The beginning of the year naturally feels like a fresh start, so it's perfect for refreshing and resetting your home. As you declutter and clean, you create more space in your home, making it feel more open and inviting. A tidy space is also easier to maintain, and perhaps most importantly, it encourages a sense of calm.

A thorough reset at any time of the year can help establish good habits of preventing clutter and grime from building up in the first place, meaning you can keep on top of household chores and enjoy spending time at home.

Click or scroll to see our top tips to restore order throughout your home...

Make sure your home runs like clockwork by devising a schedule of chores and cleaning tasks. You can buy physical or digital planners online or why not create your own, assigning tasks to members of the family?

Split tasks into jobs that should be tackled every day, to those that should be done monthly, quarterly and so on. Use your schedule to keep track of all those hard to remember chores to make sure your home stays clean and organised and you can feel satisfied as you check off tasks as you do them. 

Work systematically through the rooms of your house, starting with the rooms or areas that cause you the most stress, for instance, high-traffic areas, or rooms you use the most. If you are feeling overwhelmed start with a small room, a cupboard or even a drawer as a quick win that will give you a boost to carry on.

Sort items into piles to throw away, give to charity or sell. Keep items you use regularly or love, then donate those that are in good condition but no longer needed. Throw away or recycle anything which is damaged. Organise the things you want or need to keep using clever storage hacks. 

It's super satisfying to see an organised shelf or cupboard. But, always organise after decluttering, when you'll have less to work with. Once you’ve sorted through your items, remove anything you don’t need or use. This reduces the amount of things you need to store and makes the organising process more effective.

Store like with like and label storage bins and baskets to make finding items a breeze afterwards. Always make sure frequently used everyday items are easily accessible. Out-of-season items can be stored up high or under the bed.

ORTHEX SmartStore recycled baskets available from Homebase.

Since you’ve decluttered your home, don’t forget to thrift those unwanted gifts and possessions. Your local charity shops are always in need of items in sellable condition, while nearby animal shelters will appreciate your pet paraphernalia and old towels and bedding.

Rather than throwing away or selling, donate your old knitwear, coats and duvets to homeless charities.

Strip the bedding and wash all your blankets, pillows and sheets, while fully sanitising all surfaces in the meantime. You could even give the mattress a freshen-up by sprinkling it with bicarbonate of soda before vacuuming. 

Now might also be a nice time to refresh the space, breathing new life into the room. Pack away any extra clutter and open the windows to air it out, then add a few statement pieces with some bright cushions, wall art and accessories plus a potted plant.

Don't forget to give your tired floors a deep clean. Remove all of the furniture first, remembering to lift not drag. Give the space a good vacuum before taking a damp mop with added floor cleaner.

Alternatively, refresh your floors with a steam cleaner, for surfaces so clean you could almost eat your dinner off them!

A regular toy tidy will prevent them from taking over your home. Put broken toys in the recycling bin where possible and donate games that have been outgrown.

If saying goodbye to your little ones' toys is a problem, why not store some in the loft first? If they haven't mentioned them in a month or so it's safe to throw them out without leading to tantrums.

Hard rain or snow can leave unsightly spots on glass, particularly if your windows weren’t squeaky clean to start with.

A good clean with soapy water or a vinegar solution and newspaper inside and out will ensure your windows look sparkling and will allow light to flood into your home. Or why not treat yourself to a visit from the window cleaner?

We're all guilty of neglecting our precious houseplants from time to time. Give houseplants a good dusting to ensure they can still photosynthesise properly. For smaller plants, you can give them a simple water bath in the sink, and for plants with a larger surface area just wipe the leaves with a damp cloth.

If your plants are faux, put them in a plastic bag with a few sprinkles of salt and shake vigorously to knock off dust particles. Shine restored!

It pays to take the time to detox your kitchen. Go through your drawers and remove any tarnished spoons or spatulas that have seen better days, then check the expiration dates on your jars of condiments and spices. You may be surprised to learn that your cayenne pepper from 1991 has lost all its spice!

Empty your refrigerator shelves of any leftovers and give the racks and drawers a deep clean too with a store-bought spray or a homemade solution of bicarbonate of soda and hot water.

For extra freshness, a housework hack that always works is to leave a small jar of bicarbonate of soda in the centre of the fridge to soak up unwanted aromas left over from your cheese drawer. 

There's no doubt that our ovens get used more often during colder periods to cook up some heart-warming dishes. Make sure to give your oven a good scrub at least every three months to make it sparkle again. Not only will this improve its appearance, but it will also avoid any nasty whiffs from baked-on spills and splashes.

Alternatively, for an oven that is almost as good as new book a professional oven cleaning contractor to do the job for you.

Your dishwasher is one of the most hard-working kitchen appliances, so it's a good idea to pay it some attention. Make dishwasher maintenance a monthly occurrence on your cleaning list.

Give it a thorough clean including the filter and the seals and run a cleaning programme using a specialist dishwasher solution. Ensure you check and top up the salt levels too.

If you have a coffee machine, make sure you descale it every three to six months to remove a build-up of limescale. Then, why not reorganise your coffee station with beans and creamers to hand in neat jars. 

Save time on cold mornings before work and prep your coffee maker before bed, so all you need to do is press the ‘on’ button. Scientists have revealed that that morning cup of coffee is actually good for us, so an effortless cup of caffeine when you need it most is just what the doctor ordered. Bliss!

Even a quick 10-minute attack on your bathroom will bring out the gleam on your tiling and give the space a lift. Get started with a heavy-duty toilet cleaner, but beware not to mix cleaning products as you could create a toxic blend of bleach and ammonia.

Tackle limescale-ridden taps and shower heads with a simple vinegar solution and give all surfaces a good anti-bacterial spray down. Finish with freshly washed towels and mats.

Closed windows and lack of fresh air are a recipe for creating hot spots for breeding mould around the home, and bathrooms are particularly prone to mould. 

A good mould remover spray and a sponge can make light work of small areas, but make sure to wear long rubber gloves. Soak up any excess moisture with a cloth so as to leave the space dry. Then, open your windows but keep doors closed to prevent spores from spreading to other areas of your home.

Hallways can soon become a dumping ground for umbrellas and muddy boots, so have a blitz of any outerwear, shoes and other clutter that has accumulated. Pull out furniture to wash down walls and woodwork, then vacuum floors and corners before mopping or steam cleaning.

Finally, add some finishing touches to restore order; a plant and a diffuser or scented candle will create a welcoming feel. 

Oak dressing table available from The Cotswold Company.

Don't forget to give your desk space a spruce-up. It'll give you an incentive to keep organised. Have a tidy up of any stationery and bin those lingering Post-it notes.

Electronics can be the worst culprits for harbouring grime. So, remember to regularly clean your computer keyboard and phone with non-toxic, screen-friendly solutions and wipes such as microfibre cloths.

During the colder months, we're all likely to neglect our gardens and outdoor spaces, so use that time to plan a garden update. Get checking out the trends for the year to reinvigorate your space, from a patio revamp to a new planting scheme to enjoy when the weather gets warmer.

During warmer months, keep on top of maintenance with a weekly or fortnightly lawn-cut and weeding session.

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