Organizing Your Way » Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning Party: Decluttering 101

Mandi Ehman — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:42:00 +0000

This post was first published on May 4, 2009 as part of the Spring Cleaning Party. However, effective decluttering is the foundation of an organized home, and I thought this post was worth repeating!

Day One of the Spring Cleaning Party starts with a “clean sweep” of your home. Tsh describes more about the process in her post today as well as in Spring Cleaning for Normal People. The basic premise is to start your spring cleaning by making a quick pass through every room in your home to clear any trash or clutter that you know you want to get rid of. Carry a give/sell box and a trash bag with you and grab the obvious things to clear off surfaces (no digging in cabinets or closets yet!).

For some people, decluttering can be a very emotional experience. It’s hard to let go of “stuff” for a variety of reasons – sentimentality, fear of needing it later, pride, and so on.

If you’re not ready for the clean sweep method, what are some other methods you could try?

Just a Box

Pick a medium-sized box and promise yourself that you’ll find enough things to let go of to fill that box. Don’t pick a shoe box for this project, but if you’re struggling with the idea of decluttering, you won’t want to pick a huge box either. The goal is to just fill the box. Once you’re done, you can stop unless you decide at that point that you want to keep going.

Set a Timer

If your home is filled with stuff that needs to be decluttered, the idea of doing a clean sweep until the surfaces are clear may be very overwhelming. Try setting a timer for 30 minutes or so and decluttering just for that amount of time. When the timer goes off, you may be so energized by your progress that you keep going, or you may be exhausted from the emotional aspects of it and decide that’s all you can handle for the day. Either is okay!

Pack It In Storage

Maybe you want to declutter, but part of you is afraid of regretting it later on. If so, try this method. Instead of labeling your boxes with Give/Sell, label them as “Decluttering – Storage”. Pack up those things you think you want to get rid of, but put them in your basement or attic instead of getting rid of them entirely. Keep them there and see what happens. If you realize after a month or two that there’s something in there you can’t live with out, by all means get it out and put it back in its place. If, however, as is often the case, you never touch those boxes again, then you’ll know you’re ready to add them to the yard sale or charity piles!

Decluttering & Spring Cleaning Together

What I love about Tsh’s method is that decluttering, cleaning and organizing go hand-in-hand. Hey, you’re emptying the cabinets anyway, so you might as well do all three tasks!

But are there other options?

Sure there are!

For example, I’ve already made one pass through of every cabinet, closet and storage area of my home to declutter. At that time, the thought of cleaning every nook and cranny on top of my decluttering was a little overwhelming, so I just focused on sorting through the stuff.

There are, of course, pros and cons to doing it this way:

:: My husband was working on a lot of dusty/messy house projects as I was decluttering. If I would have spring cleaned then, I would have just been frustrated with him for getting everything dirty again. But I didn’t want to put off decluttering either, so I went ahead with that part of the process.

:: Some of what I’ll be doing is going to feel very repetitive, and there will almost certainly be areas where I wish I had just taken a few more minutes to clean the first time I went through them.

:: On the other hand, I’ve noticed that I tend to be willing to part with more stuff the more times I organize a cabinet or closet. I’m hoping that as I spring clean, I’ll find even more things to add to the giveaway/sell pile. In fact, I found a cheese knife the other day that I never use. I’m not sure why it’s still in the drawer after the first round of decluttering!

Not Ready to Declutter?

What if you’re simply not ready to start the process of decluttering at all? Can you still spring clean?

Of course you can!

There is no doubt that your spring cleaning project will take you more time each day because you’ll simply have more things to move and clean around and under, but there’s no reason you have to sit out and avoid cleaning just because you’re not ready to declutter.

There are many benefits to decluttering, and both Tsh and I feel fairly strongly about living simply and eliminating clutter, but if it’s simply not something you’re ready, willing or able to tackle right now, then simply do what you can.

How do you feel about decluttering? Is it something that excites you or does it make you want to skip the Spring Cleaning Party altogether? What is the biggest thing holding you back?

