5 Tips to Spring Cleaning and Organizing Inexpensively
Does watching the show “Hoarders” stir up fears that you may be walking a thin line between compulsive pack rat and collector of needless items? It’s a scary thought! However a great way of controlling your old collection of magazines or those clothes you haven’t worn in a decade is to clean and organize according to season.
The best way of encouraging yourself to clean out your closet is to coordinate with the seasons; this will inspire you into performing the mundane task. For example, a new school year is the perfect time to clear out old clothes and school supplies, Christmas time is a great time to make room for gifts of toys, clothes and jewelry and of course Spring to get rid of seasonal clothes and get a fresh start. Alas we Spring Clean!
You can do all the following at once but that may be a little overwhelming. Taking these steps in stages may be the best approach and if you do it often then the next time it can be done quicker.
1. Closet Organization
Old magazines keep boots upright
I f you don’t have closet space there are many ways to make space in your closet then transfer those items to another area so that what is used daily is easily accessible. First decide which items can be stored and which ones need to be disposed of. Boots can be placed in the back of the closet with rolled up magazines inside them to keep their shape. Soft or casual boots and sweaters can be stored under the bed in boxes. Moving items that you need now to the front of the closet and others you won’t use
Wire Bras Organized on Hanger
this season to the back gives you quick accessibility. Grouping and hanging all the tank tops, short sleeved and long sleeved shirts together is a good idea then within these categories they can be sorted by color. If there is wall space available hanging purses can help keep their shape. If you are short on drawer space intimates like bras can be hung in closet from a hanger. After you have determined what you don’t want you can either donate (tax deduction) or consign gently used items for cash.
2.Store in unused areas
It’s important to get creative when spring cleaning and organizing especially if you are short on space. Finding empty areas for storage is the key if you are short on closet space. Although obvious, storing winter clothes and other things like Halloween costumes under the bed can free up a lot of closet space. Using inexpensive under the bed storage bags protect clothes and keeps them neat until next season. Night stands, under the sink areas, kitchen cabinets, all these can serve as good storage areas if organized with trays and containers.
Under the bed storage bag
3. Organize Paperwork
Paperwork can create a lot of clutter so reading your mail as soon as you get it then making two piles, one for what needs to be filed and another for what needs to be addressed in the next few days can control paper clutter. Using clear boxes or nice decorative boxes for filing or storing paperwork can also help. Keeping all your paperwork in one location in files and to do boxes will make it easier to keep track of everything. Important documents can also be scanned and stored electronically (see tip 5).
4. Organize Kitchen Pantry
The kitchen pantry is another good place to spring clean since it’s used frequently and clutters often. Throwing away all old foods, candy from the holidays and rearranging things into sections will offer up some piece of mind. If you keep old grocery bags, which can be used as potty bags for pets amongst other things, store them by tying them up in knots then inserting them into an old box.
5. Extract Data From and Sell old Electronics
Hard drive available at Best Buy
For those with large music collections organizing your music can provide great pleasure. Do you have old computers lying around with music sitting inside their hard drives? With an external hard drive you can get one at an electronic store for around $85, you can centralize and store all your music as well as pictures and documents. This provides you with a back-up to all your tunes, pics and docs then you can copy them into your current computer. After you have extracted the data from your old computers you can put the computers up for sale on Craig’s list or sell them through a second hand electronics site like nextworth.com. Remember there is always a way of recycling or reusing anything you don’t want.
Welcome to my blog my name is Charo Hidalgo Gato - ONeil. Here I write about the things I enjoy most like art, music, foodie finds, traveling, sustainable living, cool children's activities, and the occasional rant. I'm a freelance writer, social observer (also a participant), mom, and someone who loves to discover new things first. Leave a comment if you enjoy and if not also leave one.
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