5 Tips to Avoid and Cope With Post-Vacation Fatigue

woman on plane getting luggage, post-vacation fatigue

Photo by picjumbo.com

A much-needed winter vacation is bliss while you’re relaxing in a lounge chair, enjoying some beautiful weather, and sipping a cool beverage.

Unfortunately, all vacations must eventually end and then it’s back to reality.

That anti-climatic return to normalcy hits some of us harder than others, especially if you’ve been away on a longer vacation or an especially enjoyable one. The feeling of sameness of the home life you temporarily left can return all too quickly.

Your inner battery should be nicely recharged after some time away relaxing, but you find that you just can’t shake that feeling of post-vacation fatigue after coming home.

What’s up with that?

Why you’re feeling post-vacation fatigue

Post-vacation fatigue is a common thing, actually. The stress and anxiety associated with it can start before you’re even home, simply by thinking about the prospect of coming home. That was the case for 45% of travellers surveyed for a Wyndham Vacation Rentals study.

Post-vacation fatigue may also be characterized as post-vacation blues or, to a more serious degree, post-vacation depression.

Here are several other reasons you may be feeling drained and struggling to reconnect with life at home after returning from a trip:

  • the prospect of dealing with tasks that weren’t done before travelling feels overwhelming
  • jet lag
  • you’re readjusting to a time zone difference
  • your sleep schedule has been altered while away

How to get back into the swing of things

When you’re trying to get back into the swing of things after coming home from a vacation, there are a few steps you can take before and after travelling to make things easier.

With these five tips, you can avoid experiencing post-vacation fatigue and learn to cope with your post-travel weariness a little better.

1. Tidy up and be proactive before travelling

To facilitate a smooth transition back to normalcy after being away on a trip, try to be as proactive at home before embarking on your travels.

The transition of going from a temporary, carefree vacation lifestyle with far fewer responsibilities (like cooking meals) than you normally have to coming back to a dirty, cluttered home can be jarring and mentally draining.

Simplify things by making sure your home is tidied up and any lingering tasks and chores are completed before going away. Accomplishing this will ensure a relatively “clean slate” when you return home and eliminate one of the main causes of post-vacation fatigue.

This is easier said than done, mind you, considering how vacation getaway day is usually a whirlwind of activity. But do your best to clean, declutter, and generally make your home as welcoming a space as possible for your family to return to.

Make the essential home spaces you’ll use on your first day back (like your kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, living room, and front hallway) a priority. And don’t leave any dirty clothes in your laundry room, as you’ll be guaranteed to have laundry tasks for your family’s dirty vacation clothes.

Take care of other tasks that aren’t housework-related, such as paying bills and answering all work and personal emails so you don’t need to spend any vacation time (or post-vacation time) on them. Don’t forget to activate the out-of-office auto-response function on your work email to inform colleagues and clients that you’re away.

woman standing by bed, post-vacation fatigue

Before going on vacation, try to leave your home clean and tidy to ensure there’s less work to do upon returning.

2. Allow yourself to recover upon returning

One reason people feel post-vacation fatigue is that they push themselves too hard when they’re back home. If someone’s effort to take care of as many home tasks as possible before leaving fell a little short, there can be an overwhelming feeling of “I need to catch up to get back on track”.

And once again, be mindful that you’re going from a relaxed vacation headspace to a more responsibility-driven mindset. Pace yourself and ease your way back into your daily routine.

Try to avoid overloading your family’s schedule with a bunch of post-vacation activities and social engagements.

Some people prefer to have one or more “buffer days” when returning from a trip and going back to work. Stress about catching up on things at work is another contributor to post-vacation fatigue.

Get enough sleep and try to distance yourself from that more leisurely vacation pace you’ve enjoyed the past little while, especially in your first days home.

3. Don’t put off those must-do tasks

While we are recommending easing your way back into your regular routine after travelling, don’t take that too literally.

It’s easy to procrastinate on those must-do tasks that arise after a trip, such as:

  • buying fresh groceries
  • checking your snail mail
  • unpacking suitcases
  • catching up on email replies and returning missed calls and texts
  • laundering vacation clothes
  • catching up on your snow shovelling or yard work

But after a day or two, you should be re-acclimatized to being home and be tackling any new chores.