Support our sponsors:
:: Reduce your piles (and your stress!) with Simplify 101’s Organize Your Paper Clutter workshop (starts 3/9).
:: Mabel’s Labels: Your number one choice for children’s labels!
:: Achieve your goals with the Life & Goal Organizer from Get Organized Wizard.
:: Check out the Plan to Eat Online Meal Planner, because eating at home should be easier.

Question of the Day: Do You Use Color Coding to Help You Organize?

Mandi Ehman — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:28:46 +0000

source: Jean Ruaud

One of the tips that was emphasized during both Office Max webcasts I attended (about organizing your home office and helping kids organize for back-to-school) is to color code your calendar, files, etc. so that each family member has their own color and everything can be easily filed or found by its color.

My girls aren’t yet old enough that we really have separate schedules or files to maintain for each of them, so we don’t really use color coding in this way, but I’ve shared my main filing system before, and I do use color coding there.

But what I really want to know is this:

Do you use color coding in your home to help you organize? If so, how?

Do you have any unusual ways you use color to simplify your life?

What’s an area that you think you could organize more easily if you started using color?

Have you ever abandoned a color-coding system because it wasn’t actually simplifying your life?

Can’t wait to hear your experiences!

Reader Question: Helping Others Get Control of Their Clutter

Mandi Ehman — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:44:03 +0000

source: Skeggy

Erica recently asked if I have any tips for how to help other people get control of their clutter. She’s concerned about a family member whose health is starting to be affected by all of the stuff in her house. Although this person agrees that the clutter is a problem, she has excuses for everything Erica tries to help her let go of, and Erica is not sure how to help her get past it and do what needs to be done.

This is such a tough one, especially to see someone’s health declining and know what they need to do even though they can’t seem to bring themselves to make the changes necessary, and I have a few ideas that may help:

Remember It’s Their Choice

Unfortunately, I do think that the first step is to remember that you cannot force anyone to make these changes. Even when caring for older or elderly family members, it’s important to remember that they’re still autonomous adults who have the right to make decisions – even destructive ones. It’s not easy to sit by and watch that happen, but you have to be sure that you’re not allowing yourself to feel guilty over their decisions. The best you can do is encourage, help and support them along the way, but if that doesn’t work, it is not your fault.

Talk Frequently About the Benefits

This process will not likely be quick or easy. Change is hard, and letting go of stuff that we’ve held onto for a long time is even harder. Keeping that in mind, talk frequently about the benefits of letting go. Talk about the people who have been helped by donations from others. Talk about the money that other people have made selling their stuff. Talk about how easy it is to clean and find things after decluttering. And in this case, talk about the health benefits. Even if it doesn’t seem to be helping, continue to talk about the benefits that most appeal to that particular person in a conversational, non-confrontational way.

Look at the Various Options

Consider what may be holding this person back and why they may be resisting letting go.

:: Is it because they connect their stuff to memories of people or events? Perhaps finding a way to record those memories as you go would be helpful. Giving items away to people in need or selling them to collectors is a way to ensure that the items will be treasured by their next owner as much as they deserve.

:: Is it because the thought of going through everything is simply overwhelming? Would they prefer to have someone else do it while they’re not around?

:: Is it fear that they may need or miss something down the road? If so, start with the “out of sight, out of mind” method and simply box up and store the things that are no longer used regularly rather than getting rid of them. This solves the health issue without becoming traumatic for someone who is unable or unwilling to let go.

Go Slowly

Remember that decluttering is a process, not a one-time event. Even small successes should be celebrated, and the process will hopefully gain momentum as the person sees the benefits of decluttering firsthand. It can become almost addicting, and while it may start of slowly, focus on each success rather becoming discouraged by the slow progress.

Has anyone been through a situation like this with a family member that they love and care for? Do you have any advice to help Erica as she struggles to find the best way to help?

