There’s something about the way Spring smells! Maybe it’s the melting snow, or the first flowers poking out or, maybe, we Canadians are just really sick of Winter and even the hint of warmer weather cheers us up.
Who knows?
Regardless, it’s hard to not feel happy and motivated as the days finally start to warm up. One common task that people take on in Spring is to declutter their homes.
Spring Cleaning: It’s the one time a year where spending an entire Saturday tidying seems like a celebration!
So, as you embark on your annual Spring Cleaning weekend, let us offer a few tips that can make the experience go as well as possible.
It’s one thing to be motivated to do a Spring Cleaning. It’s another to actually do it.
So, you should sit down and commit to a date and time for your cleaning. Put it in your Google or Outlook calendar so it’s real and so you can’t ignore it.
Then all that’s left to do is figure out what music to listen to as you get down to the task.
Although you will want to get rid of some of your things, there will be others that you will need later that you will want to keep.
But where? The whole idea of decluttering is to make more space for you to live in and enjoy. If you had the storage space now, your home wouldn’t be decluttered.
Luckily there are lots of affordable storage options that you can easily rent, for as long as you need.
Many self-storage units will allow 24/7 access, provide top-notch security, and are climate controlled. A good storage unit is a perfect place to keep seasonal items like Christmas ornaments, golf clubs, skis, gardening equipment, and more until it's time to enjoy them again.
If you already have a storage locker, you should start by cleaning that space before you get to your house.
See, sometimes you’re just not ready to let go. You knew last year that you were never going to use that coffee table that you had in your first place again, but it had so many memories attached to it that you just couldn’t imagine living without it.
So, you stored it. And, now, a year later, you had actually forgotten it was in the storage locker. It turns out you really could live without it. So, it’s time to find it a new home so it can be loved again.
That way, you’ll have room to add more items that you find this year that you can’t live without but can’t find a place for either.
As stated above, there are always items that you enjoy briefly each year but sit unused for the rest.
While doing your Spring Cleaning take an inventory of everything and ask whether it needs to be in your home and whether it needs to be there year-round.
After doing so you can decide to put it in your storage unit, sell it, or get rid of it
Once you have figured out what’s staying and what’s getting stored it’s time to get rid of the rest. Try to avoid adding it to a landfill. In some cases, the item might be too far gone to find it a new home, but most things can either be sold at a garage sale, given to a family member, or donated to a charity.
Failing that, there are debris removal services that you can hire that will recycle the material as much as possible to lower your environmental footprint.
We hope that these tips will help you declutter and get ready for another Summer!