That’s why it’s so important to take care of things at home before departing on a vacation – you’ll lighten your workload that much more.

clothes in open suitcase, post-vacation fatigue

Try to unpack within a day of returning from a vacation.

4. Get active

Only the most health-conscious of us are able to maintain healthy eating habits while we’re away on holiday.

All of those rich foods, exotic cuisines, and perhaps an adult beverage or two that you enjoyed while away can add a few pounds and affect your body’s metabolism.

That may be another reason you’re feeling some post-vacation fatigue.

If you can muster up the energy to get your blood pumping with some physical activity, you’ll be well on your way to feeling more alive and less lethargic. Any type of workout (even a light 20-30 minute session on the treadmill) will help.

Even keeping active by decluttering a particularly disorganized area of your home is healthy, not to mention practical. Excess clutter is a well-known cause of stress and you’ll feel better after restoring order to a messy space.

5. Start thinking about your next trip

Take a page out of the book of travellers who don’t experience post-vacation fatigue and – quite the opposite – are energized by a recent trip.

There’s no better way to broaden your worldview than experiencing firsthand what a faraway destination has to offer, so start thinking ahead to a future trip. Get some inspiration by organizing your recent vacation photos and reliving some memorable moments.

You don’t have to start booking flight plans just yet, although that’s not uncommon either. According to a survey by Booking.com, on the final day of their current trip, 20% of travellers actually schedule their next vacation.

Having something fun like a vacation to look forward to is a healthy, motivating thing. And the anticipation of a rewarding future trip abroad can also make getting through a difficult time just a little easier to handle.

Make your home easier to keep organized

Is some of your post-vacation fatigue exacerbated by clutter issues resulting from a lack of efficient home organization and storage systems?

Organized Interiors can help you get your home in order and make more space for living – post-vacation and 365 days a year.

Schedule a complimentary in-home design consultation with us today.

Please share this post if you found it useful.

See also:

7 Rewarding Winter Home Renovations to Take on Before Spring Arrives

winter home renovations walk-in closet

The long Canadian winter can make spring seem like it’s light years away.

But before you know it, the days will be longer, the summer clothes will be pulled out of storage, and those to-do outdoor home improvement projects will be calling for your attention.

That’s why now is the ideal time to take on some winter home renovations, on either a large or small scale.

And when you’ve been cooped up inside for most of the winter, refreshing and updating the interior of your house can feel extra fulfilling.

What are the benefits of doing winter home renovations?

Spring and summer are the peak home renovation seasons, so the basic law of supply and demand makes tackling some home renovations during the winter highly practical.

Consider these benefits of a doing a home improvement project during the winter:

  • better contractor availability
  • lower likelihood of scheduling issues with tradespeople
  • building permits can be obtained faster due to lower demand
  • completing interior home upgrades lets you prioritize exterior home improvements when it warms up

Here are seven suggestions for some winter home renovations to get done before the tulips start blooming.

1. Give your garage a makeover

If you live in a cold climate, getting a winter garage makeover might not seem feasible. A lot of homeowners seem to be under the mistaken impression that a garage makeover can’t even happen during the winter.

This is simply untrue. Interior home improvement work can occur in a garage year-round, regardless of what climate you live in.

A big part of any complete garage makeover is the application of a new floor coating, which is perhaps why there’s so much confusion about getting a winter garage renovation.

Choose a garage makeover specialist that uses polyaspartic floor coatings, which allows flooring applications to be done even in frigid conditions (unlike epoxy floor coatings).

Here are a few more ideas for ways to make your garage a more comfortable, functional, and visually appealing space:

  • tame garage clutter by adding efficient storage systems like slatwall, custom storage cabinets, and overhead racks
  • upgrade your garage lighting
  • add new garage doors (which have one of the best returns on investment for home improvement projects)
  • upgrade to a garage door opener with smart home tech capabilities

Talk to the trusted professionals at Garage Living for more information on making upgrades to your garage before spring arrives.

winter home renovations, white car in garage

In most houses, garages have become the primary entry and exit point for families. More homeowners are seeing the value in making their garage an attractive, functional extension of their living space.

