Spring Cleaning Tips

After years of enjoying your home, things can tend to pile up. If you’re feeling like your space is beginning to get cluttered, here are some spring cleaning tips.

The LA Times once did an article about how many items are in the average home. That number was almost 300,000 items. That's alot of stuff. In fact, there have been studies that have shown that decluttering your home can reduce your levels of stress.

If you are thinking about selling your home, cleaning and decluttering can increase your home's value by thousands of dollars.

How to declutter

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The same goes with cleaning your home. Start with one room at a time. You can get overwhelmed quickly, so stay focused on small projects. Once you complete it, move on to the next one. Some other tips include:

• Stay in each area until it’s completely decluttered and cleaned
• Bring a trash can into the room with you to encourage tossing out unwanted items
• Put items back where they belong
• Take before-and-after photos to help motivate you and measure your progress
• Create a timeline on when you’d like to complete your decluttering to keep your goals on track
• Keep like-items together for easier organization
• Create piles for keep, donate, and trash and follow through with the donating and discarding
• If you’re having trouble throwing away items that may have sentimental value, take a photo and let go

Molly Maid has a handy checklist to use:

Some Helpful Guidelines

• 12/12/12 Rule: Locate 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to be returned to their proper home.
• 20/20 Rule: Get rid of items you can replace for $20 and under 20 minutes.
• 80/20 Rule: According to this rule, we use 20 percent of our belongings 80 percent of the time. Either get rid of or store away the 80 percent you don't use regularly.
• Five-Second Rule: Sort through items and give yourself five seconds to remember the last time the item you're holding was used. If you can't remember within five seconds, it's time to get rid of it.
• Rule of Five: This rule is the five-year rule. When decluttering and deciding on an item, assess items not used in five years and consider removing them.

Cleaning Room-by-room

Entryway

A good place to start while decluttering is your entryway. It’s a small space and gives the first impression of the home. Remove out-of-season coats, excess shoes, and piles of old mail sitting around. Make sure to give the floor of your coat closet a good cleaning, as this area typically gets neglected. Giving your entryway a little sprucing up with some new items is also a great way to enhance the first impression of your home.

Kitchen

To get your kitchen in tip-top shape, it’s best to clear any visible surfaces first. Then go for the cabinets, drawers, and your pantry. Don’t forget to declutter all the items that have accumulated on the front of your fridge (include an excess of magnets). Toss out all expired food and consider ditching non-frequently used cookware. Then finish the job with a good deep cleaning to make everything sparkle.

Living room

Often the living room will feel cluttered due to too much furniture. It might be as simple as getting more appropriate sized furniture pieces for your living space; or consider removing items that are in excess. Remember to remove any extra trash that could be lying around (i.e. old magazines, toys, etc.).

Bedroom

Bedrooms tend to collect more sentimental items, and an excess of clothing. Be sure to clear off any surfaces including nightstands and dressers. Remove old tissues, tuck away eyeglasses, and keep the bed clear so you can start sorting out your clothing. Clothing can sometimes carry a sentimental attachment. It’s important to trust yourself that the memory won’t leave you when the item finds a new home. Try snapping a photo of the item before donating the item. If it’s a child’s room, be sure to eliminate any clothing that no longer fits. Plus, clear out any old toys that are no longer loved.

Home office

Many people now work from home, and the home office has become a must-have for those working from home. This space tends to be a dumping ground for paperwork and miscellaneous items. To declutter your office this spring, be sure to clear surfaces of clutter. Create piles for garbage or to file, and follow through with filing. Go through old files and discard any that are no longer needed.

Hallways and windows

Hallways can also become a place for random piles of items to build up. Whether it’s on your stairs waiting to head upstairs or just sitting in your hallway. It’s great to declutter these items as well and bring them to their rightful space. Once your hallway is cleared, be sure to dust your baseboards in this area, and clean the handrail if you have stairs. Finally, clear off your windowsills and give your windows a good cleaning to let in ample light this spring season.

Garage

And then there's the garage. This space is another notorious dumping ground for random garbage and stuff. Clear out the junk and discard any actual garbage. Next step in decluttering your garage is to organize your keep items by keeping like items together. Organize your tools so when that next homeowner project strikes you know just where to find what you need. If your garage is still feeling cluttered, consider adding a shed in your backyard to alleviate some of your seasonal items such as a lawn mower or snowblower.