It’s time to roll up those sleeves and get some spring cleaning started! Now that the chill of winter is slowly fading away, it is the perfect time to get the clutter out of your home and get ready for a new, organized, season. If the thought of cleaning out your home is overwhelming, start small instead. We have four places to begin your clean out journey:
Under the Sink
Any sink and all the sinks! For some reason, under the sink seems to be the place that gets disorganized quickly and collects a fair amount of clutter. Be it the bathroom or the kitchen, it can be a big mess.
Starting at the kitchen sink, remove everything from the space. Sort through the items and group them together such as cleaning supplies, bags, etc. Think through what makes the most sense for storage and find new homes for items that don’t make sense to store under the kitchen sink. Throw out any expired or nearly gone cleaning products, sort bags into types (garbage, grocery) until you are left with an organized amount of supplies that will fit neatly under the sink.
Toy Bin
We know this can be a sore subject, but think about cleaning out the toy bin as a great opportunity to show and teach empathy to your kids. Start a few days in advance by talking about families that are less fortunate and depend on donations to give their kids toys. Talk about how it might feel not to have any toys at all and how good it would feel to help a child who didn’t have a toy.
When it’s time to clean out, make sure you have a good amount of time to work. Ask you kids to help you pull everything out of the bin and place like items together. Things to consider: have they outgrown any toys? “Done” playing with something? Any broken beyond repair toys? Also be sure to identify those toys that are extra special. Once the sorting is done, reiterate the lesson on empathy by talking about how they are helping a child that has no toys. If it’s hard for them to actually put the toys in a box to give away, let them play while you load up the give aways and move them out. Being ok with parting with the toys is a good first step!
Hall Closet
Our closets tend to collect all the things we don’t want to look at! Think about what you really need that space for; do you need to store jackets that are easily accessible? Or is it all long term storage? Once you decide what you need the space to be, it’s easier to organize.
After removing everything from the closet, give it a good cleaning. Next, evaluate the layout – do you need more shelves? More hanging area such as hooks? Are there any areas that could be maximized like the back of the door? Once you’ve got your layout, restock the closet putting items you use less frequently up high, and items you use daily at eye level. Add hooks or an over the door storage rack for added real estate!
The Messiest Place in Your House
Everyone’s space is different so this area will be different in every home. For some, it will be their kid’s rooms. For others, maybe it’s the parent’s closet. No matter which area it is, find it and organize it with these simple steps:
- Think through what you need the space to be; everyday access, long term storage, etc. What works about the space currently? What doesn’t?
- Take everything out of the space and group it together. Throw out any trash and put any items that can be given away aside.
- Clean the empty area.
- Evaluate the layout; how should it be organized differently?
- Replace only the items that belong in the space paying attention to how frequently the items get used. Place things you use daily at an easily accessible height and things used less often up high or towards the back.
Ready for some more cleaning and organizing ideas? Click on over to our blog about what to do with all the things you are ready to part with!