2. Remodel your closet

Like the garage, closets are hotspots for home clutter. Owning too many things is naturally the main reason excess clutter becomes a problem.

Another big reason clutter can become unmanageable, however, is that there’s a lack of an efficient, smart storage system to make optimal use of your available storage space.

A remodel of your closet can make it easier to keep your closet space organized. Have a professional evaluate your closet space so they can create a more functional wardrobe storage area where everything has its place.

Establishing a proper storage space for all of your items will eliminate the time you waste looking for things and keep the closet looking much tidier.

From improving a smaller reach-in closet with a closet organizer, to thinking bigger with this home improvement project and adding a large walk-in closet/dressing room, you’ll appreciate what a closet remodel can do for your home.

Spacious walk-in closets are a good investment, too. According to a survey of 3,000 homebuyers for a recent Canadian Home Builders Association study, a walk-in closet was the home feature they wanted the most.

3. Make some small-scale home décor upgrades

You might not consider moving furniture around, changing light fixtures, or some of the following relatively minor tasks to be renovations, but they are.

Think of them as just smaller “cosmetic renovations”.

Applying one of the fundamental elements of feng shui and simply rearranging the furniture in a space can dramatically alter the flow and energy of a room.

Changing the placements of wall decorations in your living areas can also help to modify a room’s dynamics. Update your lighting fixtures, trim, or crown moulding to add a stylish, elegant touch to a room.

You can also take things from stale to fresh in a room by reupholstering your furniture or replacing rugs, carpeting, or drapes as part of your winter remodelling project.

4. Freshen things up by painting

Another cosmetic renovation that’s perfect for doing during the winter is painting. Any room’s look and feel can be significantly changed just by slapping a fresh new coat of paint on the walls.

Updating a room’s wall and trim colours with a different colour can give the space a much-needed décor refresh. It’s also one of most inexpensive winter home renovations you can do.

Whether you’re lightening up a room that’s too dark or getting adventurous with an accent wall, the wealth of paint varieties and shades available makes any room a literal blank canvas of endless creative possibilities.

A winter interior painting project might bring up temperature-related concerns and issues about ventilating the paint fumes.

Just make sure the temperature in the room you’re painting is at least 15°C and you should be fine. As a matter of fact, winter can be a better time to paint than in the summer, when heat and humidity can cause paints to take longer to dry.

Unfortunately, you’ll need to open some windows in order to ventilate a painted room. That’s obviously not ideal when it’s cold outside, but it’s an unavoidable one-time extra utility expense you’ll have to live with. Use some fans to get more air moving in the rooms you’re airing out.

Another incentive to repaint is that you can apply a paint that has no VOCs (volatile organic compounds). VOCs are an organic compound gas found in many consumer products. The gasses (typically in very small amounts) are slowly released over time, so using a zero VOC or low VOC paint is a clearly healthier option for your home.

winter home renovations, painting supplies in room

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

5. Transform a spare room into a more useful space

A spare room in your house can be a lot more useful than merely being used as a dumping area for your home’s odds and ends.

Make that space work harder for you by transforming it into something that allows you to get more functionality out of your home.

That walk-in closet you’ve always wanted? A spare room is the perfect spot for it. Another great spare room idea is to turn it into a guest room.

Having a dedicated guest room simplifies things when relatives or friends stay overnight and you can create a space that’s more comfortable for your guests. To save space, add a practical pulldown wall bed (also known as a Murphy bed) to the room’s design.

There are plenty of other excellent uses for a spare room, including:

  • fitness room/home gym
  • kids playroom
  • craft room/hobby room
  • wine room
  • home office
  • study room
  • home library

6. Upgrade your home energy efficiency

If you’re looking for other winter home renovations that add value to a home, home energy efficiency upgrades are a smart choice.

You’ll start recouping your expenses for this project right away with monthly savings on your utility bills and benefit from these upgrades years from now.

