New Year/ New Home Reset

25 quick wins for.. you guessed it, 2025

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by just about everything— including your home. I’m not suggesting you overhaul your entire home in some ‘new year, new me’ resolution— 48 hours, ready, set, go! But with the influx of stuff you likely got from the holidays, maybe it’s time to save your sanity with a bit of a reset.

Here are a few— okay, 25 for 2025, because I simply couldn’t resist— suggestions for quick(ish) wins.

In the Kitchen

1. Make an inventory of unused food items— donate anything unexpired that you won’t realistically use to a local food pantry, and do some January meal planning to use up the rest. You’ll cut down that grocery bill for at least a few weeks, and have a nice freezer reset to boot.

2. If your kitchen is host to dozens of single-use gadgets and assorted cake pans, now is the time to weed it out. Most people do quite a bit more cooking in the holiday season than any other time of year— so if you’ve made it through Thanksgiving and Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa / the New Year without using that gingerbread shaped bundt pan, this is probably the time to let it go.

3. I’m not normally the one to tell you to ditch items that are still functional, but if you are still using plastic Tupperware or black plastic spatulas… do yourself a favor and make your cooking a little less toxic. This set of Planet Box glass storage containers is the most promising plastic-free food storage I’ve seen, and silicone or bamboo utensils are a great alternative to plastic.

4. Ditch the extra coffee mugs. Anything promotional, with sayings you’ve long since outgrown, or with weird stains you can’t get rid of can find its way out the door.

5. Clear off the front of your refrigerator, emptying it of receipts, old holiday cards, and piles of toddler artwork. If you do literally nothing else, this one shift will dramatically reduce your visual clutter.

In the Bathroom

6. Inventory your shampoos, moisturizers, toothpaste collection, et cetera. Use it up— or pass it on— before you buy more. If you’re really trying to get ambitious, Shira Gill’s Insta-worthy bathroom features a ‘family’ bottle of these essentials to cut down on bathroom clutter.

7. If you’ve amassed a pile of towels through the years, try limiting your collection to 1-2 towels per person and enjoy the extra cabinet space.

Your Book Collection

8. Just kidding. Nothing to declutter here.

   

   Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Kids’ Spaces

9. Sort through the arts & crafts assortment— keep only your favorite art creations and photograph (if you want) + recycle the rest. There are plenty of resources for storing/ displaying your favorite art, ranging from the DIY magnet on the refrigerator to an Artkive book or framed mosaic (I’m storing a few pieces each year with the plan of making one book for each kiddo after they have outgrown their arts & crafts phase). While you’re at it, weed out the dried-up glue sticks and uncapped markers. Your local library— or your kid’s teacher— could probably use any duplicate supplies.

10. Go through your toy collection— with your kiddos— and find new homes for the things your littles have outgrown. If you already have a fairly minimal toy collection, you might not be getting rid of much. But you can still pull things out of rotation in the aftermath of Santa’s shiny new play things.

11. If you have toys from sketchy sites like Temu (or unbranded dollar store trinkets), use the holidays as a time to pitch them once and for all. The overwhelming majority of these toys have dangerously high levels of chemicals like lead and cancer-causing phthalate plasticizers. In fact, random safety tests by consumer organizations routinely find that 60-80% of these products exceed ‘safe’ limits for chemicals, and many contain additional dangers like button batteries with loose cases. These are definitely NOT what you want your little one mouthing or your preschooler snuggling up to!

Clothes

12. If it’s two sizes too small, a size too big, or you’re positive you haven’t worn it since high school— pass it on. For formal wear, try checking with local high schools to see if they run a ‘prom closet’ for students in need. For business/ work clothes, organizations like Dress for Success can help your items reach new hands.

13. For everything you’re on the fence about, go ahead and set yourself up for a wardrobe edit that will happen at the end of the season. Use the next few months to get a better idea of what you actually wear. Try flipping the hangers in your closet backward, and moving the hanger back when you wear the item on the hanger. For accessory items, try putting a dated sticky note on the item that you remove when the item is worn. That way, at the end of the season, you’ll know whether you made it through without missing that fifth black sweater.

Decor

14. Imagine your space with only the decorations that are truly meaningful to you— which likely does not include the “Live, Laugh, Love” sign you snagged from the dollar bin at Hobby Lobby. Less to dust is a real New Year win.

15. Edit your holiday decorations before shoving them back in the attic. Anything that didn’t bring you absolute joy this holiday season can go.

Storage Closets/ Junk Drawers

16. Old magazines or expired coupons? Straight into recycling they go.

17. Ditch the old receipts too, but these are landfill bound.

18. Somewhere in your home is likely a dumping ground for pens, rolls of tape, and other office supplies… likely more than you can reasonably use. Put these items in one place to see what you have— keep what feels reasonable to use, and see who in your community— like the librarian or a teacher— could use the rest.

19. If, like me, you found yourself with board games collecting dust… pull them out for family get togethers, and pass on any games you’ve lost interest in (you really don’t need to save Sorry or Life for your hypothetical future grandkids).

20. Hobby items you haven’t touched since 1995? If you haven’t snowboarded in 30 years… or, well, ever… you probably don’t need to hold on to them ‘just in case.’

21. Speaking of ‘just in case’ items— there are some things that are common sense, like a couple gallons of water and spare batteries for a flashlight. But if you’re holding on to a dozen wine glasses ‘just in case’ you host a big party (but you’re not sure you even have 12 friends who drink)… it might be time to part ways with the excess. Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists long ago suggested the “$20, 20 minutes” rule of just in case items. If you could replace it for $20 in 20 minutes… let it go without stressing. Chances are you won’t miss it anyway.

All Things Digital

22. Save yourself some $$ in the new year with a quick inventory of your subscriptions. Are you subscribed to half a dozen ways to watch movies? News subscriptions you never read? Cancel what you won’t realistically use in the next few months.

23. Sort through your old e-mails and aim for Inbox Zero (at least temporarily!). While you’re at it, unsubscribe from unwanted marketing e-mails.

24. Delete screenshots you no longer need and the dozens of virtually-identical pictures that have inevitably accumulated over the last year/ years.

25. That drawer where all your spare cords go to die? Figure out what the cords go to— and if you can’t find the answer, recycle them. Do the same for that 2008 iPod and other ‘definitely-broken-but-I’ll-save-it-just-in-case’ technology.

You’ll notice I didn’t ask you to go through sentimental items, or brave the cold weather to go through attics or garages. The goal here is just to pick and choose what makes the most sense for your home and your life to feel just a little more calm moving into 2025. You can tackle the really tricky stuff later. And in the meantime, Happy New Year!