Although springtime in 2020 has looked a little bit different than what we’re probably used to, that innate urge to clean and organize probably hasn’t really left most of us. Something inside of us just wants to honor the age-old tradition of spring cleaning! As we look forward to the official leap into summertime, now’s your last chance to commit to your spring cleaning.
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Just kidding!
You can do a deep clean any time, no matter the season! However, since these longer, brighter days tend to get us motivated to do the refreshing deep cleaning and organizing in our homes, we thought we’d offer up some tips we’ve been using over the years to overcome clutter and make the most out of home organization!
Click here for some of our tips in video form.
And keep reading below for BONUS tips and creative clutter-busting solutions!
1. Start Small
When you get started, it may be tempting to try and tackle everything at once. If you’re like most people, you’re probably riding some anticipatory cleaning high just imagining how great your home will feel when it’s all fresh and sparkly-clean. However, starting small can help you preserve your energy and motivation. Tackle the small tasks first, like just putting things away or cleaning the countertops. Avoid feeling overwhelmed by chunking your to-do list into small projects. Moving room to room is also a good idea. Start with the easy stuff like a guest bedroom or bathroom. Once you’ve built some momentum and are feeling motivated, start moving on to larger tasks or rooms!
Make the most of your small spaces with custom solutions to help keep them organized and functional!
2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
As you work your way through the house, you’ll probably find some things you don’t need anymore or maybe even have multiples of. Start a box or two for donations! You can also recycle much of what cannot be donated. When you come across boxes or bags that you don’t need anymore, recruit them to your cause and use them to separate out items to “Keep,” “Donate,” and “Recycle” categories.
Photo by Gary Chan on Unsplash
3. Go Through Everything
Yes, we mean it! EVERYTHING! Empty out every closet and drawer that you can and repeat step 2.
Give special focus to areas of your home in which you might put things away longterm and then forget about them. This includes work areas and closets. Make use of open shelving so that you don’t forget what you have! This will also encourage you to keep items organized so that the room doesn’t feel cluttered.
Custom shelves we built to display an action figure collection!
4. Find a Home for Everything
Make sure everything that you keep belongs somewhere specific in your house. Store like items together to make finding them later much easier on you. Let’s be real, you won’t have time down the road to search all over the house for something that you just shoved out of the way during your spring cleaning!
A great example of what we mean here can usually be found in the mudrooms and entryways of people’s homes. When you’ve got people coming in and leaving at various points in the day, various personal items tend to accumulate in these spaces because there really isn’t a home for them. Shoes tend to take over, keys wind up on the floor or haphazardly tossed aside (and then are IMPOSSIBLE to find when you’re in a hurry to leave, right?!)
Using custom storage solutions so that there’s a place for coats, shoes, purses, dog leashes, shoes, and all that other stuff that seems to pile up in these rooms is a great way to reduce clutter AND to be able to find what you need as you’re leaving!
5. Think Vertically
That’s right, think up not out! Utilize wall space for storage. Is there an area of your home in which you could add shelving or hooks to increase that valuable vertical storage real estate? One of the BEST ways you can do this is to install custom built-in storage where you need it the most! We find that entertainment rooms benefit a lot from this type of storage hack because of all the wires that tend to clutter up the space. Working with a custom built-in entertainment center will help you hide wires and store gaming systems, stereos and sound systems, movies, cable boxes and internet routers, books, you name it!
Hard to believe this was just a blank wall before we got to it, right?
Check out our video in which we explain the entire process and show you how seamless and gorgeous custom built-in storage can be!
Creative Solutions for Any Space
One of our favorite things to do with clients over at Raleigh Woodworks is to help people find creative solutions to storage and organization problems that work seamlessly in their homes. Tidying up and organizing everything in spring cleaning isn’t a one size fits all process, so coming up with unique, beautiful, and creative ways to make your home as functional as it is warm and lovely shouldn’t be either! We never stop daydreaming about beautiful ways to incorporate storage into a room, eye-catching cabinetry, or organizational hacks. Let us know how we can help you during your spring cleaning this year!
Have questions? Great! We love to hear ’em. Reach out if you need us. Otherwise, we’ll catch up with you again soon here on the blog as well as over on our Facebook/Instagram pages!
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