Spring! The time of year when the sun begins to shine bright and warm again, the flowers and trees start to thrive, and everything around you comes to life. While the birds and critters clean and renovate their nests and dens, we should be doing the same with our homes! It is time to declutter and put in place those organizational tools and habits that you’ve been craving to make your life easier.

Now, we know the word “cleaning” is not on most people’s list of words that make them jump for joy, but there’s no denying how wonderful we feel when it is through and we have a clean space that allows us the mental freedom to effortlessly flow through our day-to-day tasks.

To start off, let’s identify your cleaning style.

For some, blasting some music, dancing around, and creating the “my life is a music video” vibe is the perfect way for them to have the motivation and joy to complete the task at hand. For others, this can feel hectic, and they may need to draw their inspiration from a podcast, a movie, or even some simple peace and quiet. Oh! Let’s not forget… “phone a friend” is always an option and a wonderful one too!

Once you’ve identified your cleaning style, let’s choose the space or spaces that need to be tackled. What about the space or spaces are you not feeling, and what could be done to make them more enjoyable?

Now that we’ve established what your cleaning style is and what spaces are to be done, let’s focus on sanitation. Wiping those walls down, cleaning the blinds, and freshening up the floors. A polished environment makes it much easier to tackle our next stage: decluttering.

In this stage, break down your belongings into two groups: what you are keeping and what no longer serves you. This can be tricky, as it’s generally not easy to let go of something. A couple of thought-provoking questions can be supportive in helping you to figure this out:

1. Does it spark joy?

2. Is it Useful or Beautiful? William Morris once said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or beautiful.

3. Have I used this within two years?

Our designer Ash says, “My favorite thing to do is throw away 10 items every day for 30 days.”

Now that you have what you are keeping in front of you, categorize them into groups that seem fitting to the space. Can some of these items be put away as a seasonal switch? If so, this is a great way to store away belongings you want, but simply do not need in the coming weeks, and create more flow room for the items you do want/need in the present. 

Then, honestly ask yourself what the overall function of this space is. This will help you to see how to best store and arrange the items you are keeping out, and what tools may need to be brought into the space to have the objective completed. For example, what space and materials are needed for storing shoes is going to differ from your jewelry.

Now that you’ve gotten down to the nitty-gritty by both sanitizing and decluttering the space, establish a schedule moving forward that will allow you to keep the space in a pleasant state. This will keep you from having to tackle such a big project next time. Decide which cleaning tasks are daily, weekly, and monthly to avoid falling behind.

Spring Cleaning doesn’t have to be daunting, in fact, it can be a huge reset for the habits we bring forward, relieving stress and making our daily habits more relaxed and peaceful.

Identifying a problem, creating a solution, and staying consistent with the maintenance can help us achieve more than we thought. The time it takes to do this is nothing compared to the time saved, peace of mind, and gratitude you’ll get in return.