Spring cleaning: fun times, or painful & unnecessary?
Everyone’s commitment to spring cleaning falls somewhere on a spectrum. First, there’s the Thorough Spring Cleaner; she organizes and cleans everything from the ground up, even removing and wiping down every book on her bookshelf. On the other end is the Avoidant Spring Cleaner, who at some point in the season begrudgingly cleans files off of her computer desktop, and removes expired foods from the fridge. Lastly, there’s the Because-I-Had-To Spring Cleaner, who gets rid of old clothes in her closet and finally tackles that junk drawer… because she had to.
No matter where you fall on the scale, one thing is for certain - it must be done. Today we’re giving you our 5 hacks to streamline the process and, more importantly, maintain results.
Go Section by Section
A quick word of wisdom: If you try to do ALL of your spring cleaning in one afternoon, or even one weekend, it will be completely overwhelming. The best results come from tackling the house room by room, closet by closet, drawer by drawer. Make a list of everything you need to get to, then map out a realistic timeline of what you can accomplish by when.
Move On If You Get Stuck
You know that moment we’re talking about. You get to that box of old baby clothes, or a high school year book and all of a sudden, your entire afternoon game plan has gone off the rails. When you reach a point in your spring cleaning that you no longer know what to get rid of or where to put it, stop and move on for efficiency’s sake. And P.S. If you’ve hit a goldmine of stuff you haven’t seen in a while, congratulations, you’re doing spring cleaning correctly.
Clean Out What You Don’t Need
We’re all guilty of carrying extra stuff we don’t need, and spring cleaning is the perfect time to let it go. Whether you’re lightening the load of your handbag or attic, challenge yourself to think critically about what you do and don’t need. You know how great it feels to just grab the Big O Key Ring and have all of your simplified essentials right there? Imagine if you could apply that same concept to your entire house…
Find a Home For What’s Left
Good job! You got rid of so much stuff! And now… time to find a permanent home for everything else. Before putting it all away in drawers, bins and closets, make sure that the groupings of items actually makes sense. Similarly to a wallet with specific card slots, if you return all items in your house to their designated spot after each use, they’re less likely to go MIA.
Make Spring Cleaning a Habit
Ok, ok, we know this is not the spring cleaning tip you were hoping for, but hear us out. Organization isn’t a one and done kind of thing, it’s an ongoing process. Once you’ve completed your spring cleaning checklist, you’re 90% there, but the remaining 10% of the process is keeping it that way. If, during your spring cleaning, you noticed certain spots in your home or life that were messier than others, that is your first clue as to what areas to pay attention to going forward. By committing a few minutes everyday to putting everything back in its place, you’ll find that next year’s spring cleaning is easier than ever.