items series and I actually worked on it quite a bit behind the scenes in the spring and summer. I'm so proud of how it turned out and I love hearing how it's helped you declutter your sentimental items!
And the year ended with a few more organizing and decluttering posts... including the 2016 edition of the #NetZeroClutter series.
One of the highlights this year for me was having the opportunity to share tips on TV! If you missed them, you can watch them here:
If you missed any other posts in 2016 you can find them all in the Archive section in the right sidebar.
Decluttering in 2017
This year I'll be continuing to host the 365 Items in 365 Days challenge. I can't believe it's been 3 years since I started this challenge! It's been a great success and so many of you have used the simplicity of the challenge to declutter your homes. Stay tuned for an update of my 2016 progress in the 365 Items challenge as well as other posts to help you in your decluttering journey.
In the meantime, if you're overwhelmed with clutter and think you don't have time for decluttering or don't know where to start, check out the 365 Items in 365 Days introduction and join us! It's very simple. Really. One item every day. That's all. Did I mention it's simple?!
And join our 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group! It's THE place to be if you want encouragement, support, understanding, tips, and accountability as you declutter!
To kickstart your decluttering, here are a few decluttering series you can follow:
- 31 Days of Easy Decluttering (if you're just starting to declutter I highly recommend starting here)
- Decluttering from A to Z (great if you've done some decluttering and are getting stuck thinking of things to declutter)
- Net Zero Clutter (the pictures and some of the topics are based on the holidays, but the tips for decluttering are good all year round!)
- The Decluttering Sentimental Items series (perfect if you've been decluttering for awhile and have been putting off the tough stuff)
I talk about decluttering a lot, so sign up to receive my emails in your inbox so you'll never miss a post!
Organizing in 2017
If you've done a lot of decluttering or don't have that much clutter in your home, then you're ready to get organized this year! I'll be sharing some of what I've been organizing in my home lately but here are some series to help you get started in the meantime:
- 31 Days of Organizing Tips (if you're just starting to get organized I recommend starting here. It's also a great series to re-visit every year to tweak things that don't work as well as you'd like or to update systems to fit your current lifestyle or family situation.)
- 31 {Cheap & Easy} DIY Organizers (great if you don't want to spend a lot of money on fancy organizing products!)
- Organizing Ideas for the Weekend (for when you just want to tackle a small organizing project)
What's Coming Up in 2017?
I'm still planning the year ahead on the blog so I don't have all the specifics worked out yet. But here are a few things I'll be writing about this year:
- I'll be sharing decluttering and organizing projects I've been working on or will be working on around my home (either tweaks to places I've already shared on the blog, or places I haven't even shared before... our master bedroom, our bathrooms, and we just finished organizing and updating my son's room). And I really need to set up a better system for charging all our electronic devices and keeping track of all the cords... so look for a post on that soon!
- I'll continue reviewing or highlighting organizing products to help you get organized.
- I'll be running decluttering challenges from time to time... I really need to do some photo decluttering so I'll probably run that as a challenge so you can join me too :)
- And I'm sure I'll be writing another 31 Days series in October... let me know if you have any suggestions for topics!
I'm so grateful that you included me and this blog in your lives in 2016! I love hearing how you're applying the tips I share :)
I look forward to continue helping you go from overwhelmed to organized this year!
What are your decluttering or organizing goals this year? Why do you want to declutter or organize? Any ideas of tips or posts you'd like to see on the blog this year?
Happy organizing!
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