That’s because the 2017 Canadian Homebuyer Preference National Study and that Canadian Home Builders Association study cite excellent energy efficiency as another one of the top selling features for homebuyers.

Getting a home energy audit from a professional can help you pinpoint the areas in your home that can benefit most from some eco-conscious upgrades.

Addressing inadequacies in your home’s wall, ceiling, and attic insulation can admittedly be an expensive undertaking, but will produce considerable improvements in how efficiently your house manages its heat retention.

Upgrading your furnace or central air conditioner to more energy efficient models will also have a noticeable positive effect on your heating and cooling bills.

Here are some other ways to improve the energy efficiency in your home:

  • upgrade to more energy efficient lighting fixtures and bulbs
  • install a smart thermostat for better temperature control
  • switch your single pane windows to dual or triple pane windows (or use thermal window film)
  • address drafts around windows, doorways, electrical switches, and outlets with caulking, insulating foam, weatherstripping, or thresholds
  • add a thermal lining to existing curtains or upgrade to new insulated curtains

7. Finish that basement

A finished basement also adds value to your home and is considered to have a good-to-excellent return on investment of anywhere from 70-80%.

Updating your basement’s décor and making the space more comfortable is worth it when you consider the many uses a finished basement can have for a family.

You can create extra play space for your kids, design a room for enjoying your media, or create a more stylish, hospitable space for hosting social gatherings.

Setting up a private area for exercising or adding an extra bathroom are other worthy basement upgrade ideas, as are adding an extra bedroom or guest room.

Adding an extra basement bedroom is smarter than converting part of your garage into a living space (which can make your home harder to sell later on).

If you do decide to make a basement renovation one of the winter home renovations you plan to tackle, Organized Interiors can help.

We have plenty of ideas and solutions for making your basement more comfortable and functional, such as:

  • an electric fireplace for ambiance and a source of heat
  • entertainment unit
  • stylish custom cabinetry that maximizes a basement’s storage space
  • wet bar

Don’t delay on those winter home renovations

There’s never a shortage of work to do on your home’s exterior and the rest of your property when spring arrives.

Start on one of these interior winter home renovations now so you’ll be able to focus squarely on what the outside of your home needs during the warmer months of the year.

Schedule a free virtual or in-home design consultation with Organized Interiors to get some of the home improvement projects listed here rolling.

Please share this post if you found it useful.

See also:

9 Interesting Marie Kondo Facts That May Surprise You

marie kondo facts, public speaking

RISE [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Tidying expert Marie Kondo is seemingly everywhere these days.

KonMari mania has been fuelled by the recent premiere of her eight-episode Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.

In addition to being a TV star, the multi-hyphenate Kondo is also a:

  • best-selling author
  • organizing consultant
  • public speaker
  • social media influencer (with over 2 million Instagram followers)

While you may be aware of Kondo and some of her organizing methods, how much do you really know about the woman who was named one of Time’s “100 most influential people” in 2015 and where she came from?

Keep reading to learn some interesting Marie Kondo facts.

9 Marie Kondo facts you might not know

Netflix is notoriously hush-hush when it comes to revealing viewership numbers for its original programming.

But based on the Kondo hype at the moment, it’s safe to assume that Tidying Up has garnered millions of new converts (or “Konverts”, as they’re known) to her organization methods.

The streaming platform shrewdly timed the launch of Tidying Up (which one TV reviewer called “the happy version of Hoarders”) for New Year’s Day.

And what better time of year is there to capitalize on the “must get organized!” mindset many of us are in with our New Year’s resolutions?

Get to know the woman sparking joy worldwide with these nine facts about Marie Kondo.

1. Kondo’s six tidying rules

The “spark joy” element of Kondo’s organizing method (known as the KonMari Method) is well-known, but did you now that Kondo has six basic rules of tidying?

As she writes on her website, they are:

  1. Commit yourself to tidying up.
  2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
  3. Finish discarding first.
  4. Tidy by category, not by location.
  5. Follow the right order.
  6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

2. She’s been famous for longer than you might think

We here in North America may have only heard about Kondo in the last few years, but her public profile has actually been on the rise for almost a decade now.

