My friends at Rubbish Works provide some more great tips on Spring Cleaning!

It’s that time of year again….time to spring clean! The early warm weather in St. Louis has posed a difficult decision:  take advantage of the weather and outdoor activities or clean the house?  If you’re like me, outdoor activities generally trump any cleaning projects; however, I know the cleaning has to be done sometime, right? Here are a few quick tips I use to help the cleaning process go faster to enjoy more time outside.

1.)    Focus on eliminating stuff before organization.  Don’t even think about how you wish to organize newly clean space.  Focus on what you want to get rid of (donating or throwing away).  Once you’ve purged the items in the area you are cleaning out, and then come up with an organizing plan of the items you have left.

2.)    Start with the garage if it is not already cleared. We’ve worked with a number of professional organizers who utilize cleared space in the garage for staging.  The idea is to remove items from inside the home and then create zones in the garage for donate and trash piles. Getting the donate or trash items out of the house will help you resist the urge to include them in the organizing process.   Items you are keeping still remain inside the home to be organized after getting rid of items you no longer want.

3.)    If you touch it, take action. If you pick up an item, decide what you would like to do with it then.  Are you keeping it? Donating it? Trashing it? Don’t put it in pile to decide later.

4.)    6 month rule. If you haven’t use it in 6 months (excluding holiday and seasonal items), it is probably time to remove it from your home.

5.)    5 second decision. I spoke with a woman a few months ago.  Her general rule of thumb when clearing space in her home: Within 5 seconds of looking at or touching an item, I should be able to decide why I have it and if I use it.  If it takes longer than 5 seconds to decide, it’s time to get rid of it.

6.) Once you finish determining which items you would like to keep, it is time to organize it all for easy, convenient access! Not good at organizing? Look into hiring a professional organizer.  Professional organizers offer a wide variety of services from literature, classes as well as onsite organizing.

Time to tackle those spring cleaning projects, and then reward yourself with time out in the nice weather!

Originally published March 19th 2012

P.S. Spring is here!  It is never too early to start your home search or get your home ready for the market.  This past year was the busiest year we had in home sales in 5 years.  This year could be even better!  There are large numbers of homes at below-market prices & the Interest rates are hovering around 3.5% !! Contact me for details today!

My friends at Rubbish Works provide some great tips on where to get started for Spring Cleaning!

Spring cleaning is in full swing. For some, it only takes a few hours to wash away the dirt, clutter and grime from the winter.  For others, like myself, it can be a real chore that takes an entire weekend, sometimes a week.  Occasionally, I get delayed starting spring cleaning because I simply just do not know where to start.

This weekend, Parade Magazine, which comes in the Sunday Post Dispatch, featured an article about decluttering the home.   Within the article, they described 10 things that you can get rid of in your home today.  This seems like the perfect place to start for spring cleaning! Here is a summary and a few of our own ideas on where to start:

From Parade Magazine:

1.)    Computer Print Outs: Save a digital copy of what you need or bookmark an article/blog

2.)    Paper Copies of Bills: Refer to internet or bank for proof of payment if you need it

3.)    Old Technology: VHS tapes, cassette tapes, etc.  This technology is outdated and obsolete. VCR’s and cassette players are no longer manufactured.

4.)    Work Out Equipment:  Use it or lose it.

5.)    Worn-out Linens: Rule of thumbà # of people in house x 2=how many of each linen item (towels, sheets, etc.) you should have (I didn’t know this! I’ll be going through our linen closet soon.)

6.)    Old Hair Accessories: Keep what you use daily or weekly.  Toss the rest.

7.)    Old Cell Phones: When you get a new phone, donate the old one to be refurbished to someone who can use it

8.)    Coat Hangers: Excess hangers only tempt you to buy more

9.)    Reminders of Past Hobbies: Interests change.  Get rid of the old, to make room for the new.

10.) Single Use Kitchen Gadgets: Get multipurpose items to declutter the kitchen

Other places to start:

1.)    Expired Food: Check the pantry and freezer for expired food

2.)    Food Storage Containers: Recycle those that are missing a lid or lids that are missing containers

3.)    Clothes that do not fit: Rule of thumb à keep one size lower and one size higher than you wear

Purging a few items today will make of spring cleaning a breeze!

Here’s a link to the article in case you missed it in the paper. https://www.parade.com/news/2012/04/22-is-your-stuff-weighing-you-down.html

Originally published on Thursday April 26th 2012

P.S. Spring is here!  It is never too early to start your home search or get your home ready for the market.  This past year was the busiest year we had in home sales in 5 years.  This year could be even better!  There are large numbers of homes at below-market prices & the Interest rates are hovering around 3.5% !! Contact me for details today!