Are you thinking about Spring clearing?
Spring has sprung here in Canada. Our days are getting longer, we’re opening our windows for the first time in months and we’re feeling a sense of renewal in the air.
The “Spring is in the air” feeling instinctively pushes many of us into a spring cleaning frenzy. However, there can be an important step missing in the spring cleaning process… Spring Clearing.
With an “out with the old and in the with the new” vibe or mentality, keep these tips in mind when you start your Spring clearing.
Get Yourself Organized
As we’ve discussed in past blogs, the first thing you want to do when starting an organizing and decluttering project is to make a plan.
Decide what rooms or areas of the home you want to include in your project and create zones. Give yourself a time limit and prepare three items: a garbage bag, a donation bag and a recycling bag.
I don’t recommend getting organized for Spring in one day. Give yourself some time. There are a lot of decisions to make and letting go can be exhausting.
Check out my podcast on how to zone your home for better organization.
The Bedroom
If you like to get the big projects out of the way first, start with your closet and drawers.
From one section of your closet, take everything out and put it on your bed. This is the perfect time to donate the clothes you didn’t wear for the past year, put aside anything that was borrowed to give back to its owner and throw out anything that is no longer wearable. Then you want to remove any winter clothes such as heavy sweaters, long underwear, wool socks etc. Launder anything that needs laundering and then store them away. Unless of course, you have room to keep all seasonal items together.
Tip: When you’re getting ready for Spring clearing, remember to keep a few light sweaters for those cool spring and summer nights.
Repeat this process until you’ve gone through all of your closets and drawers.
Next, swap your heavy winter blankets for lighter options and if you use flannel sheets- change them for cooler cotton sheets.
Store away those heavier sheets and blankets. Remember to keep one handy for those cooler summer nights when you want to sit outside.
The Bathroom
Go through all your drawers in your bathroom. Once again, take everything out and discard expired prescriptions or over-the-counter medications. You can usually drop those items off at your local pharmacy.
Tip: make a note of anything you need to replace.
Before you put everything back in its drawer, organize the medications by category. Meaning putting the cold and flu medications together, the allergy medications together etc. Do the same with cosmetics and moisturizers. Make sure to have your suntan lotion easily accessible.
This is also a great opportunity to go through old towels. If you have too many towels and they are in good shape, donate some to your local thrift store. If you have some towels that are not quite good enough to donate to a thrift store, check with your local pet shelters to see if they are interested in them.
Front Closet
This is where most of us will keep our winter jackets and boots.
Go through your items and donate what you no longer need. Move the winter items that you are keeping to another area for storage. No point in leaving them in the closet if you won’t be needing them for a few months. It’s always a good idea to wash or dry clean our jackets and wipe down winter boots before storing them.
It always feel oh so good to take out the winter stuff and bring in the spring/summer stuff. Organize your sun hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, running shoes, sandals, rain boots, umbrella, and anything else you like to keep in the closet for the summer months.
Kitchen
There is a definite shift in the appliances we use in the Spring and Summer months vs what we use in the winter. You may not want to store away your slow cooker that you use for stews and soups because you may still want a soup in the summer months. But, it may serve you better stored at the bottom or back of a cupboard rather than front and center. Leave the easy access spaces for grilling utensils and dishes like fruit and vegetable platters.
Go through your pantry and remove expired items. You may want to organize your pantry with items you use more often in the summer months close and handy ex. grilling sauces.
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