It is officially that time of year where I want to go through every corner of my house and clean out/de-clutter. I am usually pretty good at this throughout the year which I am always grateful for when I really buckle down in the spring. Working from home makes me very aware of clutter and I always operate at a higher frequency when I don’t feel weighed down with stuff. There are specific areas in our home that are “high traffic” and see the most wear – our closets, our pantry, the playroom, the cabinet under our sink – you get the picture. It’s time to get to work!
It is important to remember that none of this needs to be perfect. You’re not going to see organized bins with custom labels, matching toy containers or perfectly planned cabinets in our home. My starting point is always the piles that accumulate – the corner in our mudroom that is filled with papers I haven’t looked at in months, a chair in our dining room piled high with cords, random toys, clothing items and who knows what else, the pile on the stairs waiting for someone to take it up – you all know how that goes. That is always where I start because it is my least favorite task. Here are 5 areas I focus on to declutter and refocus my home for spring:
Going through closets and donating or storing what is no longer needed. This goes for every member of our family. Now that George is the youngest, I don’t need the 2T clothes on hand anymore. Having three boys always put me in the mentality of having back stock, only for those items to live completely forgotten in a bin in our attic. I save a few special pieces that hold sweet memories but otherwise I know they can better serve someone else. I ordered three of these storage boxes and each child gets one under their bed.
I always get asked about how I go through my own closet and I have three check marks for each item – have I worn it in the last year? Is the quality still in good shape? Does it still feel true to my personal style? If any of these are a no, it’s either donated, I sell the nice brands on The Real Real or I give to family/friends. I honestly do this on a monthly basis. Obviously my business is a little different and I constantly have items coming in for partnerships/projects. I don’t like my closet to have a ton of options (it is overwhelming) so I really like to keep mine paired down. I also don’t hold a lot of sentimental value to my clothes so it is easier for me to quickly decipher between these questions.
Organizing papers. This is my least favorite task and a big reason for the piles that build up in our home. Whether it is tax documents, home receipts, kids artwork, school papers, etc. I take a day and get them all dialed in. I ordered these Short Years memory boxes for my kids last year and they are a HUGE help in keeping my kids paperwork in check. I love that they have files for each school year where you can save meaningful art work (a lot of those random papers get thrown away) but also files for school documents, sports, doctor records, photos, etc. It helps keep them organized which ultimately keeps me more organized. Dave and I have a file cabinet that we keep all of our paper documents and it always feels good to get that on track. *I know that so much of our lives our electronic but we still keep paper trails for business/life.
Streamlining my cleaning supplies. The cabinet underneath our kitchen sink is a complete disaster. It becomes the catchall for random cleaning supplies, SPF, candles, cleaning accessories, dish towels and beyond. I feel the same way about our mudroom when it comes to laundry supplies, things get collected and neglected! At the beginning of the year I created a better stock of laundry supplies and simplified the products that I use. We still use a general powder tide for workout clothes but otherwise we use Seventh Generation or Branch Basics (I love their Oxygen Boost – I add it to everything). I also swapped a lot of our cleaning supplies for Branch Basics which is great because different concentrations tackle different needs. I started with the Branch Basics Ultimate Starter Kit and it helped me clear out a lot of chemicals in our home.
Purging our play room. This is a dreaded task because it is so tedious. When we moved 4 years ago we really thinned out our toy collection. We really don’t have much but the items we do have our little. Legos, cars, tracks, magnatiles, puzzles, books, figurines, Pokemon cards, sports cards, markers. Everything is basically in one big pile and shoved into a cabinet right now. I desperately need to go through it (while my kids are at school) and throw away all the pieces that are no longer attached to anything, organize, donate and just get that room in check. I will feel much lighter when this is done!
Going through our pantry. Another daunting task! I sometimes just open the doors and feel overwhelmed. A really serious clean out means removing every item from the pantry, completely wiping down every shelf, throwing away expired products, organizing and donating. I truly feel lighter when this one is accomplished because I watch it build up day by day. It is a hard place to keep organized but these lazy susans and these bins have been huge help for us. I have to keep some sense of order in here because little hands are constantly rummaging for snacks!
