Jump into Spring Cleaning in 5 easy steps

Spring cleaning.  2 words that can make even the best organizer feel overwhelmed.  What to keep? What to toss?  Where to start? We've got 5 easy steps taken from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up to help jump start your spring cleaning.

1. Clear out everything (and we mean everything) and take a moment to look at the newly created space. How does it feel?

Organizing is nobody's favorite task (not even storage experts like us!)  But seeing the empty space you can create by clearing everything out has a certain magic.  Think about it this way: you are making space for something new.  Whether it’s a new job, a new baby, or just the new season.  Take a moment to reconsider the space in your home and decide if you’re using it in the best way possible.

2. Sort and purge by category, rather than by room

This is where we can get stuck.  If we only focus on one room at a time you can still find yourself with an old winter coat in the basement, the attic and the closet.  The idea of “getting rid” of your belongings can be stressful.  Think about it this way: less stuff = less stress.  This is a chance to really break down the process and look at all of your things all at once.  I like to use the middle of my living room floor.  Just shove the couches out of the way and make a space to honestly assess what you own. Spring cleaning is easier when you have less to clean, so start tossing.

3. Go in order: clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous

We love clothes.  I love clothes. You love clothes.  Especially living in Ontario, we need clothing for every season.  This is the place to be cutthroat.  Think about it this way:  how many rainy days have their been?  How many times have you used that *something* that you were saving for a rainy day? Honesty is the best policy when it comes to assessing what we use and what we don’t.  This is especially true for books.  There’s no way around it – books are space-takers.  This is not always a bad thing.  If a book holds sentimental value or is your favorite or just genuinely makes you happy, then keep it.  If it’s just there to fill up space on the shelf, it’s time to look at donating it.  This rule applies to DVDs, CDs, electronics and more.  Your space is valuable and limited.  What are you going to fill it with?  Finally, old papers.  This one will take some very careful consideration, as you don’t want to throw away anything important.  This process might take longer than the others as it will involve some sorting, some stacking, and some shredding.  A clean workspace will increase your focus and boost productivity. 

4. Finish discarding before moving on

With each stage, don’t move on to the next category until ALL of the discarding is done.  Tidying up a little bit at a time means giving yourself time to rebuild the clutter as you tidy.  Take breaks when you need it, but make sure you’ve looked at all your clothes before you move on.

5. Make the goal to find and keep the things that make you happy, not to get rid of as many things as possible

The joy of decluttering is that you get to rediscover things you forgot you had.  It’s about keeping the things you love, not just about getting rid of the things you don’t.  If you have things that make you happy but you only use them for parts of the year, send them to a self-storage unit.  This is a great option to keep the things you love out of sight, but not out of mind. We have the solution for spring cleaning purges of every size.  Think of a self-storage unit as the perfect antidote to the winter gear pile-up, or the home office clutter.  See what you can discover, and experience the magic that comes with a little tidying up.

For an easy cheat sheet to jump start your spring cleaning click here