The last thing you want to do when the weather gets nice again (and it will) is waste time indoors. That’s why you should start spring cleaning now, while you won’t be tempted to do something more fun or immediately gratifying. Start with a few simple tasks that you don’t do every week, such as cleaning out a closet. Or pick the most remote room in your home to start the deep-clean and work inward, the New York Times suggests. And when dusting or washing surfaces, always start at the top of a given room and work downward to get a gravity assist.
Tag: decluttering your home
Use Winter’s Indoor Time to Start Spring Cleaning
Much of the nation has been snowed in for the first half of the month, but that’s no reason to avoid the inevitable spring cleaning. In fact, if you take advantage of that “indoor” time to declutter, you’ll get a jump on the season. “There is no reason to start deep-cleaning if you are surrounded by clutter,” says The Simply Organized Home. “There is no point in cleaning things that you don’t need, use, or love.” Sort that extra stuff into boxes and bags for ClothingDonations.org to pick up, and you’ll clean a clutter-free environment when the time comes.
The Declutterer’s Favorite Day
For those engaged in the war on clutter, today is the biggest holiday of the year. True, it may be better recognized across the pond, and there’s a good chance you won’t have the day off to celebrate. What’s more, the occasion’s original purpose isn’t even what many Americans think it is.
But the day after Christmas — Boxing Day — is truly a fantastic time to take inventory of all of the new stuff that came into your home during the holidays, begin taking down those festive decorations, and decide what you want to keep and store.
The likeliest explanation behind Boxing Day’s beginnings says that British nobles and merchants would reward workers for their year of service with boxes of food on the day after Christmas.
Today, however, the event is commonly assumed to be the day people should box up the special-occasion china, Christmas ornaments and gifts that accumulated under the tree, and clean the house for everyday use. And why not? Entertaining guests and exchanging gifts produces both trash and treasure.
Whether you can start your Boxing Day decluttering on Dec. 26 or not, start with the trash. Gather up the shredded wrapping paper, kinked ribbons, dog-eared greeting cards, cracked ornaments, chipped glassware and burned-out lights … and chuck ’em. You don’t want to be unpacking anything less-than-perfect 11 months from now.
Next, there are going to be things you got (or got out) for the holidays that you just don’t like enough to pack away for next year: holiday supplies, mismatched decorations, tired tchotchkes and other odds-and-ends. If they no longer fit your holiday scheme and are in decent shape, don’t hide them in a closet! Bag them up and set them aside.
Now, find a place for the new stuff you and your family received as gifts. Is any of it an upgraded version of something you already have? You really don’t need that old sweater, extra gadget or whatever it is — you have a brand-new one! Bag or box those duplicates.
Note: If you really want to do a complete post-Christmas cleanup, get rid of two things for every new thing you try to integrate into your home and life, says Zen Habits. That way, you’ll get to enjoy your new gifts in a more clutter-free environment.
Finally, take all of those bagged and boxed castoffs and contact ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup. Within weeks, a truck will take those unwanted items off your hands, and they will be resold to support programs benefitting veterans.
And that will help make the New Year happier for you, your family and those who served. Here’s to a clutter-free 2018!
Decorations Need Decluttering, Too
Part of any holiday decluttering should be to get rid of the decorations you don’t want, can’t use or are saving for no good reason. Strings of lights that don’t work, for example, should be among the things you eliminate from your home immediately, Apartment Therapy says; admit to yourself that you probably aren’t going to fix them. Toss those greeting cards from Christmases past, too, and any specialty baking accessories — cookie cutters, colored sugars, etc. — you no longer use. Finally, donate surplus ornaments and holiday tchotchkes to ClothingDonations.org, where they can find new homes while helping fund veterans’ programs.
Decluttering Pays Holiday Dividends
If you haven’t done so already, do a quick decluttering around your home before you put up the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations. Each room in your home should take only one or two hours to declutter, according to Slow Your Home’s handy guide, and the rewards will be huge. Not only will you have more space for guests and gifts when the big event arrives, but you’ll also have a better idea of the things you and your family have already (and which are no longer of use or need to be replaced) before you shop. Decluttering will also help you decorate in a more mindful way now and into 2018.