Hello and Happy New Year! I’m so happy to be here today. I went for a while without posting, and it wasn’t because I lacked inspiration—I actually have two Christmas posts half written (I guess I’ll save those for next year!). December simply took more out of me than I expected, and I had to allocate what energy I could muster to the most pressing things on my calendar.

I learned a hard lesson that I hope I never forget: health comes first. In 2026, I resolve to rest when it’s needed and show up feeling well—not just often. Feeling lousy is not for me.

I’ve started the new year the same way I do every year: deep cleaning. It’s something I genuinely look forward to. I don’t mind the work at all—but I absolutely love the results. There’s a wonderful sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing a room and seeing it clean, tidy, and organized. After that initial deep clean, it’s fairly easy to set up routines to keep everything maintained day to day. 

I never mean for my cleaning or decluttering posts to be yet another to-do list. Consider this to be a gentle push. If you are someone who is interested in getting your house under control and wants guidance or encouragement, I'm your gal. Take what works for you and leave the rest. I'm ready if you are!

I tackle each room with just a few supplies:

• donate box, relocate box, and trash can

• step ladder, broom, mop, toothbrush, vacuum, and hand vac

• a bucket of warm soapy water, microfiber cleaning cloths, and a Magic Eraser

• spray window cleaner and a polishing cloth

You may need a few extra items for specialty areas—like a grout brush—but this was all I needed for my first task: the master bath, bedroom, and our two closets, which took several days. I always begin in one room and don’t move on to the next until it’s completely finished. I work top to bottom, one section at a time.

In the bedroom, the first task is removing all the bedding—including pillows—and the curtains. They require many loads of laundry, but if I start in the morning, everything is dry by evening. I wash lampshades and faux greenery in the tub and set them out on the patio to dry. I no longer buy anything that can’t be either machine- or hand-washed.

Next, I remove all décor, including lamps and wall décor, and place everything in the next room to be wiped down later. I hang our jute rugs outside and beat the dust out of them. They’re old and shed quite a bit, and this is the best way I’ve found to get them clean. We don’t eat or drink in our bedroom, so there are never spills—just dirt and dust.

Then I move each piece of furniture out from the wall one by one, dust the walls, wipe down all sides of the furniture, mop the floor, and replace it before moving on to the next section. Once all the furniture is back in place, I mop the remaining floor and replace the rugs. Now it’s time to get inside the drawers.

                

DRAWERS — Keep Them Tidy Forever

This is perhaps my best tip—please don’t overlook this step. You can do it at your leisure, but once you get the hang of it, you won’t mind it at all, and you’ll love the results.

I place an old sheet on the bed and, removing one drawer at a time, dump the entire contents onto the sheet. Everything is completely jumbled—and that’s exactly what we want. The disorganization helps us organize! We’re going to touch every single item in that pile and decide what to do with it: back into the drawer, or into the relocate box, donate box, or trash can.

First, wipe down the drawer and replace the liner if you use one. Then do a quick scan of the pile—toss obvious trash and use the relocate box for anything that clearly belongs elsewhere. Now comes the important part: pick up each item and ask yourself, Do I use this? Be honest. If the answer is no, it goes into the donate box or the trash, whichever makes sense.

If something needs to be replaced, do it right away—and immediately remove the old item. Do not keep anything “just in case.” You already know you won’t use it. As you put things back, organize in a way that works for your actual lifestyle, keeping like items together.

If you have a drawer for workout clothes and it’s jammed full, keep only your most loved pieces and let the rest go—forever. If you have a space that comfortably holds ten tees and you have fifteen, logic tells us five must leave. An overstuffed drawer can never be maintained. Going forward, buying one new tee means removing one old one. Overstuffed drawers are a nightmare—but they’re also very easy to avoid.

I do this every year, and while I don’t have much to remove these days, I still find things that have fallen out of favor or have worn out and need to be given the heave-ho.

Now that the room is clean, we’ll replace the décor—but we’ll be selective.

VISUAL PEACE — How to Replace Your Décor

You might want to return the lamps so you can see 😉 but do not replace the rest of the décor for at least 24 hours. Live with that clean, quiet room. How does the space feel with minimal visual clutter? More calm? Calm is ideal for a bedroom, considering you come back here at the end of a long day to unwind and recharge. A cozy bedroom with few distractions is always my goal.