Spring Cleaning Party: Final Wrap-Up

Mandi Ehman — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:49:03 +0000

source: karenwithak

During the last two weeks, we’ve talked a lot about the benefits of decluttering as part of your spring cleaning. Having an uncluttered and simple home makes cleaning easier, gives you less to think about and sort through on a daily basis and can even change the atmosphere of your home.

It’s okay if you didn’t make it through all ten days during the party. Don’t lose you momentum now, but keep pushing forward. I promise the benefits will be worth the hard work you put in!

If you haven’t yet started your spring cleaning and are intrigued by the idea of focusing on one room each day for ten days, I highly recommend Spring Cleaning for Normal People, an ebook published by Tsh at Simple Mom. She lays out an easy-to-follow schedule and includes tips and steps for making what can be an overwhelming task a little easier to tackle.

And whether you’re just getting started, missed a room during the party or simply want a refresher, I’ve listed all the posts from the Spring Cleaning Party below so that you can easily find them:

Spring Cleaning Party Introduction (from Simple Mom)
Choosing Your Cleaning Supplies

Day 1: Clean Sweep (from Simple Mom)
Decluttering 101

Day 2: Living Room, Part 1 (from Simple Mom)
Deep Cleaning Your Living Room

Day 3: Living Room, Part 2 (from Simple Mom)

Day 4: Kitchen, Part 1 (from Simple Mom)
How Many Small Appliances Does a Person Really Need?

Day 5: Kitchen, Part 2 (from Simple Mom)
Tackling the Kitchen

Day 6: The Bathrooms (from Simple Mom)
Bathrooms That Sparkle

Day 7: The Kids’ Rooms, Part 1 (from Simple Mom)
Getting Control of the Kids’ Rooms

Day 8: The Kids’ Rooms, Part 2 (from Simple Mom)
Toys, Toys and More Toys

Day 9: The Master Bedroom (from Simple Mom)
Making Your Bedroom a Haven

Day 10: The Front Entry & Hallway (from Simple Mom)
Cleaning Up the Front Entry

Spring Cleaning Party: Cleaning up the Front Entry

Mandi Ehman — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:41:41 +0000

Today is the last day of the Spring Cleaning Party, and our focus is on making our entry ways and foyers welcoming for our family as well as for guests. If you’re feeling tired or worn out and are tempted to just skip today, I encourage you to visit Tsh’s post before you even think about starting. She’s got some great encouragement today about the benefits of an uncluttered home, and I think it’ll give you the push you need to finish strong!

The foyer is an important area of our homes because it sets the tone when we walk through the front door. Having a welcoming entry way and a clutter free foyer lets us come through the front door without the stress of all that stuff staring back at us. Our entry ways also create the first impression for guests and visitors. This doesn’t mean it needs to be Martha Stewart-like, but adding small touches of beauty – a welcome mat, a plant on the porch or stoop, a wreath on the front door, etc. – makes our homes more inviting.

Unfortunately, it’s easy for these areas to become a catch-all for clutter as well, especially if your family is often on the go. Try a few of these methods for containing that clutter:

Organizing Shoes

We keep all of our shoes in our front closet. Unfortunately, with three little girls who each have several pairs, it was quickly getting out of hand. My solution was to buy one of those over-the-door mesh organizers. Instead of hanging it on the door, though, I hung it on the wall inside the closet and put the girls’ shoes at their level so that we can all get what we need when we go outside. During the winter, I also use this organizer for mittens and hats.

If you don’t have a closet, you could use a nice shoe rack, a bench with built-in storage or cube-shaped baskets to store these things in your foyer. As Tsh’s pictures show, shoes and coats don’t necessarily have to be hidden away as long as they’re kept neat and everything has a place.

Seasonal Gear

We rotate our seasonal gear so that our front closet doesn’t become too cluttered. During the summer, our winter jackets and boots go in the back of the guest closet, and the hats, scarves and gloves get packed away in the attic. We store the seasonal gear in a plastic storage box and use a nicer bin inside our closet for the items that are currently in season.

