There’s something about springtime that makes you want to refresh your home and your life. For many people, that takes the form of spring cleaning.
Getting the home deep-cleaned each spring had its start in the days of coal stoves that left gunk on the walls during the winter. Cleaning and airing out the home were essential to maintaining everyone’s health. Today we have modern furnaces, but decluttering and cleaning is still a springtime tradition.
If you’re ready to declutter, don’t be overwhelmed. Simply take it one step at a time using this guide. Let’s get started!
Do One Small Space at a Time
It can feel overwhelming to try and figure out how to declutter and deep clean your whole home. So don’t do focus on the entire home! Instead, focus on one small area at a time. Once you start, make sure you finish that area, and then you can stop and take a break.
When you do only one small space at a time, it’s manageable and easier to make decisions. You’ll also be able to see immediate progress.
The keyword in this strategy is small. If you can’t decide on a specific area, try another strategy — set a timer for 30 minutes or an hour, and get started. When the timer goes off, you’re done for today.
Organize Paperwork
Paperwork is one of the biggest clutter causes in a modern home. Everyone sends you mail – from the doctor to your bank. What should you do with all of it?
Having a guide about what paperwork to keep is important. As a general rule:
- Keep major life event paperwork forever (marriage, divorce, births, military discharge, etc.)
- Keep tax returns and documentation for seven years
- Keep pay stubs and bank statements for one year
What about the documentation of your insurance? The team at Freeway Insurance recommends keeping home and auto insurance paperwork until your policy expires and then replacing it with the current policy paperwork.
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Don’t forget to securely shred any papers you aren’t keeping that have identifying information on them to protect you from identity theft!
Donate Clothes You No Longer Wear
One of the places where clutter builds up the fastest is in our closets. We buy new clothes we enjoy, but often forget to clean out the clothes that no longer fit our bodies or style. A change in seasons is the perfect time to sort through your clothes.
What winter clothes did you not touch all season? Put those out and donate them. When fall comes around, you’ll have a leaner closet full of clothes you love and ready for any new outfits you buy that season.
At the end of summer, you can go through your warm-weather clothes the same way. Anything you didn’t wear in the past several months can go to someone who will get more use and joy from it.
Feel Lighter This Spring
Carrying clutter in your home can make you feel heavy, affecting your mood, productivity, and more. When you use these tips to declutter your home during spring cleaning, you’ll feel much lighter and enjoy the new season.
Get started on a small area — or set your timer — today!
