Well, there are more snowdrops than snowfall on the ground. It’s official, spring has sprung and with that comes a natural urge to clean house. Here are 7 spring cleaning tips to get you started.
- Purge Your Closet- Switch those heavy sweaters for your tank tops, and boot your boots to make room for your flip flops. Unless you have an excessively large closet, there’s no need to keep “extreme-season” items out all year long. Who wants to stare at a wool sweater in August?
- Seasonal Storage Switch-out- Not just your clothing needs to be swapped; your seasonal equipment should be switched too so that your spring and summer items are accessible. Replace snowsuits with swimsuits and snowboards with surfboards. Switch your space heaters for your fans. Pack your skis and winter hats back into your storage area, and in its place put spring sports equipment and sunscreen. Heavy blankets move out, picnic blankets move in. If you don’t already have a seasonal storage shelf set-up, then put that task first on your spring cleaning to-do list.
- Deep Clean Your Kitchen- What has been hiding in the back of your fridge and cabinets all winter? Addressing one cabinet at a time, remove everything from the shelves and discard stale and expired food. Only replace the food that you truly intend on consuming. Donate everything else to a church or soup kitchen.
- Freshening-Up Those Files- If you were too busy in January to do your year-end paper purge, then don’t let these spring-cleaning months go by without performing this important task. Start by tossing all unnecessary (non-tax related) statements like cable and water bills. Then move all tax-related documents from past years into a safe, but out of the way place (like your attic, or dry part of the basement). Replace any tattered/ torn file folders with new ones and finally get to filing that stack of papers that have been neglected all year. Not only will your file cabinet feel lighter and current, this will help you control your paper before the tax man cometh.
- Restore Your Décor– As the fresh air and Spring time sun sifts through your doors and windows, you will find yourself looking at your home in a “different light.” Take this opportunity to freshen-up your décor! Moving room by room, consider all items in plain view (on walls and surfaces). For each item, ask yourself if it deserves such a prominent place in your home! Then, remove everything from these areas and dust. See if you can remove 25% of your décor. By reducing the visual clutter, the beauty of each item left will be better appreciated. Donate the unused décor to charity.
- If You Won’t Donate, Rotate- If you have trouble letting go of your excess belongings, store it away and then rotate it with a similar item each year, or season. (This works especially well with kids toys, photo frames, and home décor.) By rotating belongings, you will appreciate increased space, without having to say goodbye to your beloved excess.
- Make Spring Cleaning a Family Tradition- Involve the whole family. Assign each member an age appropriate Spring Cleaning chore. Put on some music and go at it. At the end of the day, go out to eat, or rent a movie as a reward for everyone’s hard work. Make checklists of the tasks that you would like done each Spring and follow it every year!
If you really mean business, or you want a fast transformation, hire a professional to kick-off your spring cleaning initiative. Professional Organizers do this type of work every single day and will strive to make the process stress-free and fun.