So, What do you do with all of the free time on your hands now that the whole world is paused?
ORGANIZE & DEEP CLEAN!!
This is a great time to start spring cleaning and get organized! Typically our homes get put on the back burner when our lives are busy with kid activities, work, and our social lives. I have a few quick tips that will help you get your whole house organized in just a few days.
Tip # 1 Start Small
You don’t want to jump in to this with the biggest messiest room in your house because it will overwhelm you and make you want to give up before even starting.
Start with a small room like a bathroom or closet even. I always start by pulling everything out of drawers and cabinets. Then I wipe down the inside shelving and drawers and start going through everything I pulled out. If you have not used an item in the last few months or a year, then I put that item either in a donate pile or a garbage pile. Once you have everything sorted, start putting things back in. I love to use baskets and drawer organizers for things like cotton balls, q-tips, medications, etc. to help keep things tidy and smaller things categorized.
Tip#2 Set Limits
Do you really need 15 sets of sheets for your bed? The answer is no! I limit myself to two sets of sheets per bed. Any extras I donate to the Salvation Army. I do the same for pillows and blankets. As long as I have a couple extra pillows and blankets for couch guests then I’m good. Decide how much extra to keep based on your guests and get rid of the rest!
I also set limits on clothing. If my closet is jam packed full then my clothing is going to get wrinkled. I use this to judge if I have too many clothes hanging in my closet. Clothes on hangers have to fit with a little room to move on each side of each hanger. This way they won’t get all bunched up and wrinkled. I still have plenty of clothing but not so much that things don’t get worn.
These limits can be used on each room of the house. If your drawers can’t close nicely and you can’t find things because of clutter then you need to clear some of it out.
Tip #3 If you don’t use it, get rid of it!
My general rule of thumb here is, if it hasn’t been used in the last year, then I’m probably going to get rid of it. Of course there are going to be a few things that you don’t use daily that you might need to keep and that’s okay. I simply put these things together in storage boxes and label the boxes and put them on a shelf in my storage room. This way they are not in my way daily, yet when I need them I know right where they are. Example: I have things like paper punches, extra pens & pencils, sticky notes, paper, folders, etc, all in a box labeled office supplies. This way I don’t have my desk jam packed with things that are just going to get cluttered and frustrate me.
This rule can easily be applied to many rooms of your house as well. A great example is toys. I used to rotate toys with my kids because they just had so many. I would put a few things in boxes and store them a couple of months then rotate with toys the kids have recently been playing with. This kept things somewhat new and fun, kind of like Christmas a few times a year.
Tip #4 Deep clean while you are organizing.
A good deep clean once or twice a year makes your cleaning on a day to day basis much easier.
I generally just use some windex and a microfiber cleaning cloth on shelves, drawers, and doors. I use clorox wipes or a spray bottle with a little bleach and water for all kitchen drawers, counters, and shelves.
Once I have everything clean, I use my monthly cleaning calendar to keep things tidy daily without being too overwhelmed.
If you apply these rules to every room of your house then you will be clean and organized in no time! Don’t forget to touch every single item you have stored away, that way you have to physically make a decision which pile to put it in. This helps to make sure you decide on every single item you own.
I hope this helps make what seems like a daunting task not so bad!!