Spring cleaning is a tradition in many households, and is often seen as a time of renewal. Many people watched their parents deep clean or declutter their home each season. Are you ready to pass some tips and tricks on to your own children?
Unless you are one of those people who actually enjoys cleaning, you likely detest the chore and would rather be doing anything else. But spring cleaning doesn’t have to be all that bad, and it actually has benefits that extend far beyond springtime. While cleaning may never become your favorite pastime, this decluttering plan can help you get started and give your home a breath of fresh air.
Whether the pantry is your biggest pet peeve with processed food boxes stacked a mile high, or the linen closet that hasn’t seen the light of day since your youngest went from crib to race car bed, now’s the time to fesse up and clean out.
Give your mental health a boost when you do spring cleaning
Opinions about doing a major house cleaning can vary, depending on the type of person you are and what takes priority in your life. If you’re Type A, you were born for spring cleaning. Some might say that it’s where you do your finest work. But for Type Bs, the annual spring cleanfest is nothing more than a hassle, keeping you from doing what you’d rather do, which is anything else than that. Time to deal.
Sit yourself down on the living room floor (or carpet) and survey the room. Now survey the rest of the house. The more mess, the bigger the mountain ahead to get the decluttering done. At first, it might be overwhelming, but progress helps bring back a sense of control.
Studies show that living with clutter can increase the stress hormone cortisol (especially in women), affecting our anxiety levels, sleep, ability to focus, and overall health. This is why we feel more positive and relaxed when the beds are made or the dishes in the sink are washed, dried, and neatly put away. When personal belongings are put away, moms aren’t bogged down by additional to-dos that can derail other daily tasks. Having too much stuff in the house says, “I’m a procrastinator” and no one wants to admit that.
Have you always wanted to transform your home into a clean, organized oasis, but you weren’t sure how? Follow these time-tested tips and tricks.
Spring cleaning advice: Don’t bite more than you can chew.
Before you begin the spring cleaning, accepting this as a project, potentially an immense project, is okay but know it will come with many rewards. Tackle the job like you handle a box of See’s chocolate candies. One bite, at a time.
Start with easy areas first. A great way to feel a sense of achievement is to tackle small, quick tasks before you move on to bigger ones. Sort mail in the entryway? Pick up your shoes, or straighten a pile of books? Just the start of cleaning or sorting can get you in the mood to keep going.
Keep, maybe, toss: Separate your clutter into 3 groups.
Spring cleaning may not be a yearly event in your household, which makes it that much bigger when you do get to it. You’d probably have a nice nest egg if you had 100 dollars for every time you said to yourself, “Wow, I forgot I had this.” Going through the kitchen, closets, and garages helps you rediscover what you have, need, and can let go of.
Take control of your clutter by sorting everything into 3 imaginary buckets. The 1st bucket is Hot (what you definitely keep), the 2nd bucket is Warm (what you might keep), and the 3rd bucket is Cold (what you can throw out or donate). When you’re done, walk through the house and review the warm buckets one more time. This will help you decide if you really want to keep that pile.
Go big in small spaces
Finding room for collectibles, kids, and your calico cat or cockapoo (not necessarily in that order) can be challenging, especially if your home is “room-challenged”. Spring cleaning is always helpful but especially if you plan on moving to a new home soon. Getting rid of clutter now means less stress doing so once it’s time to leave. Bonus: with fewer items to move you will save on costs when the big day comes.
But if where you live today is short on space, the answer is in making the most of the space you have. Architectural digest suggested using a minimalists’ approach to decluttering. Hug the walls. They offer solutions to help you get on top of the clutter and keep it in check.
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Add some shelves to store plates, mixing bowls, books, and other knick-knacks you can’t part with (we’ll revisit that).
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If you’re handy, or find someone who is, attach hinges to both sides of a shelf for a fold down desk.
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Increase kitchen table seating with a wall bench and comfy cushions.
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Need more counter space and storage? Opt for a portable kitchen island with a butcher block counter. Search for recommended heights and wall locations that make them safe if you have children around and fall within building code guidelines.
Before buying new outfits declutter your closet.
For fashionistas, nothing but the latest wardrobe trends will do, but for most moms and kids, the focus is on family, school, and fun. A good rule of thumb, when cleaning out clothes closets, is if it hasn’t been worn in the last year, it’s gone.
Saving that mock pearl button down pink sweater because it might come back in style sounds reasonable, but fashion, like history, repeats itself though it might take 20 years. Teenagers tend to think the closet floor is one big laundry hamper, with clothes and accessories left in piles that you’d swear might be growing mold. Getting to the bottom of those hidden spaces can be risky business, as warmer temperatures bring out local pests. Make sure to turn on lights and put on protective gloves for worry-free cleaning.
