THE ULTIMATE SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST

The flowers are blooming and your house still feels like it’s stuck with winter blues. Spring cleaning is a tradition that allows us to freshen up your home and get a head start on the beautiful seasons of spring, and summer. Back in the day, spring cleaning was a grueling ritual, however, today, spring cleaning is much less an onerous chore. It is more an opportunity to throw open the windows, let some fresh air in, and make your home clean, happy and an efficient space to live in.

ORGANIZE & CLEAR THE CLUTTER

One of the biggest parts of spring cleaning is getting rid of clutter. Now is a good time to take advantage of the natural spring urge. Get rid of items that are weighing you down and make a fresh start with a more streamlined lifestyle.

A systematic four-step approach to identifying problems, analyzing reasons, determining solutions, and implementing remedies can be extremely productive at this time of year. Sorting your belongings into four categories—throw-away, give-away, store-away, or put-away. It can also be effective as you begin the spring-cleaning process. Now is a great time to sell or to donate items you no longer want or use. Cleaning will be a lot easier when the clutter is gone.

THE 4 BUCKET METHOD

You aspire to live a more streamlined life. However, getting rid of the clutter in your home is not as easy as it sounds. Even the things you might have used only once or twice seem to call out to you with its greater purpose in the scheme of your life once faced with the trash can. With this simple-to-follow method, with a little willpower, it is possible to give clutter a life far away from yours.

Find 4 boxes and label them with the 4 categories:

Throw Away: This box should include any item that you do not need or want, but that is not worth donating or selling. Damaged and broken items should be included in the trash if they are not worth repairing them.

Give Away: Here is your chance to be generous. Think about the uses someone else might get out of the items vs. having them buried in cabinets or closet. You should also consider the financial benefits of selling your unused stuff.

Store Away: This is where you put items that you cannot part with but do not need on a regular basis. Make an inventory of the items as you box them. Group similar items together.

Put Away: This should be your smallest category. These are items that need to be out on a regular basis. Monitor yourself by determining if you have a place for each item. If the items in this box will not fit into your home without cluttering an area up, try to reassess if you really need them. If you do need these essentials, try to come up with a storage solution that fits into your home.

Working room by room, sort items into the appropriate boxes. Work with one item at a time determining its proper place in your newly organized life. Do not forget to go through closets, cabinets, and storage spaces. Removing clutter from rooms like the kitchen and bathroom may be very easy to do, while rooms with storage containers and closets may take a lot more time.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Items are not equivalent to memories of the person who gave them to you. However, pruning items with an emotional attachment can be difficult. Consider carefully if you need the item to have the memory or emotional attachment. If you simply aren’t sure, consider storing items on a trial basis, or giving them to another family member for safekeeping.

Get rid of old clothes especially if they are in the size you used to be and hope to return to one day. It’s tempting to keep them for when you reach your goal but think about instead that you can reward yourself with a new wardrobe when you get to your goal weight.

Keeping things just because you might need them someday may seem like a good reason for clogging your closet. Remind yourself that what you really need is space and organization.