How We Wednesday: Spring Cleaning/Organizing

Hello friends!

This is my first 'How We Wednesday' post (linking up with Shay) and this topic spoke right to me because I am the queen of organization and all things clean.  Today's topic is, 'How we Spring clean/organize.' A few things to know about me: I LOVE to purge/clean/organize...it's very therapeutic for me. If I'm stressed, you can find me cleaning or organizing. If my house/work space is not organized, I get distracted and can't focus till it's organized.

Here are my tips for Spring cleaning/organizing:

1. Clean your closet at LEAST once per year. I actually do this about twice a year, once in the Spring and once in December. I either donate what I don't wear or sell it on Poshmark. One trick I use in between the periods of cleaning is to turn my hangers for pieces I have worn. When it comes time to clean/purge, I can easily tell which pieces I am no longer wearing, and then I can donate them.

2.  Install custom shelves, baskets, drawers, etc in places where you store things.  This makes a HUGE difference.  Before I remodeled my closet, it had no shelves and just basic rods.  I bought the Martha Stewart closet organizers from Home Depot and my dad created and installed the space for me.  My closet is so much more organized now and can fit so much more.




3. When buying a new pair of shoes, I force myself to get rid of (i.e. donate) an existing pair. I have limited space for my shoes, so this ensures I always have room. I actually did a HUGE shoe purge this past weekend and am happy to report my closet looks much more organized now.

4. Buy clear bins, containers, and/or dividers. I do this for my closet, drawers, and pantry to help with organization. For my closet, I store delicate items in there (silk tops, etc); for drawers, the organizer compartments store socks and small articles of clothing; for the pantry, I use the containers to store loose items such as gum, mints, sugar packets, etc. The only exception for this is my Christmas ornaments:  I store them in a red and green bin because that's easily identifiable.  I store those on shelves in the garage, which is another tip:  add storage shelves in the garage on top, instead of the floor.  That will save you space.


5. Tackle one room/area a day. Don't try to do everything in one day...you will become overwhelmed and give up. I tend to tackle the hardest/messiest area first...because then I feel accomplished when it's done.

6. Build shelves in spaces where it makes sense. My downstairs coat closet was such a mess before I put shelves in (wrapping paper was piled up, and it was like Tetris to remove something without something else falling). I had my dad install shelves for me and it has made a huge difference (and has allowed me to store more items).


7. Start a community yard sale! My community does this and it encourages everyone to organize/purge/etc. And you can donate the proceeds to charity. :)

8. Hire someone to deep clean your house at least once a year. I'm fine with cleaning my house weekly, but do I really want to deep scrub the tub and dust the walls? No thank you.

9.  And finally, have a system for organizing important papers.  I don't let mail pile up-- I sort through it immediately in my home office and file it away (I have two file cabinets for storage).  I also don't let magazines pile up and only keep the last few copies on my coffee table. I figure if I don't read them in a timely fashion, I should recycle them.



That's all I have. Looking forward to reading everyone's tips! :)

Jasmin

2 comments

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