Be honest, you probably have a chair in your room with a pile of clothes and maybe a drawer you haven’t opened in a year. You also have a box of things you’ve wanted to donate but you just keep forgetting to drop off. Needless to say, your room is just a mess of things you don’t use anymore.
Messy people are a bit of a paradox. At first glance, it looks like a tornado hit or as though someone ransacked your place. Every time you walk in you have to zig zag around a pile or God forbid, you take a step and you hear an audible crack, indicating exactly where you put your hair brush and glasses.
When I was younger and my mother would tidy up my room, I would just stand in the center and ask myself where everything was and how exactly it got there. One of my favorite mottos is “there’s a method to my madness,” which still holds true today. I’ll admit that tidying up is a necessity (for both my guests and my sanity).
Spring is the perfect time to regain control of your life, starting with your room. Here are some tips on getting started on the huge challenge of Spring cleaning.
What you’ll need before you begin:
Some cardboard boxes
Baking Soda
Surface Cleaners
Trash bags
Vacuum
Let’s get started.
Open your windows and let in the light.
It’s such a small thing, but it really makes a huge difference. Opening the windows allows for more air flow and ventilation in the room, making it less stuffy. Sunlight is also a natural disinfectant and makes cleaning all the more enjoyable. It’s also a good way to keep track of time without staring at a stressful clock.
Put some tunes on.
Unless you’re the type to work in silence, I recommend putting some music on. It’ll help keep your mood up and distract you from how long you’ll be cleaning. Besides, who wouldn’t want to clean to some catchy music? You can’t tell me you’ve never been caught singing into a hairbrush or dancing while vacuuming the floor. I even have a set playlist for when I do chores around the house. What? You can’t tell me you’ve never done this.
Wash your bed essentials.
Before even touching my clothes, I clean my bed first. The sheets are a lot bulkier so they tend to take longer to wash and dry. If your spring cleaning takes longer than a day, you don’t want to have to sleep on a mattress without sheets. If the weather is nice enough and you have the room, maybe you can try drying them on a clothesline in the sunlight. I have yet to find something that feels better than freshly cleaned sheets.
Gather all your dirty clothes.
The difficulty of this will depend on how bad you are with your clothes. I tend to have maybe two corners of my room occupied by piles of clothes, but I know some people who can’t even see their floor because of the mess. Gather them all up and throw them in the wash. Better yet, if you have old clothes in your closet with a musty smell wash those too. You’ll need them clean and ready later on.
Take out the trash.
Hopefully your room isn’t full of old dishes and cold coffee mugs like some people I know. Maybe you have a couple candy wrappers or water bottles hanging around the house that you “forgot” to throw away. It might not seem like much in the beginning, but you’ll surprise yourself with how many trash bags you might have to fill. Save some trash bags, though. You’ll need those for the next tip.
Time to sort things out.
This is where the hoarders tend to struggle. Empty out your drawers and closets if you can. You’re going to take a good look at all your things. It’s annoying but you’ll thank me later.
When I clean, I make three piles: keep, donate and throw. With all your clothes cleaned and the trash taken out, it should be a lot easier to move around your house or room. This is where the boxes come in. If you haven’t worn something in a while, chances are you’re probably not going to wear it again. Try not to keep too many things for sentimental value. That dress you couldn’t wear because it was too cold? Keep. That small shirt from elementary school? Donate. The old ratty underwear with holes in it? Throw.
Wipe down surfaces and vacuum your floors.
You’d be surprised at how dusty your desk gets. Since we’re so focused on our computers, we don’t notice just how dirty our work stations are. Clear your tables, desks and dressers and wipe them down. Don’t forget your window sills either. I like using the lavender Method All-Purpose Cleaner because the smell is very relaxing and it cleans nicely.
I learned a nice vacuum hack from my sister. First, vacuum your carpet like normal. This will suck up all the loose particles from the material. Then, sprinkle baking soda all over your carpet. Yup. You’re going to make another mess right after cleaning. Let it sit for at least an hour. This will absorb any odors instead of covering them up. Then just vacuum it all back up. As a dog owner, this saved my nose a lot.
Do you have any cleaning tips we left out? Let us know. We need all the help we can get.