Spring Cleaning – Part 1- De-clutter

With the first day of Spring just around the corner, officially the first day is March 20th, it is that dreaded time of year when we all start to think of Spring Cleaning.

Spring Cleaning is defined as a though cleaning of the house from top to bottom after the long winter. It is more common up north after a hard winter when the family have spent a lot of time in doors,but even for those of us in the South we know we have to do it!!

This is the first part of a series of posts in the next few weeks to help you along the way with the act of Spring Cleaning. If you do it methodically then the task is less daunting.

Spring Cleaning – Part 1- De-clutter

The biggest and the first part of Spring Cleaning is to De-clutter all the rooms, this can be a intimidating task.

I suggest going around each room with a notebook and pen and deciding what needs to be tidied, what needs to be reorganized, what needs to go. Also at this time you might decide to write down what repairs need to made in the room, does it need new paint, new rug……dream a little, the budget bit can come later!

Think about the purpose of each room. For example do you have a all purpose room that is a study/guest room that also is the library where you store all your books. Could the books be stored, given away, put in different areas depending on subject?

Do you need so much furniture in the room?

What about the filing that needs to be done but the files are full of papers going back 10 years!

Think about what is causing particular messes and think of a solution. For example in my house I have a shoe closet by the door. Every time I organized the shoes it would be a mess again in no time. I now have  over the door shoe hanger to organize the shoes and have tried to change the habits of my children to use it and not just dump their shoes in the closet. So identify the mess, find a solutions and then involve the family so they change their habits ( this last bit is easy said than done!)

Make a plan

Once you have been through all the rooms in your house make a plan for each room and prioritize your list. Tackle the small items first so you see immediate improvement and this will motivate you to keep going. For example clean out the cabinet under the sink before you tackle the garage, or split the garage into small areas so you see immediate improvement

Once you have done the list and prioritized jobs, allocate them among the family and build a timeline, one job a day is much easier than trying to do it all at once.

Be Ruthless

When you are truly De -cluttering you can’t just buy boxes and organize the clutter so it looks neater. Be Ruthless. Think …Do I use this, when was the last time I used it. If something is broken, can it be fixed?, Am I really going to get it fixed?, Do the kids still play with all the toys? Can another kid get enjoyment out of them.

Don’t re organize and make a system that you understand but the kids and the rest of the family don’t, keep things simple.

Help is at hand

Sometimes De-cluttering and organizing is overwhelming for some people and just having someone to help can really spur them on to get the job done. If you need help we can send two ladies to help you, obviously you would need to be there to direct them but 3 sets of hands can get the job done quicker.

See our Spring Cleaning Special Offer 

Next time:

The next post will be about Spring cleaning the Kitchen and Bathroom, followed by Bedroom and closets, Living and Dining Rooms and then a general post about spring cleaning outside ready for the summer.