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It has been lovely today to see lue skies and to head out for a walk and to be able to wear a lighter coat… it is a clear sign that spring is, finally, on the way.
And with it comes the need to sort out winter things and packing them away for use later in the year. I always find spring is a great time to clear through the children’s things; get rid of the clothes that are too small and pass them on to friends or charity shops, sort out the books and games that are no longer read or played with, or just too young for them. And sort out the endless boxes of ‘stuff’ that just seems to gather around the house – surely I can’t be alone with this?!
Over the years I have got better at mastering the spring clean, and here are some of my top tips for effective spring cleaning.
Be organised – and tackle one space at a time
For me, being organised is the key. Choose one space or room to focus on and set yourself a time limit. Go through things are sort into a pile of things to keep, things to give away, things to go in the bin and things to store for another time, for example, winter or for younger siblings.
I try and have boxes ready for the things I am giving away and the things going into storage. Depending on how much storage you need and whether you have loft space, I know many people convert their lofts so it leaves storage space at a premium, it is worth looking at self-storage options such as Currie Easy Self Storage. This can be a great option for those things you really don’t want to part with; when you’re paying to store something it really helps to focus the mind on what you really want to keep.
Once you’ve sorted the things to go either advertise on local thrift pages or take to a local charity shop – getting things out of the house will help to make things less cluttered and much clearer.
Think about how to use the space you have available
Once you know what you’re keeping it is worth spending a little time thinking about how to use the space you have available. I know that as my own children have grown, the way we use our space has changed too. Taking time to look at the space, and thinking about you use it, or want to use it, can really help you to create the space you want. It can be as simple as a lick of paint and some new soft furnishings or something more drastic like a new shelving solution or similar. We try and make use of baskets to store the children’s work in, as well as underbed storage boxes for their toys and games.
Be Ruthless
It can be really hard to say goodbye to some items, and I know there are some that I have struggled with to give away. Clothing that reminds me of certain things or books we have enjoyed, but the children have grown out of. It’s a sad reality that you can’t keep everything and you do need to be ruthless. The same with clothing too; it’s all too easy to keep hold of things that you might one day where again, but in reality will just end up stuck back in the wardrobe for another year.
Being ruthless can be tricky but will ultimately provide a less cluttered space and enable you to better see what you have available and help you to make better use of what you do have.
I find the annual spring clean a great way to usher in the warmer months, and helps you to keep on top better with general houshold tasks and management and means you have more time to enjoy the coming better weather.
