As the new year has come and we continue our way through the year, it’s interesting to see how many of our new year’s resolutions we have started. A popular new year’s resolution is to (finally) clean one’s home. Many people put away their Christmas decorations and feel good that they’re making progress. Unfortunately, for some, they revel in their newfound productivity for a bit too long and never get around to any more cleaning. Oh well, there’s always next year, right?

Perhaps your home is clean though, and you keep it clean throughout the year. Maybe you need a way to have your home provide you with that extra sense of satisfaction. What can you do next?

Though it’s frequently associated only with people’s homes that are in disarray, something everybody could do is to clear some of the clutter from their homes. Let’s explore some of the benefits of clearing the clutter from your home.

1. Your home looks better

We’ll start with the most obvious reason: without the clutter, your home looks nice! If you had lots of stuff before, now you have room to light some candles without burning anything. Not only do candles look good, but it also gives your home some warmth and a homey feel.

If you are relatively tidy, removing some of the visible items in your home still makes an impact. Depending on what you remove, it could make your home seem more spacious. Having less decor could also help people more clearly see and focus on the few pieces that are there.

2. Your home is cleaner

With less clutter, the next step, cleaning, becomes significantly easier. Less clutter means less places for dust, or anything less pleasant, to be trapped unbeknownst to you. You no longer have to move everything just for a simple task of sweeping or vacuuming. For those that are already tidy, less things means that there are less individual items that you have to dust.

3. You are more organized

With less belongings, it’s easier for you to organize them. Fewer items need to be considered and sorted. This will allow you to find whatever you need more easily. As you sort, you may realize that you have duplicate items, which would allow you to remove excessive items. Also, knowing what you have reduces the chance that you will purchase what you thought you needed but already own.

Even if you are tidy, you could still get rid of things in your storage that you don’t use. With storage space that is less packed, it would also allow you to find what you need more easily without rearranging things.

4. You are less stressed

With less clutter, you won’t keep thinking that you have lots of stuff that you need to clear each time you see them around your home. Also, each time that you clean, you don’t have to exert as much effort. Cleaning no longer seems overwhelming, and that’s the way it should be. Your home should be a place where you relax.

Having less clutter just makes you feel better. In fact, research has shown that less clutter has a psychological effect. A recent New York Times article touched on the research of Darby Saxbe, an assistant psychology professor at the University of Southern California, who showed that people who viewed their homes as being cluttered had higher levels of cortisol, which is a hormone induced by stress.

5. You can enjoy what you love best

As you have less clutter, you can provide more attention to the things that are more special and seeing them more often will make you happier overall. Focus on what you love and don’t let other things detract from it.

You also get more time to have experiences, which is what matters in life. Without the clutter, you now have the room to do the activities you love, whether it’s making crafts, practicing yoga or being at peace without feeling cramped. In your beautiful clutter-free space, you can have guests over more often and just enjoy your life.

From reassessing what you love, did you discover that a new style of home would suit you even better? In that case, there’s no better place to turn than to a trusty REALTOR®, who has extensive knowledge of different homes that have the right look and feel. Better yet, since you removed the clutter, you already did the preliminary work for staging your home, which can help you increase the value of your home!

No matter where you live, you should feel good about your home. Without all the unnecessary stuff, feel good about the look of your home and from your efforts to remove the clutter, feel good about yourself.