Spring Cleaning | Decluttering and Organizing

When getting organized, I always suggest starting with the areas you spend the most time in. For most people, that would be the kitchen, the primary bedroom and primary bathroom in your house. Those are the first two places I start my day. When I have a clean kitchen and primary bathroom, my day always seems to start off better.

The best way to keep your main areas organized is to declutter first. You can either do this in one long session of a few hours (or days depending on your situation) or break it up over a long period of time. I have noticed with kids, I take advantage when I seem to have a moment. It’s hard to plan out because you don’t know when they’ll be engrossed in play and when they want you to play with them.

When you declutter, the main two questions are

Do you use the item?

Do you love the item?

If you can’t answer yes to either of these questions, it needs to go. Minimum, not be out in the space of your house. If it’s an item you’ll need in the future like toys for the next baby or a turkey roasting pan you use once a year, it needs to go somewhere into storage. I keep our baby items in a closet that we don’t use very often in case we need them again. I keep our large cooking pots and pans on a high shelf. I want to keep them for large family gatherings, but I don’t want them in a prime real estate place in my kitchen. I save those spots for more frequently used items. 

Decluttering the Kitchen and Pantry

The kitchen is the heart of the home. Cheesy saying but very true. When I’m home, I spend most of my time in the kitchen. For our meals to run smoothly, I need to know where everything is. For clean up to run smoothly, we need less items (plus it helps my husband is always putting away the same items so he knows where they go).

Decluttering in the kitchen focuses on the question “Do you use it?” There are a few items in my kitchen I love, but they are also frequently used items. If you don’t use a pot or utensil in your kitchen, it either needs to be donated or put away where you can find it when you do use it. If you only have a few minutes, focus on a drawer or cabinet at a time. If you can find a few hours, take time to declutter your entire kitchen. Bonus points if you can organize to make it more functional!

When going through your kitchen drawers, take out items you don’t use. You can also notice any items you hate that you’d like to replace this year. Sometimes, there are cooking utensils you hate but you need to keep them until they can be replaced. If you can, replace them this week and the old ones can go!

In the pantry, check expiration dates and donate items you know you don’t use. We are coming off of a pandemic and an ice storm. If you bought it in a panic, but it’s not something you would use, get rid of it. You can keep one or two items for an emergency, but you don’t need a pantry full of canned beans your family doesn’t normally eat.

When you’re placing items back in your pantry, keep in mind how you use the space. Do you want snacks accessible to your kids? Do you want snacks easily accessible to you? Do you want baking items hidden or out where you can reach them easily? This all depends on your cooking habits and what you prefer! There’s no one size fits all pantry organization. How it works best for you is the way to organize it!

Decluttering the Primary Bedroom and Bathroom

The other place I like to focus on is the primary bedroom and bathroom – the other place in the house you spend most of your time. It is also a place for you to relax and get ready for sleep. You want these rooms to calm your mind, not stress it out from too much clutter.

The main question I want you to focus on here is “Do you love it?” This space should be full of items you love. If you like to have a lot of items around, do that in here. If you like a more minimalist look, keep less items. Again, it all depends on what makes you happy.

For your bathroom, go through your products and get rid of any items you don’t use. Even if something was expensive, if it didn’t work, it’s just taking up space and upsetting you everytime you see it. Once you get rid of it, you won’t think about it! Then, place the items you use daily in an easy to reach spot. I keep mine in a cabinet, but a drawer may work better for you.

Then, put the items you don’t use as often in another easy to reach spot. I keep my hair dryer and curling iron in the next drawer below my everyday items. This way, when I do blow dry my hair, I can reach it easily but I don’t have to see it everyday.

For your bedroom, please only keep items you love in there. Don’t let it fill up with baby and kids items, then you’re sleeping in all of their things (except if a child is still sleeping in your room of course).  I want you to look around your bedroom and feel calm, whatever that means to you! For me, I have very little in my bedroom. Physical clutter makes me anxious, so I try to remove as much as possible. That way, when I wake up in the morning, I have an easy walk to my serene bathroom to get my day started!

Decluttering your Closet

The last place I would like you to focus on is your closet. This is another place you spend some time. I want you to be able to go in your closet and find something to wear that you love. So, if you don’t love an item, please donate it – even if you’ve never worn it, even if you used to love it. If you don’t currently love an item, you won’t choose to wear it first. 

The mental energy we spend choosing what to wear is a lot. If you only have items you love in your closet, you will spend less energy choosing clothes to wear. You will have the choice of items that look good on you and you want to wear. Also, think about your current life. If you are a mom and on the floor with kids everyday, having legging and comfortable tops accessible is important. If you need to dress up everyday, make sure those items are in a place where you can reach them easily and have a system to know when to take them to get dry cleaned. If you are the mom on the floor, don’t have a closet full of outfits from when you worked in an office all week. It doesn’t fit your life anymore. Donate them to someone who needs them. If you ever do go back to working full-time, trends will have changed anyway so you’ll need new clothes even if you keep the old ones!

Spring is a great time to focus on decluttering the spaces you see everyday. It will free up space in your mind rather than worrying about the clutter around your house. That way, you can focus on more important things!