15 years ago, Kondo started a part-time tidying business at the age of 19 while she worked full-time at a staffing agency.

The tidying business took off and she soon had a six-month-long waiting list for her services.

In 2010, she won first prize in a Japanese book publisher’s contest with the idea for what would become her debut book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, which was released at the end of that year.

Its popularity spawned a Japanese TV movie titled The Life-Changing, Pulsing Magic of Cleaning Up and a follow-up book titled Spark Joy.

Having achieved major success and fame in Japan, Australia, and Europe, Kondo turned her attention to America.

3. Kondo’s success in America wasn’t immediate

When The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was released in the U.S. in 2014, it wasn’t an immediate hit.

Because Kondo didn’t have much of a profile yet on this continent and her English was limited, promotional opportunities were somewhat difficult to come by.

All of that changed when a New York Times reporter wrote about the book and Kondo’s organizing methods.

Sales took off and as of this writing, it has spent 149 weeks on The New York Times Bestsellers list and sold over 9 million copies.

Kondo made regular appearances on TV, the view counts on her instructional YouTube videos skyrocketed, and she became a pop culture darling (including shout-outs on TV shows The Mindy Project and the Gilmore Girls revival).

The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up

4. Shintoism influenced her tidying methods

Having enjoyed her numerous visits to Shinto shrines as a youngster, Kondo eventually worked at a shrine for a period as an attendant maiden.

She connected with the Japanese religion’s teachings of treating objects with respect and how tidiness and order can create a sacred, calming space filled with pure energy.

Although she doesn’t identify as particularly religious, Kondo does say that Shintoism has given her a lot of inspiration and had a big influence on her organizing methods.

For example, she likes to take into consideration how a piece of clothing might like to be folded.

And when discarding a piece of clothing such as a dress whose colour doesn’t spark joy for you, she thinks you should thank it for its service. Why? Because it was a helpful example of what wardrobe colour to avoid in the future.

5. She’s had a lifelong obsession with tidying

Okay, this Marie Kondo fact admittedly won’t be a complete shock  to you – she’s been extremely organized her entire life.

Even as a little girl, Kondo was obsessed with staying tidy and eager for any organization-related information she could get her hands on. One of her earliest organization resources were her mother’s homemaking magazines.

The national library of Japan, which requires you to be at least 18 to enter, contained a wealth of organization and decluttering books and resources. You can guess where Kondo spent her 18th birthday.

While studying sociology at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University the following year, Kondo wrote her thesis, “How to Declutter Your Apartment — From a Sociological Perspective”.

During her schooling, friends started offering to pay her to tidy their rooms and homes, which was what lead to Kondo creating that first tidying business.

6. The KonMari Method isn’t strictly about minimalism

Kondo’s tidying philosophy tends to get labelled as “minimalism”, which isn’t necessarily accurate. It’s more like “minimalism-adjacent”.

While downsizing and less consumption are core foundations of the KonMari Method, Kondo isn’t opposed to keeping things around if they do meaningfully benefit you (aka “spark joy”).

Sentimentality (and the strong emotional attachments people can make with their possessions, thereby making things harder to part with) tends to be one of the banes of professional organizers.

For Kondo, however, it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker when you’re deciding what to keep and what to discard.

If something with a sentimental pull truly makes you happy, Kondo sees no reason to get rid of it (she encourages it, in fact). This is all in moderation, of course.

She even admits to having a soft spot for a couple of items she holds onto: a free t-shirt she got years ago at an expo and a stuffed seal Kondo’s dad gave to her.

7. Her methods have ruffled a few feathers

Needless to say, Kondo’s meteoric rise has lead to some naysayers and critics of her non-traditional organizing methods.

They argue that her Eastern philosophies and hardline approach to decluttering (which one writer called “as ruthless as it is unrealistic”) aren’t suited to the Western world.

On a shallower level, Kondo’s delivery style also rubs some people the wrong way for being overly cute, such as her signature raised index finger “spark joy pose”.

