Linen and Twigs

Hello Friends. We are well into January and everything seems fresh and new. There’s something about a new year that makes me a want to clean up my act…you know, start fresh.

Since the weather is usually too cold to spend much time outdoors, I like to spend this time of year cleaning up and organizing our home to get us ready for the year to come. If you hadn’t checked out my post about our new help (lol) you can read about it here. It was worth every single penny.

Before I begin, I wanted to quickly say thank you for all the words of encouragement from everyone who could relate to my son moving out. The move went super smooth and was really quite fun having everyone there to help out. I couldn’t be happier for him honestly. He seemed so happy to have a place to call his own.

I was really proud of myself (initially) for not crying during the move. When we were about to leave, son #2 played the graduation song. I don’t know what it is about that song that makes me cry and he knows it. It doesn’t even have to be my kid that’s graduating and I still cry! Anyhoo, I pulled myself together to say goodbye only to find a card from son #3 (the one who just moved) sitting on my truck seat…I lost it!!! Talk about knowing how to tug on a mama’s heartstrings.

It took me a bit to even go upstairs. I didn’t want to see the empty room. Well, almost empty…he has a few things that he still needs to get. I’m trying to look forward to making his room into something fun but I’m not quite there yet. It’s going to need a good painting. There’s a lot of years of three boys rough housing in there.

Okay, on to brighter things. Once the floors are vacuumed well and all the holiday foot traffic slows down, I like to give our floors a good mopping. We have hardwood floors throughout our downstairs. Although that makes it easier to vacuum or sweep on a regular basis, there are still memories of horde ours that have hit the floor. I highly recommend Holloway House floor cleaner and floor finish!

Our floors are sixteen years old and get a ton of traffic and this stuff really works! This is not a sponsored post by the way. You know that I love to share stuff that I think really works or could make your life easier and more enjoyable. This stuff fits the bill! They totally bring your floors back to life. Just make sure that your floors are super clean before using the floor finish. It will seal a stray hair onto the floor if you’re not careful. It lasts a long time before having to do it again too which is great because I don’t know anyone who likes to mop floors for kicks!

Organizing closets, cabinets and drawers are a great way to purge things that you no longer need or want and makes room for things that you do need.

Donate or give away things that could be used by someone else and throw out the rest.

This is a wonderful time to clean out your refrigerator, freezer and pantry too. We gather so much food from the holidays. Cleaning it out also helps with eating healthier for the new year since it’s not there to tempt you.

Once it’s cleaned out, fill it with “clean” food.

This is a great time of the year to purchase new bed sheets and maybe a few new towels.

Stores usually run their sales this time of year. New towels make your bathroom feel like a spa and who wouldn’t want to start out their new year at a spa?

Good smelling soaps and cleaning products will help your home to smell fresh and makes cleaning it up for the new year enjoyable.

I like to pick up a fresh supply this time of the year. All the fresh scents actually inspire me to clean. I bought this one at Home Goods. They have a great collection of soaps and they come in such cute bottles.

I know that spring isn’t here yet but getting a jump on spring cleaning will allow for more time to be spent outdoors when the weather finally breaks. Who wants to be inside when it’s nice outside? Here in North Carolina, there is a small window between “cold weather” and “holy crap, it’s so humid that I can’t breathe”.

I hope this little list has inspired you to clean up your act just a bit for the new year. If you have some inspiration for me, please send it my way by leaving a comment below! I love hearing from you!!!