Spring cleaning is a magical time of year. The weather is mild, the children can finally play outside, and cleaning out seems like the best way to mark the end of a cold winter. For some, spring cleaning is an easy yearly routine where the items seem to leap from their winter clutter spots and walk themselves right out the door. However for those of us who live in the real world, spring cleaning can be a daunting, overwhelming, and stressful task. There are many great articles about making good decisions on what to keep, what to donate, and how to organize. While we will touch on some of those topics, the biggest question people ask is “Where do I start”? That is where our 6 hot spots come in. These 6 locations in your house stand to benefit the most from a high energy day of spring cleaning!
Before we get started, this is not an exhaustive list of every place that clutter can accumulate in your house. Clutter can be anywhere and everywhere. This list, however, is a ‘most bang for your sweat’ compendium of where to make the most difference in your house in the shortest amount of time. Let’s get into it!
I know, I know. It’s obvious. Just because closets are an obvious clutter catcher doesn’t mean they’re not a great place to start. My favorite reason to start in the closet is because it is the place in the house where you are most likely to find items that do not have to be trashed or recycled. Most clothes and shoes are prime candidates for donation or being sold to a consignment store depending on their condition.
In my experience working with numerous clients over the years, there are two main criteria I recommend for deciding what fashion items need to run-a-way (little fashion runway joke for you there). The first criteria is that if you have’t worn it in 6 -12 months, you don’t need it. This may not apply to every article of clothing, but in general, it works. This measure works because 6-12 months means you’ve seen all the seasons and haven’t needed it. Additionally, you’ve gone through most every kind of life event in a year and still didn’t need it. The second criteria for getting rid of clothes has to do with size. If an article of clothing is 2 or more sizes larger or smaller than what you currently wear, get rid of it. The likelihood of weight fluctuation more than one size over the course of a year or two is unlikely unless you are on a serious health kick. Go ahead and let those items go. If you ever need a significantly different size of clothes, you’ll want a new style anyway! With all items of clothing, donation or consignment are the best options to get rid of them. The only reason clothing must be trashed is if it has come into contact with mold, mildew, or other dangerous elements.
Other than clothes, decluttering closets provides a great opportunity to sort through the little things that get stuffed away when you find out your friends are coming over at the last minute. Normally the little things you find in a closet can easily be organized for safekeeping or quickly trashed to reclaim that wasted space. The last great thing about closets is that 1-2 hours in a closet can really make a huge difference, whereas 1-2 hours in other parts of the house may not go as far. These reasons are why closets are my number 1 hot spot to kick off spring cleaning!
Living in Georgia, the first thing I think about when I have to go into an attic 75% of the year is ‘how hot is it going to be up there’? That is why I recommend people get to attics as soon into the spring season as possible while the days are still cool enough to breathe in the attic, but warm enough to not consider jumping into the furnace. Attics are another highly productive area because they generally are not very large and can be combed through quickly. The majority of Americans use their attics for 3 things. Holiday/seasonal decorations, long term storage (memory boxes and suitcases), and off-season clothes. Each of these categories are pretty easy to work with because most of the time it’s easy to make decisions about these items. Here are a few things to consider when working through these three categories of common attic items.
There are two great questions to ask when it comes to decorative items. First, did I see this item out last year? If the answer is no, it’s gotta go. The only reason this rule may have an exception is if an item has sentimental significance. Then give it two years to emerge. If it doesn’t, bye. Secondly, was this item barely hanging on last year? Seasonal decorations take a lot of abuse being set up, torn down, lifted, dropped, and shuffled year after year. If you have a decorative item that was on it’s last leg last year, it’s probably not going to survive 10 months in the attic until next year. It may be time to just buy a new light up reindeer for next Christmas. Holiday items can sometimes be donated if they are in good condition, but some stores can give you a hard time about donating holiday items that won’t be in season for a long time. Any broken item should be trashed or recycled.
When it comes to long term storage items and off-season clothes, there is often not too much to be done. The clothes should already be sorted on their way out of your closet and the long term storage items are probably there for a reason. Two quick tips with that are as follows. In your clothes storage container it is a good idea to make sure there is no moisture in the container. A small bag of silica is a good way to keep mildew off of the clothes. Another tip is to pack your suitcases. If you don’t use your suitcases that often, it may be a good idea to use suitcases as storage for your off-season clothes!
The yard is another of the easier spring clean out spots for two reasons. One, any junk items in the yard probably are not of emotional value otherwise they would not have been left outside over winter. Two, any dead brush or tree debris needs to be removed to allow new plant growth come spring time. After all, what is the point of spring cleaning if not to make way for the new season of growth that spring represents!
When it comes to junk items in your yard, total trashing is normally the best policy. Items or decorations that have been left in the yard for a winter or even for a few years tend to have a hard life. That means these items are rarely in good enough condition to sell or donate. While they often served you well when you got them, if items in your yard no longer serve your needs it is important to let them go. Items like old bird baths, bird feeders, kids toys, and even play sets need to be inspected each year to make sure they are in good condition. If not, it’s time to get rid of them. This is why trashing is often the best policy for junk items in the yard.
Organic materials in the yard are also important to have handled before grass, flowers, and other vegetation make their spring debut. Leaves, pine needles, branches, underbrush, and logs are all organic materials that can impede the wonderful work spring unleashes in your yard. The best thing about these kinds of organic waste is that most of the time organic yard waste is recyclable. When you or a responsible hauler you hire take these items to the vegetative recycling facility, your yard debris is ground up, treated, colored, and resold as mulch. It’s always great to clear your yard and recycle while you do it!