Kondo takes the criticism in stride. As she told The New York Times Magazine after The Rachael Ray Show’s in-house organizer criticized some of her tidying methods on-air:

“I think his method is pretty great, too. I think it’s good to have different types of organizing methods because my method might not spark joy with some people, but his method might.”

8. She always wears something white

If you’ve been following Kondo for awhile, you may have noticed that she always seems to be wearing something white. We mean, like, always.

That’s a calculated choice as part of her brand and image, as she told The New Yorker. It makes sense. After all, what colour conveys a sense of being clean and tidy more than white?

You may also wonder why Kondo almost never wears pants in any of her videos or during any of her promotional appearances.

The reason is simple: several years ago, she stopped wearing them because pants no longer brought joy for her. You can’t argue that she’s not practicing what she preaches!

9. 5 things that “spark joy” for Kondo

So what sparks joy for Kondo? She recently revealed on her blog five things that are sparking joy for her these days:

  • crystals kept on her nightstand “for their purification properties as well as their exquisite beauty”
  • separate notebooks to jot down her ideas, dreams, and problem solving ideas
  • rose water (for its anti-inflammatory properties and scent)
  • cozy socks
  • an antique box she’s had for years where she keeps her makeup

Tidy up and live with less clutter

Kondo and her tidying methods may not be for everyone. We do think it’s exciting, however, to see so much attention and awareness focussed right now on the value and importance of living with less clutter.

If Marie Kondo mania has gotten you inspired to tidy up and you’re looking for more traditional organization solutions for your home, Organized Interiors can help.

Schedule a free in-home design consultation with us to make plans for getting your household clutter under control.

Please share this post if you found it useful.

See also:

3 Simple Tips to Ensure Success With Your Closet Purge

How many times have you been befuddled by how difficult it is to find something to wear when your closet space is so full?

It’s a very common problem and something that’s bound to happen if it’s been awhile since you last set aside some time for a closet purge.

But enough is enough. You’re tired of dealing with your untidy closets every day, so it’s time to simplify things by streamlining your wardrobe and making a few tough choices about what’s worthy of your closet space.

closet purge, person looking through closet

Why an occasional closet purge is a good thing

Think of a closet purge as hitting the reset button on your closet space. Closets are a busy, ever-changing space that need some occasional maintenance in order for you to get the most out of them.

A “less is more” approach to how much you’re keeping in the closet tends to be more effective when it comes to making efficient use of the time you spend choosing what to wear every day.

Having too many things to choose from taxes your brain and, naturally, slows down your decision-making process. This is known as “choice paralysis”, “decision paralysis”, or “analysis paralysis”.

It’s not unique to closets, either. Just think of how many times you’ve struggled to make a decision when choosing from a lengthy restaurant menu, when shopping online or in a grocery store, or even when trying to find something to watch from the thousands of choices on Netflix.

With a little time and care, you can get your wardrobe down to a more manageable size and remove one element of stress from your day, so getting dressed can be a pleasure and not a chore.

Here are three tips that can help when you take on your closet purge.

1. Take an approach that works for you

A closet purge can be time-consuming and daunting. The simple act of fully committing to your closet purge project is a great first step on your path to success with this endeavour.

Make sure to schedule a sufficient amount of time to devote to your closet purge, preferably with as few interruptions or distractions as possible.

Work, parental, or household responsibilities (or all three) may severely limit your free time, necessitating a slower “chipping away” at your closet decluttering process.

Devoting a full day to the project in order to get the task over with quickly may be an approach that works better for you.

This method tends to be more effective because you can sharpen your focus on the task at hand and be little more thorough with your closet purge. For example, you can empty out everything from your closet, give the closet a good cleaning, and let it air out.

It’s always a good idea to enlist a little help in order to lighten the workload and speed up the purging process.

Be prepared with boxes or bins for the purged clothing that you wish to donate.

Remember to pace yourself and take some breaks. Let’s face it, a closet purge can be a rather mundane and laborious task, but it is a necessary one.

2. Make some tough choices

You’ll undoubtedly be faced with numerous tough choices when carrying out your closet purge. What stays and what goes? A common worry is that you’ll get rid of too many things, but that’s better than getting rid of too little.