Old is good as new
Once you start making headway, spring cleaning becomes more of an exploratory mission and less of a chore. Include your son or daughter in the adventure, if the closet’s in their room, and ask what belongs in those temperature buckets. The activity can show them how they’ve grown and matured, and bring healing as you remember good times.
Never worn shirts, hardly touched jeans, and seasonal belts and hats may find new life once they’ve been found, much like a new wardrobe. Celebrate the free in-home shopping spree. Show your children how they and you can help those less fortunate by donating items you no longer use to local charities that give or sell donated items. Starting at a young age will instill a life-long habit of helping others. And with more people doing what they can to recycle paper and plastic, repurposing fabric is the latest fashion trend.
Kitchen clean ups that Gordon Ramsay would applaud
Does your kitchen have more clutter than the clink, clatter, and sizzle of the next Top Chef concoction? A good spring cleaning can fix that and restore the family’s appreciation for your home cooked meals, even if they’re store bought. Getting down to business may take some thought and a hefty helping of honesty. If the kitchen is more of a storage facility than a place of culinary creativity, then use the cupboards to keep pots, pans and fryers in their place. If lack of storage is the problem, place them on the two top pantry shelves, keeping them out of reach from little ones. No pantry? Find a decorative ceiling pot rack and let them dangle.
Take a good look at small appliances and only hold onto the ones you use — air fryers might replace toasters, toaster ovens, roasters, and deep fryers. Once the countertops are cleared and cleaned, revisit the family cookbooks and recipes in the index card container and store them digitally.
A word about the kitchen junk drawer. Since when did it become the family depository for everything without a place? Pens, gum, tools, paper menus and promotional flyers on products you’ll never use, and random parts to furniture you got rid of ions ago. If you can swing it, upgrade the junk stash by renaming it the “emergency drawer” and add a utensil container inside. Use it for flashlights, batteries, candles, extra car keys or fabs, and charging cables or plugins for smart technologies, plus a small list of important phone numbers, just in case.
Struggling to work from home? Decluttering can help!
Finding calm in the middle of commotion could be an accurate description of the home office. With kids, dogs, partners, and random friends popping over, and sometimes unannounced, it’s hard to stay focused on work.
Excess clutter in a room dedicated for work or study increases opportunities for distraction. Reduce reasons for the eyes to roam by organizing the office area into compartments, either within desk drawers, a curio cabinet, or on the desktop. File racks, paper trays, pen holders open more surface area for a laptop or computer workstation, but to up the ante on decluttering the home office, go paperless. It’s liberating.
Set up new house rules that support a cleaner, healthier home office. Make the room a no-food zone, so there’s less clean up from spills and crumbs. Add a whiteboard or calendar to the wall with a schedule that maps out a day each week for light cleaning and tidying the home office. Regular maintenance minimizes the need for spring cleaning giving you more time to do what you want, like lounging outdoors.
When the toy box is full, empty it
The angst that Moms get when staring into a room of clutter can be duplicated in a child whose playroom is in complete disarray. Most kids believe they can never have enough toys; in reality, they could have too many. Like adults, younger children put value on toys, but if there are plenty around, kids become disinterested. The same experience happens when you’re searching for something to binge watch on TV, the more choices there are, the harder it is to find a show. Maybe less is more.
Moms don’t enjoy having to reprimand their kids, or the sound of whining and crying. The idea of having to go through playrooms and toy boxes to do a thorough spring cleaning could involve reward-based thinking. You know, give the youngsters something to replace what you’re giving away to help ease their emotional pain.
You can reposition toy purging and focus on what the children can gain from it. Getting rid of toys they’ve outgrown, broken, or become tired of is easy. The hard part is when they need to decide what stays. Encourage their input, give high fives when they’re ready to let go, and extra hugs for the tears, and they will come. Help them choose to hold onto toys that encourage independent, or imaginative play. Look for educational options and those that can stay relevant for a while.
If there’s a brother or sister too young for the toy, store it and when they’re old enough to use it, that’s one less expense. Quality over quantity can override the toys you’re unsure of.
Once you’ve put the cleaned toys in boxes, donate them to organizations that benefit children like women’s shelters, orphanages, or the Salvation Army. It’s a great way to instill sharing and caring for others on a regular basis.
Decluttering inspires redesign.
Decluttering your home can bring about “A-ha” moments. With all that extra space, you could be looking at each room with different eyes. It’s the perfect opportunity to move furniture from room-to-room and recreate spaces with fresh approaches to the furnishings and accessories you already have.
Whether a move to a new house is right around the corner or further down the road, periodic cleaning and decluttering will help you be ready and reduce the stress when the big day arrives.
Even after the decluttering is done, your growing family may be ready for a home upgrade — Woodside Homes gives buyers like you plenty of room to grow.
Our thoughtfully designed interiors and flexible spaces evolve right along with your family’s needs, and our amenities that prioritize your wellbeing are designed to help you feel right at home.
