Home Decluttering Tips

Woman organizing closet title=Spring is in full swing, which means you started your annual home decluttering weeks ago, right? You didn’t? No problem. You’re not the only late bloomer out there. And we’ve got some cleaning tips to help you declutter and organize your home in less than two weeks. Ready? Let’s get to it.

1. CREATE A SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST


A true spring clean doesn’t happen overnight, or even over a weekend. After all, you’re busy. And as much as you’d like to, you can’t push pause on work or the kids’ clarinet lessons to take care of home and room organization.

What you can do is map out a plan of attack and get your organization ideas on paper in the form of a daily checklist. Make a list of all your chores. When one is finished, check it off and move on to the next. This will give you more insight into whether your home decluttering will take one week or a bit longer.

In addition, you’ll be able to break your cleaning down into more manageable tasks. Meeting each small goal will keep your momentum going and you’ll have a visual representation of the progress you’re making.

2. DO A LITTLE HOME DECLUTTERING EACH DAY


It’s hard to work home and room organization into your weekday routine. You’re likely tired when you get home from the office, or are wiped out from spending a day caring for the kids. But you’ll find tackling a task or two on weekdays is well worth it in the long run.

Save massive projects like closet organization or installing extra shelves in kitchen cabinets for the weekends. You’ll just be overwhelmed if you attempt these tasks without ample time. And if you don’t complete them, you might get discouraged and abandon your spring cleaning entirely.

Instead, set reasonable expectations for yourself. Here’s an example of how you could take care of cleaning chores throughout a workweek:

• Monday — Clean the bathrooms.
• Tuesday — Wash and steam the kitchen floor.
• Wednesday — Vacuum carpeted areas
• Thursday — Scrub the backsplash and the microwave and wipe down countertops.
• Friday — Take a break! You deserve it.

You can also get the family in on the home decluttering. Create a chore wheel (Pinterest has plenty of options) so there’s no confusion about who declutters what. Include organization and cleaning tips on the wheel to make sure the jobs get done properly.

Inspire the kids to help by offering them allowance or rewards as incentive. For example, you can set a new Wi-Fi password each day. Have kids earn access to the password by completing their chores. Genius, right?

3. GET ORGANIZED


If you want to take on home decluttering the right way, you can’t simply pick up items and put them back where they were. You need to spend some time on room organization, too.

However, you shouldn’t try to organize the entire house in one day. Take your time and map out your organization ideas on a room-by-room basis. Start with smaller areas, like closets, kitchen cabinets and bathrooms. Get these out of the way so you’ve tackled the hardest spots first. Then work your way to bigger spaces, which tend to be less cluttered.

To make the most out of your organization, declutter by donating old clothes, shoes and toys that you don’t need or use anymore. Then invest in storage necessities like under-the-bed containers, clothes organizers and bins to hold cleaning products. You’ll soon find the more organized a room is, the less time it takes to keep tidy.

4. KNOW WHEN TO ASK FOR HELP


If you have a really big home or a crazy schedule, you may want to bring in reinforcements to complete your home decluttering. Cleaning services are just the ticket in helping you finish your spring clean before autumn leaves start falling.

You can have a maid service come in and start the initial scrub down so you only have to focus on organization and maintaining your home afterwards. Or you may decide all the time professional cleaning teams save you is well worth the cost of having them visit on a regular basis. Either way, you’ll be able to come home and relax knowing your spring cleaning is completed.

There’s no need to skip your spring clean just because you’re a bit late to the game. Grab those closet dividers and storage bins. Your home will be in top shape before you know it.

Looking for more housekeeping advice? We’ve got you covered when it comes to cleaning tips. We’ll even give you some closet organization ideas that can take the smallest of spaces to a new level.