Those choices can get even more difficult when strong emotions like sentimentality and pride are factored in.

Inevitably, a closet will find itself occupied by:

  • clothing that no longer fits
  • items that are barely worn (or have never been worn)
  • clothing that no longer aligns with your style
  • things that don’t “spark joy” like they once did
  • duplicate items
  • damaged clothing that’s not worth repairing

It’s particularly difficult to get rid of those never-worn clothing items that were too-good-a-deal to pass up. Doing so feels wasteful, but try to look at it from a different perspective.

Is something you have no personal connection to, that couldn’t even make its way into your wardrobe rotation, really worth feeling that guilty over?

Chalk up the purchase as a mistake and sunk cost and add it to your “donate” pile. A charity will benefit from your donation and a stranger can hopefully get more out of it than you did. And your closet space will have one less piece of clutter in it.

Your closet purge can also involve simply making smarter use of the storage space. Are items taking up hanging space that could be stored in drawers, such as t-shirts or jeans?

Unless you have a comfortable amount of storage space for them, out-of-season clothing should also be stored somewhere besides your bedroom closet in order to allow for more room for your seasonally appropriate wardrobe items.

closet purge, woman taking clothes out of drawer

3. Reorganize and live with your curated closet for awhile

Once your closet purge is completed, hopefully you’ll have a lot more closet space and have whittled down your wardrobe to a size that’s more practical and balanced for your needs.

With the luxury of more room, you can reorganize your closet with whatever method you prefer, whether it’s colour coordinating or grouping like items together. A closet organizer system that maximizes your wardrobe storage space is well worth the investment.

It may be tempting to take advantage of the opened-up space by adding a few new pieces, but try to live with your curated closet for a little while before going on a clothes shopping spree.

Identify and make note of some possible future clothing needs and you may even find that you can shed a few more items from your collection over the weeks following your closet purge.

It’s okay (and quite likely) to have some items that you’re “on the fence” about getting rid of. For those items, put them through the “turned clothes hanger” test.

This simple, yet clever idea involves hanging any clothing you’re unsure about parting with the opposite way you’d normally hang them. If you wear any of these items, hang them up the proper way.

Revisit your wardrobe after a set amount of time (about 4-6 months) and look at which of the clothing items never got worn. If there was no need or urgency to wear something after all that time, you shouldn’t be as conflicted getting rid of it.

Consider closet upgrades after your closet purge

A closet purge once a year helps to maintain the functionality and efficiency of this vital home storage space.

To make your now-decluttered closet even more functional and easy to maintain, schedule a free design consultation with Organized Interiors today.

Please share this post if you found it useful.

See also:

17 Ways to Get Your Home Organized in 2023

You’ve decided that it is time to tackle some organization and storage problems in your home. But when you look around, all you feel is overwhelmed and it all needs work.

Take a deep breath

Relax. Just pick one room, one space in your home. Now commit to organizing that space.

By focusing on just one project, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and that may be enough. After all, the worst thing that could happen is you get the energy and initiative to do more organizing in your home!

Which space will you organize this year?

There are dozens of spaces in your home that might have organization or storage problems. We have design solutions for each of them, but you have to decide where to start.

Walk-in closet, man in blue shirt.

Walk-in Closet

You’ve been eyeing that spare room, contemplating its next incarnation, plotting the takeover, and this is the year. Transform a whole room into a walk-in closet.

Imagine wall-to-wall cabinetry for clothing and accessories, a makeup area complete with vanity and even a lounging space because dressing can be so exhausting. Prepare to drool.

Bedroom Cabinetry

If the last thing you look at before closing your eyes each night is a tabletop of clutter, you might want to think beyond replacing your nightstand. Bedroom cabinetry is custom-designed for your space and offer a stylish solution to a good night’s sleep.

laundry room storage

Laundry Room

Do you dread doing laundry? It may feel like it’s a chore because it’s buried in a dark and dingy spot in your home, or it’s just a dreary process. It doesn’t have to be.

Treat your laundry room like any decorated room that can use a designer’s flare. From simple solutions to high-quality custom solutions, just look at what’s available to transform that space.

