When homes are listed on the market, I work closely with the seller to get the house in tip-top shape so it sells for top dollar. But here’s the thing … you shouldn’t have to be selling your home to give it some TLC every now and again. So for January I’m going to roll out ideas for little fixes to spruce up your home for you to enjoy whether you’re planning to sell it or not:

Let’s start with: Addressing the GOODY drawer

In the book “Revolutionary Road” (which is way better than the movie), Frank is this suburban husband who’s slacking at work and bickering with his wife at home. He’s so blown-out that at work he has this drawer dedicated to “Real Goodies” which really just means he opens it up and throws everything in it that he never wants to deal with again. I think most of us have our own Real Goody piles whether it’s a stack of mail or a bag of clothes destined for Goodwill or a just that random assortment of things to deal with at a later date.

Well, the time has come to fight your Real Goodies.

• When junk mail arrives, bring it straight to the recycling bin. Better yet, start lessening the amount of junk mail you receive by cutting it off at the source. Not reading those catalogues? Look for the “Unsubscribe” directions on the back.
• Sick of getting credit card promotions? OptOutPrescreen.com “is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to accept and process requests from consumers to Opt-In or Opt-Out of firm offers of credit or insurance.”
• Tired of getting Valpak coupons for things you don’t need? Unsubscribe here: valpak.com/coupons/show/mailinglistsuppression
• While you’re at it, you can cut down on phone clutter too by adding your name to the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov
• Finally, if you have that Goodwill bag you’ve slowly been filling, have a look inside to see if there are things that could be of direct use to one of our un-housed neighbors. Coats, jackets, scarves, gloves, blankets. It doesn’t hurt to offer these things directly to those who might put them to immediate use.

Hope everyone is off to a great start. Happy New Year.

susiehuntmoran.com