Serene and simple spring cleaning

Does the thought of spring cleaning make your shoulders rise to the tips of your earlobes? Or maybe your face puckers as if you just bit into a sour lemon? Is the task so daunting that you need to breathe deeply and count to 10?

I know, I know. Let me explain.

Open any drawer or cupboard that hasn’t been utilized in a while. As your eyes scan the contents from top to bottom, I just bet that you feel overwhelmed, as onerous as viewing a hike from the bottom of a humongous mountain.

That does not have a path.

How the heck are you going to climb that?

Don’t worry, my lovelies; I’ve got you, and we’re going to do this the serene and simple way.

Am I a professional organizer? Nope.

But do I know what I’m doing? Yes.

When you are searching for a recipe, you don’t need to take a class at Le Cordon Bleu. Your mother/aunt/friend/person-that-you-follow-on-social-media will do just fine, right? Same with these three organizing tips that are not overwhelming in the least bit. In fact, these simple steps will make you feel like you just climbed Mount Everest, without the need for any deep breathing exercises.

Pinky promise. Here we go!

Charity calling!

You know when charitable organizations call homeowners to donate used household materials such as cookware, clothing, and books?

Don’t hang up! Take the call!

Commit to donating one box of items. Yes, ONE. Did I say this will not be overwhelming? Didn’t I pinky promise? I did.

Go and find a box. And if you don’t have a box, use a garbage bag.

Fill that box/bag with things you don’t need anymore. As a rule of thumb, if something hasn’t been used in two years, in the donation box/bag, it goes. I recently donated about eight used binders that my kids used in high school. They were sitting in a drawer, used for their purpose, and then untouched. For years.

Leaving that box of binders and other things I was not using on the curb felt incredibly liberating. I tell you; I just want to dance in the middle of my street and yell whoopie!

The purpose of filling up one box – and just one - is that the next time a charity calls, you will do it again. And again. And again. And the next thing you know, your closet/drawer that resembled Everest is now a picture of you standing at the top.

You did it.

15 minutes

There are times when I need to do something with my hands, but I don’t feel like baking or cooking. And I don’t want to do it for long. Say, 15 minutes or so.

That’s when I tackle the front hall closet. It is the first closet that you see when you enter the house. Getting home after a long day and opening a neatly organized closet with everything in its place can feel like a day at the spa.

In order to feel as if you are wearing a fluffy white bathrobe with matching slippers while holding a glass of cucumber and lemon water, keep reading.

During the colder months when winter apparel is stored in the front closet, match ‘em up and stack ‘em. Mittens go with mittens; hats go with hats. A tried-and-true rule of thumb from any professional organizer, says my friends who are in the biz.

If there is a missing glove/mitten, put it in a pile. Wait a few days to see if its mate shows up. If it doesn’t, be gone! Off to the charity of your choice it goes.

If you see an item that looks old and too small, donate it. Recently, I found a hat that no longer fits my son’s 22-year-old head, as it was from the 6th grade.

Once the warm weather hits, take all the winter stuff, place it in a bin and store it until the cold weather returns.

Now you have room for spring jackets, running shoes, sport balls, and bike helmets.

Where is home?

Where are my car keys? Where is that sweater that I wanted to wear? Where is my purse?

Sound familiar?

We all misplace our things, and I am even guilty of it, too. Shocking – I know.

I have found that the best way to keep your stuff where you can grab it at the ready is to have a “home” for it.

But I get it.

At the end of a day, I am so pooped. The temptation to throw my keys in the air without a care to where it lands is as strong as my morning coffee. As I hold my keys in the air, ready to aim, I catch myself. In the foreseeable future, as in the next day, I don’t want to run around screaming where the heck are my keys while I sweat like a marathon runner, panicking because I am late for a meeting. I make sure I place my keys in their “home” where I can find them when I need them. This way, I don’t have to think twice about where they could be.

The same goes for my purse or anything else that I use daily.

There you have it.

Serene and simple spring cleaning that can be done box by box to a charity of your choice. In a quick 15 minutes, your front closet can make you say spaahhh after you get home after a long day. By finding your items a “Home”, you won’t run around your home screaming like a mad person looking for that thing you need.

I kept my pinky promise.