Spring Cleaning!
I’m not sure what it is about the warmer, longer days of spring that makes me want to get my home in tip top shape, but it happens every year. The birds start singing, the flowers start budding and I start looking in closets and cabinets wondering where all that stuff came from.
If your family is like ours and the garage or basement have become a dumping ground over the winter, take heart—there’s hope!
I spoke with professional organizer Karen Swart from KC’s Organizing-Etc. about how to get our homes clutter free. Just remember, spring cleaning is a process. If you determine to do everything in one day, you will most likely end up frustrated and give up. Pace yourself and understand it’s a messy process, but in the end, you’ll end up with a cleaner, more functional space.
Where to begin? “Usually, if you’re stressed out about several locations in your house, start small. Pick a small place in your house like a laundry room or linen closet,” Swart says. “If you dive into your garage or basement, it can be overwhelming. You’ll want to start small and achieve a victory.”
Clear the Space. “If you are organizing a laundry room, take it all out. Make a staging area in the hallway or an adjacent room. Categorize everything. In one area, you have all your cleaning supplies. Maybe you have utilitarian things, like light bulbs or batteries, cleaning towels.”
Swart says this is an important step because it allows you to see what you have. You may be surprised to find out you have five lint rollers or 10 boxes of lightbulbs. Instead of just rearranging what you have, clearing the space allows you to determine what you actually need.
Edit. “This is just an organizer’s fancy word for ‘getting rid of.’ Getting rid of things can scare people, but you need to look at things critically. Do I really need this or do I need this many?” Swart says. “Ultimately, these things just take up space. You can give items away or donate them. You don’t need to just throw things away; you can give it a new home.”
This is a difficult step for many people. Ultimately, it comes down to how you want your space to function. The more stuff you are willing to let go, the less stuff you have to keep organized. Keep the items you currently use and know you will use in the future. Consider releasing what you don’t.
Contain. “Then, look at what you have to put back into that space and find the proper way to contain those items. I say proper because people get really excited about containers and drawers. But sometimes, containers can just take up more space, so it’s important to find the appropriate way to corral items. So it’s a mistake to run out and buy things before you begin.”
Once again, look at how you use your space. Do you want to be able to just reach in and pull something out, or is it okay if it has a closed lid? For example, it’s easier to access detergent pods from a container with an open top. It’s the same with makeup or baking supplies. But if you have batteries or cleaning towels, putting them in a container with a lid so you can stack them makes more sense. You need to know what you have and how you’re going to use it before you buy anything.
Label. “Label just about everything, especially if you are going to have other people helping you to keep the space organized,” Swart advises. “They need to know batteries go in this container, etc. It doesn’t have to be fancy. You don’t need to buy a Cricut maker. You can use mailing labels and a sharpie.”
If your children are too young to read and you’re organizing their room or play area, you can label containers with pictures. Keeping them involved in the process teaches them to put their things away and will help you so you don’t end up with a huge pile of toys to clean on your own.
Maintain. “The piece of it that people kind of forget about is that once you do have a space organized, you’re going to need to take a few minutes, frequently, to keep it that way. It doesn’t have to be all the time, but once a week or once a month, clean up the stuff you’ve shoved in the closet. It does take maintenance. it’s okay to just put things down, but you do need to address it,” says Swart.
Cutting down the clutter and keeping your home organized allows for you to live in a less chaotic, better functioning home. A streamlined, organized closet, kitchen or office saves time, effort and even frustration, but it can take time and effort to get there. Even organizing small spaces can take several hours. Professionals like Swart can whip your garage into shape in a few hours, but we regular folks need to pace ourselves, give grace and make the hard decisions—but just imagine being able to find your keys or your kids’ shoes when you need them!
Keeping Kids Organized
Kids can be a little messy, from toys to paper to clothes. Here are a few of tips from Karen Swart, professional organizer, on keeping the clutter to a minimum.
Clothes: “Put a bin in their closet for clothes they’ve outgrown and add to it every time something becomes too small. At the end of the season, you will be ready to donate instead of having to sort through their closet.”
Paper: “Keep a storage container for random artwork and notes. Each year, sort through what you are going to keep or get rid of. Organize artwork or notes in a portfolio that’s accessible and easy to look at.”
Toys: “Keep toys manageable by rotating them. Put some in bins in a storage area and exchange them every few months. It keeps kids interested in what they have, and it allows play areas to stay clean(er.)”
Teen Closet: “Before you go shopping for new school clothes, work through your teens’ closets to see what they want to keep. Hold up each piece and get a yes or no. There’s no point in keeping things in the closet if you aren’t going to wear it.”
Christian Barnes lives in Kansas City with her husband and two nearly grown sons. She’s fascinated by how children think and learn and enjoys sharing any information that she’s gathered with others.