Clean It Up Every Day

Although I am more of a homebody than most people, I know what the coming-home routine looks like. You come in the door, dumping your diaper bag, purse, bags from the store and whatever else is in your hands in the foyer as you rush the four-year-old to the potty and the groceries to the kitchen to be put away. By the time you get everyone settled with a snack and the groceries put away, the last thing you want to do is clean up the stuff you dumped in the foyer at the beginning of the process.

I would, however, encourage you to take a few minutes at the end of each day to empty out any trash from your purse, restock your diaper bag and find homes for anything else you brought in with you. It doesn’t get easier to go back to it the longer you wait, and once it’s done, it’s done!

And We’re Done!

Tomorrow I’ll share some final thoughts about the process of spring cleaning. Both Tsh and I have talked a lot about the benefits of an uncluttered and simple home throughout this process, and I’m more convinced than when we started that living simply and minimalistically is the way to go. As moms, we have more than enough to think about without having to worry about clutter as well!

How did you do? Did you stick to the schedule and work your way through your entire home, or did you find yourself burnt out before we were done? Have you noticed any benefits of your decluttering in the rooms you finished?

Spring Cleaning Party: Making Your Bedroom a Haven

Mandi Ehman — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:50:58 +0000

We have lived in five different homes since we got married, and this is the first time that we’ve had a beautiful master bedroom. In the past, it’s been the room that guests don’t see – the one that has a door that can be closed when people visit – and we’ve neglected to make it into a beautiful room to enjoy for ourselves.

We knew we wanted that to change when we built our new home, and this time it was one of the first rooms we finished. We actually converted our master closet to a nursery and just added Ikea wardrobes in place of the closet. Because the space is limited, our room is no longer a “storage space” for all the things that don’t have a home, and it really has made a huge difference.

Regardless of whether you’re married and looking for a romantic space or just looking for a quiet retreat in your home, I really encourage you to take the time to make your master bedroom into a haven where you can rest and relax away from the responsibility of life.

Tsh shares some great tips today for organizing your clothes and decluttering your room in general, and be sure to link to your before and after shots in her comments so we can see what you’ve accomplished!

Here are a few more tips for making the master bedroom a haven:

Not a Storage Room

The first step to creating a haven is to decide that your bedroom will not be a storage area or the place where you put everything that doesn’t have a home. Clean out the closet, under the bed and the nightstand drawers. Give away, sell or trash as much as you’re willing to part with and find proper homes for the rest of it. I know those things are in your bedroom because you haven’t been able to think of a better place for it, but think through all possible alternatives before you decide your bedroom is the best storage space.

Little Touches

The key to making any room beautiful is little touches such as pictures, art work, paint color and lighting. For a romantic retreat, hang pictures of you and your husband, add sconces or dimmer lights for romantic lighting and keep the room clutter free. Pick colors that reflect the mood you want for your room – neutral colors for a serene retreat, dark and rich colors for a luxurious space or splashes of bright color for a refreshing and invigorating tone.

Minimize Knick Knacks

While little touches do make the difference, there’s no need to go overboard with the knick knacks and decorations. Having a minimalist design can make a room feel more serene and relaxing, and it also reduces the amount of dusting and cleaning you’ll have to do! I love Tsh’s reminder to consider whether the knick knacks create memories or just happen to be things you collected during trips or events.

Quick Tip: Empty Those Pockets

Finally, if you or your husband often have a pocket full of change, receipts or other miscellaneous items, use a pretty bowl on the dresser or a little box in one of your drawers as a catch all for the contents of your pockets rather than just dumping them on top of the dresser. You’ll still have to set aside time each week to go through them and find homes for the things that don’t end up back in a pocket, but at least they’ll be out of sight and contained!

How much effort have you put into making your bedroom a haven in the past? Is it last on your priority list? Do you use it as a storage room for things that don’t have a home?

