Clutter and excess “stuff” is more than just unsightly, it has been found to have a negative effect on mood, motivation, and lead to feelings of anxiety. A cluttered home environment has even been found to affect mental focus and quality of sleep.

Don’t let household clutter get the best of you. Start the New Year off on the right foot by getting rid of clutter, trash, and unused items from your home.

 1. Expired Pantry Items: Remove everything from your pantry or kitchen cabinets, check each label, and toss anything that’s past its expiration date. Wipe down the shelves with a damp rag and make a note of any pantry staples you’ll need to restock the next time you go grocery shopping.

 2. Stained or Torn Linens: Take inventory of your tablecloths, napkins, towels, and sheets. Get rid of anything that is torn or stained and donate anything you no longer use.

 3. Broken Holiday Ornaments: Unless it can be easily fixed with some glue, it’s time to let go. If it has sentimental meaning, try upcycling the pieces into something else or take a photo of it and add it to a scrapbook

 4. Mismatched Food Storage Containers: Take control of your food storage containers by matching up tops and bottoms, donate any you don’t need, and throw away containers without lids, and vice versa.

 5. Old Makeup: Most types of makeup like mascara are past their prime after about 6 months. As makeup is exposed to air, applicators, and fingers, it becomes host to tons of bacteria. Throw away your cakey makeup and make space for fresh palettes in the New Year.

 6. Old Electronics: Have a box of old phones, tablets, and laptops you no longer use? Bring them to your town’s e-waste event or find out if they are worth anything and trade them in for newer models. Many phone and tablet manufacturers offer cash back or rebates in exchange for old electronics.

 7. Books: Thin out your overstuffed bookshelves and donate books you’ve already read to your local charity or used book shop. Keep volumes that have a special place in your heart or you like to read again and again and, moving forward, visit the library instead of spending money on new books.

 8. Clothes: Clothes that can’t be worn simply crowd the closet with clutter. Go through your closet and donate anything that doesn’t fit or is no longer in style. A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t worn it in the past year, it’s time to let it go.

 9. Outgrown Toys and Games: Kids grow out of toys quickly. Give their playroom a refresh by donating unused toys or passing along gently used items to family and friends. Throw out anything that’s broken or has pieces missing.

 10. Junk Drawer Items: Is your kitchen junk drawer overflowing with, well – junk? Get it under control by tossing out expired coupons, old receipts, broken pens, and other stray items. Get a drawer divider and use it to group together like objects, such as pens and pencils, paper clips, rubber bands, chargers, etc.

 11. Excess Gift Wrap: If you have more wrapping paper and gift bags than you can use in a lifetime, consider donating the extras to a charity gift-wrapping service. As you thin out your stash, get rid of the scraps of wrapping paper and stray ribbon that you’ll never use.

 12. Extra Kitchen Utensils: How many slotted spoons does one household need? Get rid of duplicates and any utensils you never use, then organize the rest with the help of a few drawer dividers.

 13. Expired Medicine: Free up much needed space by getting rid of expired medications or those you no longer take. Check with your pharmacy or local police department to see if they take back prescription medicines.

 14. Freezer Items: Remove everything from your freezer and if you can’t recognize it or it’s past its prime, toss it. Organize and label freezer contents appropriately in the future to prevent spoilage and waste.

 15. Paper Mail: Bills and other paper mail can cause a lot of clutter. Switch to online bill-pay and cancel any magazine or newspaper subscriptions you don’t use. Then, clear up your desk or command central and sort paper into two piles: recycle and shred. To cut down on desk and counter clutter, consider placing a small recycling container right where you bring in the mail.

If your old heating system is no longer providing the consistent and dependable warmth it once did, it may be time to send it to the scrap pile. Contact C&D Cooling & Heating today for a home comfort analysis and, if needed, a new heating system proposal.