After a day or two, add back a few carefully chosen items—then stop. Wait another 24 hours and decide if you want to add more. Curate thoughtfully and strive for visual peace. When I first did this several years ago, less than half of my décor came back in. Donate the doodads that didn’t make the cut. Don't save them, you know you won't use them.

GOING FORWARD — My Deep Cleaning Plan

I plan to take the next few months to deep clean my entire home. I’m a retired senior and have the luxury of working at a leisurely pace, depending on my mood and time. I’ll take days off, set timers when I feel unmotivated (I can do five minutes!), and be firm with myself about my tendency to procrastinate. I will have this finished before we begin our spring clean up in the garden. At that time the garden needs our attention and I'll be so happy to know that the house will be able to run pretty smoothly with some basic daily and weekly attention.

In the past, I’ve written popular weekly cleaning posts sharing what I’ve accomplished. I’ll link them at the end of this post if you’d like to read them for inspiration. I don't have plans to do that this year because, honestly, there’s not much new information—but there is plenty of new inspiration. Just know that behind the scenes, I’m getting it all done, and I invite you to clean along.

Thank you dear readers who wrote to me with concern about my absence. Your thoughtfulness was very kind. I plan to return to my weekly Friday knitting, craft, gardening, and entertaining posts—where I also hope to share a cleaning tip or a personal victory along the way.

Cleaning links at the end, but first, a few Christmas photos!

One night in December while getting ready to go out, I said to my husband, "Come here honey, I want to pin a Christmas brooch on you." Without a word, he stepped right over and let me pin a little snowman on his sweater. The ribbing he got from his buddies that night was epic, but he just laughed along. The next time we went out I asked, "Snowman again?" He said, "Sure, why not?" Gotta love this guy, the best sport I know.

On Christmas day--camellias blooming under the Christmas lights!

A Christmas highlight--a local production of Elf. The cast invited us onstage and Carter was thrilled!

Our friends were patiently waiting their turn for the Christmas sleigh photo. My husband? He’d already committed. No amount of coaxing could move him.  Holiday priorities. 😂

• One of my earlier decluttering posts, 2016
• Knitting room tidy up in 2018
• 2020--This was the FIRST and biggest declutter post of my sewing room
• 2021--how to spend less and keep the clutter from coming back
• 2021--how I got rid of china sets from my family
• 2022--how I decluttered my sentimental items
• 2022--I share how I tackled paper clutter and deep cleaned our bedroom 
• 2022-- deep clean the kitchen
• What I did with my yarn scraps in 2022
• In 2022, my friend moved. Let's take a lesson from what went wrong.
• 2022, How I went through a mountain of photos
• How I got rid of my castoffs-trash, donate or sell?
• Great ideas on what to do with your stash, 2023
• How I declutter hand knits and crafts, 2024
• 2024, say goodbye to messy drawers and cleaning the kitchen
• In 2024, another sewing/craft room organizing and declutter post
• How I sell my decluttered items on Ebay
• Intro to Clean Along 2025. I'm proud of this series
• In January 2025, Clean Along, Closets and Drawers.  Part of the Clean Along series.
• Deep Clean the bathroom and some money saving tips. Part of the Clean Along series.
• A more recent look at decluttering hobby supplies, 2025, Clean Along
• Knitting Room Tidy Up from 2025, and a big challenge, Clean Along
• 2025--Cleaning and organizing the living room cupboards, Clean Along
• 2025--My most recent Christmas declutter

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful—I'd love to have you visit again! I publish about once a week and would be honored if you subscribed to the Knitionary blog. If you'd like to join, just click here. I promise never to sell your email address (honestly, I wouldn’t even know how to do that). Most of my posts are about knitting, but I also share my love for gardening, crafting, and entertaining. Occasionally, I use affiliate links to help offset the cost of running this blog. If you click one and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Knitionary! If you'd like to leave a comment, please scroll down. I respond to every comment, and my reply will appear just below yours. If you’d prefer a personal reply, feel free to reach out via the contact form located on the right, near the bottom, of the site.