Spring Cleaning Party: Toys, Toys and More Toys

Mandi Ehman — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:26:25 +0000

Keeping kids toys organized is definitely an ongoing process and one that will probably be repeated over and over until your kids are grown and gone. However, having a simple organizational system and reducing the number of toys in your home will help keep the clutter to a minimum and make it easier for children to pick up their toys on their own.

Tsh shares some great strategies and before and after pictures today of her toy system, which includes using pictures and labels to help children see where the toys belong.

Let’s look at a few other strategies and methods for controlling the toy clutter:

Create Toy Sets

I’ve shared before that I love toy sets. Choose a few valuable toy sets for your children rather than collecting a mish mosh of various individual toys. Toy sets such as a train table with trains, a box of legos or various Little People sets allow children to use their imagination to create and act out scenes on their own. If you have more than one child, sets also allow children to play and work together.

Follow the “One Toy In, One Toy Out” Rule

Another important strategy for keeping clutter to a minimum is to follow the “one toy in, one toy out” rule. Whenever new toys are purchased or received as gifts, choose another toy to give away. Doing this keeps the toys from taking over your home, which often leads to more fighting and less playing anyway.

Create a Treasure Box for Each Child

While I am not sentimental at all, I’ve come to accept that there are little doodads and treasures that my kids find that they want to keep. As a compromise, they each have a little treasure box next to their bed to store these special items that don’t really belong anywhere else. The rule is that all of the treasures must be put away when it’s time to clean up, and they can only keep what fits in the box, which gives them control of choosing what to keep and what to toss.

Clean Up Every Day

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating. Cleaning up at the end of every day not only controls the mess and clutter, but it also means you’re more likely to notice – and find – missing pieces. It also teaches children responsibility.

While we do follow this rule pretty religiously, there are some exceptions. For example, if our girls have created a Little People village and are still playing with it, we’ll just clean up any lose pieces or other miscellaneous toys and leave the set out for later. However, we do clean up most toys – even if they say they want to play with them later – unless they’ve put a lot of time and effort into setting them up just so.

Conduct Your Own Toy Experiment

Marci from Overcoming Busy conducted “The Great Toy Experiment” at Christmas time. She packed up most of her kids toys and created an art room for them instead, keeping out just a few favorite toys. To her surprise, her children barely even noticed the change, and the struggle she expected over her decision to minimize the toy clutter never happened. To this day, her kids play better without the toys that had been cluttering their home before.

Consider taking a more drastic approach to the toy clutter and packing up many of the toys to be stored in the basement. There may be a few you need to pull back out, but maybe your kids will surprise you too and play better with less.

Reduce New Toys

For us, the biggest struggle for keeping our toys organized is the sheer amount of new toys our children receive on a regular basis. Although it’s an ongoing process, here are a few strategies we use to try to minimize the number of new toys coming in:

:: Add “no gifts please” to invitations for children’s birthday parties. Do a book exchange or ask for books to be donated to a local charity instead.

:: Include books and consumable arts & crafts on your children’s wish list for grandparents and other family members. My girls love arts & crafts and although our bins are overflowing already, I know that we’ll use these eventually. Because they’re stored out of the way, they don’t add to the daily clutter or contribute to fighting over toys.

:: Follow the one toy in, one toy out rule from above.

:: “Recycle” toys. My mom has an annual tradition of giving her daughters and granddaughters teddy bears each Christmas. However, with four girls, we’re talking over 70 Christmas bears just from her by the time they’re each 18. As a compromise, because our stuffed animal collection seems to be breeding on its own anyway, I asked if she could just give the same bears new bows each Christmas and regift them, and she agreed. I actually think it could grow to be a fun tradition over the years, and they won’t end up in the giveaway pile to make room for next year’s bears.

:: Make rules to limit gifts. My girls are incredibly blessed with three sets of grandparents and five sets of great-grandparents who love to send them gifts. After last year’s Christmas debacle – in which we had to force the girls to keep opening presents because there were just so many – we decided that we’re simply going to have to make a rule asking each of them to only send one gift per child, with a second book or consumable if they really can’t resist.