Mudroom

The mudroom is another overlooked area of the home that can make a big contribution towards keeping your living space organized.

Whether your mudroom is a small room near an entrance, is combined with your laundry room, or is a dedicated space in the hall of your home’s entryway, there are many ways to enhance its functionality.

Home Office

Paper isn’t going away anytime soon and home offices still need filing space to store your hard copies. Whether it’s a corner carved out under a staircase or a full-sized room in your home, treat yourself to a home office with function and style.

Entertainment Unit

As our TV screens become bigger, we seem to be plugging more and more devices into them – Apple TV, Chromecast, gaming consoles, soundbars, and more.

Keeping all of these devices and cables organized requires more than a sturdy shelf. Choosing a custom solution over a prefab unit has many advantages. Find out why custom entertainment units are better than prefab units from big box retail stores.

Reach-in closet

Reach-in Closets

Do you have to slowly open your closet door just in case something is about to fall out on you? Is there a knee-deep pile of clothing on your floor? It’s time to look at some solutions to keeping your closet organized.

From simple to extravagant, discover how closet organizers can maximize your storage space.

Bathroom Cabinetry

The layout works, the fixtures are fine, but your bathroom cabinets are showing their age. Changing moisture levels and wear from dampness can make cabinets look dingy and worn.

If it’s time for an upgrade, replace them with long-lasting, beautiful cabinets. Learn more about our custom bathroom cabinetry.

Wall bed in a condo.

Wall Bed

If your holiday guests looked tired when they woke up, maybe it’s time to get rid of that lumpy, bulky futon. But where can you put a mattress that’s not used every day without taking up precious space?

You won’t believe how a small condo added a whole guest room without adding square footage!

Kitchen Cabinetry

Your kitchen is the hardest working room in your home. It also demands the most organization to function properly. You can achieve the most efficient space when you are part of planning the solution.

wine storage

Wine Room

Collecting wine is more popular and we now see the value of devoting more space in our home to fit it into our lifestyle. Wine requires ideal conditions – a space that is dry, dark, and where things won’t be moved around.

A rack wedged under a staircase just won’t do. Here are some wine room ideas for keeping your collection organized.

Wardrobe Closet

Are all your closets bulging with too much stuff? If you’re not ready to reduce clutter, redistribute it.

Instead of buying a pre-finished, assemble-it-yourself wardrobe unit from a big box store, take a look at a custom solution. You choose the finish, the interior layout, and the size to suit you, not the other way around. Here are some wardrobe examples.

bar cabinetry

Wet Bar

Aside from a wet bar requiring running water, you can set up a bar in almost any room in your home. All you need is a little imagination, inspiration, and customization. Have a look at some of these wet bar ideas from Organized Interiors.

craft room 1

Craft Room

Take a spare room in your home and convert it into a multi-purpose craft room. From sewing, to scrapbooking, to creating art, make a unique space that is bright, fun, and allows you to spend time doing what you love.

Upgrade your closet with accessories

Sometimes it’s the smallest projects that give us the greatest sense of satisfaction. Keeping everything in your closet organized both starts and ends your day on a good note.

From shoe racks to jewelry drawers, there are many options to get you organized. A valet rod is one of our most popular closet accessories.

Decorative Hardware

Quality decorative hardware that’s added to the custom cabinetry that will help keep your home more organized has several benefits:

  • the hundreds of types of pulls, knobs, and hooks we offer will better complement the cabinetry and your décor
  • high-quality decorative hardware is more durable and long-lasting
  • decorative hardware of a higher quality provides a better tactile experience when using your custom cabinetry

Garage Storage

Do you see your garage as one big storage container? When it comes to attention to detail for organizing solutions, the garage is the new laundry room. This could be your one big project this year.

From flooring to overhead storage, Garage Living has everything to keep your garage looking pristine and organized.

Get organized this year

Whether you decide to organize your entire home or just one space this year, Organized Interiors has a storage solution that can be customized just for you. No more excuses!

Request a free design consultation to have an Organized Interiors designer come to your home and provide you with a detailed quote.

Please share this post if you found it useful.