So Fresh and So (Spring) Clean!

It’s that time of year again! Spring Cleaning! I love it better than New Year’s. Yes, New Year’s Day gives us a new beginning, but let’s be serious, but the time March rolls around you need yet another fresh start. Ahh, spring is in the air and it’s time for some deep cleaning. I start my day off with a fresh cup of coffee and put on some 80’s/90’s Pop Pandora. I feel ambitious, energized, invigorated…for about 15 minutes. Then the realization comes. OMG every inch of our home needs a deep cleaning. Not just from whatever dust has accumulated, but it needs to be organized too. Those positive feelings of ambitiousness, energy, and invigoration don’t slowly fade…they run. I now feel overwhelmed, dizzy, and panicky. How am I going to do all of this in one day? When I start to clean I feel great just like when I have the idea to order take-out. Seems like a great idea at the time and then after I devour it all I immediately feel sick and regretful. After having these feelings many years in a row I’ve decided to take it slow. All of this junk is not going away and it will be there when I decide to tackle cleaning and organizing it all. Take it one day at a time. I did. Not only was organizing easier, but I got to feel a sense of accomplishment every day that I did it instead of just one day. Here are some cleaning and organizing tips for your spring cleaning endeavors. (There are not in any particular order).

Get a planner and make a schedule.

My coworker and her friend make amazing planners! Their planners are called Made For Each Other agenda and they have monthly and weekly schedules as well as notes, to-dos, reminders and so much more. The inside pocket is also a great place to store coupons.

Balancing Home blog has a great free printable template for a weekly schedule. Even if you’re not a mom you need to be able to have some sort of organized cleaning routine. You can record your weekly schedule/appointments, dinner choices, to-dos, exercise regimen and chores on one sheet!

Make your bed everyday.

It’s hard to fail at the first task you complete everyday so why not start your day off right and give yourself a feeling of accomplishment. Make your bed, but don’t just make it. Jack it up. If you’ve ever been to a bridal boutique they jack up the bride once they believe she’s going going to buy the dress. They bring out all the stops: veil, earrings, shoes, etc. So why don’t you! Use those fancy pillows you registered for. Why, you might ask. What’s the point? My house isn’t going to be in an HGTV catalog. Who cares. This is for you. If every night before bed you walk into a bedroom that looks like it could be in an HGTV catalog, a sense of calm and relief will wash over you. You can guarantee you will be off to a good night’s sleep. That is of course if you don’t have any small children. 😉

Try the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge.

White House Black Shutters Blog has a great solution to help with cleaning all year round…not just for spring cleaning. This is a great approach for those, like me, who get overwhelmed very quickly when it comes to trying to tackle every disorganized nook and cranny in the house.

Buy a shredder.

No, your old Ninja Turtles’ Shredder doesn’t count. Aren’t shredders expensive? No, not all of them. I have a bag full of papers to shred since the time we moved into our house about 2 and a half years ago. I kept telling myself that I would bring this bag over to my parents house to shred. It’s still in our house, but has moved from room to room. Out of sight, out of mind, but it’s STILL here. My in-laws gifted us with a much needed shredder and now I’m going to include the bags that I shred into my 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge. You’d be surprised how much shredded paper fills up one large garbage bag.

File your important papers.

We still don’t have a filing cabinet yet for our important papers so I have been filing them in a file folder that I have from high school. I can’t tell you how much of a life saver it has been. Everything is in one spot and it saves me so much time when I’m rushing to find something. I also have a separate file folder just for my son. All of his important papers are separate from ours so nothing gets lost!

Baskets, bins, and organizers oh my!

You really can’t go wrong here. I have been slowly buying my baskets and bins at Homegoods and TJMaxx. Our night stands have open shelving and the books that I put in there were starting to get dusty and disorganized looking. The baskets allow me take out all of the books at once, look for what I need, and give a quick dusting to the shelf.

We only have one small linen closet in our entire house. When we redid the downstairs area to create a laundry room, mud room, and bathroom I needed more storage for our Costco buys. I didn’t want everything piled up in the garage (especially when my husband is working in their and getting sawdust all over everything). So I bought all of these gorgeous baskets and used them to organize all of our extra items that won’t fit in our upstairs linen closet.

Reduce, Reuse…

Recycle those shopping bags for bathroom and kitchen garbages. Use the nice white ones for company or on weekends.

Recycle tissue boxes and use as organizers. Organizers can get dirty and grimy. Especially the ones under the bathroom or kitchen sinks. Don’t waste your time cleaning them when you can just throw them away and give new life to yet another tissue box.

Don’t let it pile up.

The dreaded laundry basket. I’m the worst when it comes to putting folded clothes away. Throwing our dirty laundry in the dryer is easy. Folding isn’t so bad because I feel like I’m accomplishing something. Actually putting the clothes away is a nightmare. I don’t have enough space for my clothes and so putting them away is annoying. Which brings me to my next tip.

Donate or consign your clothes.

Go through all of your clothes and accessories and carefully consider if you’re ever going to wear some of your clothes again. I’ve had articles of clothing for over 10 years. As hard as it is to get rid of some of them, it needs to be done. I’ve used in-store and online consignment shops and was happy with the outcome with both types of businesses. I’ve also donated old bridesmaid dresses and prom dresses to my high school dress drives. It allows young women who can’t afford their own dresses to chose their dream dress for free. I’m currently looking for a place where I can donate my business casual clothes for women searching for jobs and going on interviews.

Clean those windows!

Be smart about it though. Clean them after all of the pollen has come and gone.

Have fun with it!

Once it becomes overwhelming just stop. Pick up where you left off another day.