The math is staggering – that’s still 32-64 gifts to open, even if we don’t get them anything. I hate feeling like a scrooge, but we simply don’t have space for all of that stuff, despite the wonderful intentions behind each and every gift.

What methods do you use to control the toy clutter in your home?

Spring Cleaning Party: Getting Control of the Kids’ Rooms

Mandi Ehman — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:44:36 +0000

Depending on how many children you have and how long it’s been since you’ve really cleaned their rooms, our task for today and tomorrow could keep you very busy! We’re tackling our kids’ rooms to declutter, organize and clean them. As with every other area we’ve done so far, kids’ rooms come with their own unique challenges and can be overwhelming to approach, but the payoff will be worth it!

I still remember the year my mom cleaned out my room while I was at school, cleaning out bags and bags of stuff. Unfortunately, included in the giveaway pile were two jumbo coloring books (the kind you lay on the floor and color because they’re so big!) that I still wanted, and I was really upset to find out they were gone (upset enough that I still remember it to this day!). For that reason, I’d echo the encouragement from Tsh’s ebook to get your kids involved as you declutter, organize and clean their rooms.

Encourage them to make some tough choices about what to keep and what to give away and to take ownership over their things and their space. Although it may actually make more work for you, letting them be involved in the process now gives them skills and tools that will help them control the clutter throughout the rest of their lives.

Let’s look at a few practical tips for organizing kids rooms:

Clothes

Let’s face it, most kids these days have way too many clothes. My grandma and her friend were at my house visiting last week, and they talked about how much cuter kids clothes (especially for boys) are now and how it makes it so much harder to resist buying them than when they were raising their own children.

My girls are no exception, and despite my best effort to minimize the amount of clothes they have, the closet is still overflowing. We’ve looked at both laundry tips and seasonal wardrobe tips in the past, but here are a few more:

:: For small children who aren’t yet old enough to put away their own clothes and keep them organized, consider a family closet in or near the laundry room. This is more of a laundry tip than a kids’ room tip, but having my girls’ clothes in the laundry room has made a huge difference in my ability to get it all put away once it’s folded. I love not having to trek across the house with all the clean clothes anymore!

:: Decide how many outfits you want each child to have before rotating their seasonal wardrobes and then stick to that number to eliminate clutter. I’ve already admitted that I failed at this one this year, but I’m determined to keep trying because having too many clothes really does make everything more cluttered, harder to put away and harder to keep organized.

Tsh has more to say in her post about minimizing children’s clothing, with some great tips on deciding what they really need.

Books

I’m a huge proponent of keeping a few books in each room. Each of my girls has a stack of books that we regularly rotate, and I love sneaking up and seeing them sitting on their beds flipping through the pages.

:: For younger children who may not be as careful with pages but still want “big kid” books rather than board books, keep a special stash of books that can get beat up and torn without making you cry and replaced as needed. Tearing up a book on purpose is a punishable offense in our house, but even my 20-month-old prefers paper books, and I have some that I keep on her level that I know will inevitably get beat up over time. I believe that allowing them to have their own books and “read” when they want is an important enough thing that my goal is to encourage gentleness and try to prevent any purposeful tearing without restricting her access to books. I do keep heirloom books, expensive treasuries and our school books on a shelf downstairs and reserved for times when we’re all together and I can watch them more carefully.

:: Keep books on a low shelf or at the end of the bed for easy access, but remember that kids only need a few at a time to choose from because they love to look through the same ones again and again.

Tsh and I have slightly different takes on this subject, but we both love books and want to encourage our children to love to read. I think this is a perfect example of doing things your way. Although she and I often agree, which may make it seem like there is a right way and a wrong way to organize, the fact is that a lot of it comes down to a family’s personal goals and preferences. The goal of organizing is not to meet other people’s expectations but to bring order and simplicity in your home!

Toys

I’m a minimalist when it comes to my kids’ rooms because I know that the less that they have in their room, the less we’ll have to clean up. Thankfully, we have a loft with a large wardrobe where most of our toys are kept, and we simply rotate 1-2 toys each afternoon during quiet time.