Why are patios and decks not part of the yard? Why is this a different category? The answer is simple. For the majority of Americans the bulk of the money spent on outdoor items can be found within 10-20 feet of the house. These more expensive, lifestyle oriented items require more careful consideration than simple junk items in the yard. Patios and decks also do not usually have vegetative items to consider, unless you have a lot of flowerpots.
The first place to start on patios and decks is by checking the condition of furniture, cushions, lighting, and cooking instruments such as grills and smokers. Lighting and cushions are the two most likely items to be damaged after a winter of not being used. If cushions are damaged, trash is normally the next step. If lighting is damaged, check to see if you have a bulb issue or a wire issue. If the bulbs on your decorative lights are out, that’s easy. If the string of decorative lights seems to have a wiring issue or a nick in the wire, it is best to get a new string of decorative lights. Electrical wire can be recycled at most metal recycling facilities and any responsible junk hauler will make sure those get recycled instead of put in the landfill.
The biggest risk to cooking instruments and furniture is rust. Complete a once over inspection on grills, smokers, metal furniture, and metal decorative items to make sure there is no rust on them. If they are clean, they live to grill another day. If they are rusted, it is likely that they will need to be replaced. Any of those items can be recycled at your local metal recycling yard. For wicker or wooden furniture, checking for cracks is critical before you plan to use the furniture again to make sure that you and your cookout guests are safe to sit while enjoying a steak. The last thing to check regarding grills and smokers is that no critters have taken up residence in your cooking zone. That could get unpleasant quickly.
Now it’s time for the big guns
The basement is the second most likely catch all for many people. It is easy to put things in the basement and forget about them because the basement does not constitute the main living space for the majority of people. A great tip for general basement organization is to have each room, or section of the basement (if it is unfinished), be designated for one particular task. A good example is a workshop room for tools, a play room for kids toys, and an office. If a room has an assigned purpose it is less likely to gather clutter, especially clutter not related to its purpose.
The best rule of thumb for the basement is to play the ‘when did I need this last’ game. If you have not needed it in one or more years. You can probably let it go. Additionally, items in the basement vary wildly in terms of value and what should be done with them. If the item in question is truly valuable in terms of usefulness, dollar value, and emotional value, it should probably not be kept in storage. It should be highlighted as a part of your living space. If an item has a high dollar value but isn’t useful for you now or emotionally important to you, that item is a good candidate to be sold. Don’t go crazy trying to sell items unless they are clearly of high value. When reselling used items in a house it is good to have realistic expectations about value. On average, used items that are not collectible (like guitars, coins, high end sports memorabilia) or exceedingly useful (tools, firearms, lawn equipment), should only be expected to get roughly 10% of their purchase price upon resale. It’s easy to spend a lot of time and energy trying to sell items and not make very much money. Choose carefully what you sell and what you donate.
If an item has emotional value, but not much dollar value or usefulness, it should be stored in a clearly labeled container. If these emotional items are paper or photos, digitizing them should be your next step. Digitization allows you to have permanent copies with back-ups, eliminate duplicates, and get rid of the physical copies that take up so much room. If an item is not emotionally important, useful, or of high dollar value, it needs to be donated, trashed or recycled. At that point is it just clutter and you don’t need that slowing down your awesome spring!
The garage is the big daddy of all spring cleaning projects. The reason the garage is the number one catch all for most households is because according to a 2005 study, the garage door is the primary access point for 45% of Americans! That number has only risen since 2005! If most Americans are entering their house through the garage, it only makes sense that people unload items into their garage leading to a quickly cluttered space.
The rules for cleaning a garage are very similar to the rules for cleaning a basement. The only additional things to consider have to do with tools and garbage. The most common place for people to keep their lawn mowers and their garbage cans is in the garage. This leads to two important considerations. The first is making sure that every tool and piece of lawn equipment has a predetermined space. I recommend hanging as many items on the wall as possible to free up floor space. I also recommend taping or otherwise marking on the floor exactly where the mower and any other large machines go. This allows that space to stay free of any other items and in turn reduces clutter.
When it comes to garbage, boxes are the most likely thing to cause clutter in a garage. Because many households keep their trash cans in the garage, it is easy to pile up boxes beside the trash can. Unfortunately, it is very easy to not get the pile of boxes to the curb. In this age of Amazon, Hello Fresh, and other delivery services, the boxes can pile up quickly. There are two good options I have found to handle box mountain. Option one is to leave a razor knife close to the trash can, break down every box and put it in the trash can. That way you don’t have to remember to move a huge pile of boxes at 5am on trash day. Option two is make a pile and once it gets to be about the side of another trash can or two, call a junk removal company. Many junk removal companies have very reasonable minimum fees and know exactly where to take the cardboard to be recycled. This is a great option for those who don’t like to use knives and would rather ensure their cardboard gets properly recycled.
There you have it, the 6 spring cleaning hot spots and tips on how to deal with common items found in each area of the home. If the task of spring cleaning still seems too daunting to start, that’s ok. If you spend 30 minutes per day working on a closet you will be stunned at the results. Taking each section one at a time helps break spring cleaning down into manageable chunks which in turn leads to your success. Spring cleaning can generate a lot of trash. Some trash companies are happy to accommodate a few extra bags here and there, but if you find yourself with a mountain of trash, recycling, and donates between you and the finish line it may be good to call in a junk removal company. Up Up and Away Junk Hauling is a full service, 5 star rated junk removal company serving Kennesaw, Acworth, Marietta, East Cobb and all of Metro Atlanta. If you need help finishing up your spring cleaning, you can Defeat Junk Today when you call Up Up and Away.
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