Tomorrow we’ll be focusing specifically on toys, so be sure to stop back in then!

“Clean Up Your Room!”

When I attended the webinar hosted by Office Max and featuring Peter Walsh from TLC’s Clean Sweep a few weeks ago, there were many things he said that really struck a cord with a lot of us. One in particular was that our children will learn to be orderly and organized from our examples. I know this is true in my home, and I’m thankful that even at 3 and 4 years old, my girls can clean up their own room. They often do it without me asking, or I’ll simply ask them to clean up before they come down for the day, and they do.

Here are a few tips for encouraging kids to clean up their rooms:

:: Keep the stuff to a minimum. I have no doubt that if my girls had more in their room, they would not be as willing or able to straighten it up. As it is, they have a few stuffed animals, one or two toy sets, some books and a little box of treasures. Even when everything in their room is pulled out at once, it’s not overwhelming to look at, and it doesn’t take them long to clean it up, both of which eliminate most of the whining and complaining when I ask them to do it!

:: Start when they’re little. Each morning when I get my toddler out of her crib, I start by folding her blanket and straightening all of her toys and stuffed animals at the foot of the bed. I’ve been doing this as part of our morning routine since she was old enough to have blankets and toys, and I get her involved by asking her to hand things to me or help me put things away.

:: Don’t criticize, complain or redo what they’ve done. Although there is a time and a place for training children to make their beds or how to organize toys and books on a shelf, I’d encourage you to bite your tongue and sit on your hands whenever they take the initiative of cleaning up by themselves. When I’m working with my girls to clean up, I’ll often give instructions about where things should go or how we could do it better, but when they do it on their own, I work very hard not to do anything other than praise their effort and initiative. We wouldn’t want our husbands to come home and criticize the way we’ve done the laundry or reorganize the kitchen behind us, and I don’t think it’s fair to do that to our children either!

What is the biggest source of frustration when it comes to keeping your kids’ rooms straight? Do you plan to get your children involved as you spring clean their rooms?

Spring Cleaning Party: Bathrooms That Sparkle

Mandi Ehman — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:19:25 +0000

Are you ready to finish your spring cleaning this week? Today, we’re focusing on the bathrooms in our homes. Tsh has some great tips for keeping clutter to a minimum. I especially love her description of “meta-stuff ” and letting your space determine how much stuff you have rather than letting the stuff determine your use of the space!

I think each room we tackle presents its own unique challenges, and the bathroom is no exception. Bathroom cabinets and drawers are often filled with duplicate or half-used products, and linen closets become overstocked with all the things we might use one day. Because many of these things are expensive, it’s easy to justify the space they take up and then forget they’re there until long after they’ve expired.

Let’s look at a few common obstacles that keep us from having simple and organized bathrooms and linen closets:

Stockpiling

Tara, THE Deal Seeking Mom, is one of my best friends, and I run her online forums, so I know a few things about stockpiling great deals and collecting samples. While it’s easy to get caught up in “the thrill of the hunt” and find yourself requesting every free sample that becomes available and stocking up on every product that someone in your family might one day need, I’m going to take a radical approach and tell you that it’s okay to only request the samples and buy the products you know you’ll use.

I’ve stopped playing the drugstore game, despite the fact that “purchasing” more products was actually saving me money through a combination of coupons, store deals and ECBs (for more on what that all means, visit the Deal Seeking Mom Blog). I still take advantage of the deals for products we regularly buy and use, but I avoid the rest because I’m unwilling to give up space in my home to house them, even temporarily.

Half-Used Supplies

Another common pitfall we’ve faced in the past is opening a new toothpaste/deodorant/whatever before the first one was completely empty, either because we wanted to switch flavors/scents/brands or because using a new one is easier than trying to squeeze the last bit out of the old one. Having a collection of almost-empty products in our bathrooms was a major contributor to the clutter.

My solution was to pack up all the extras in a storage bin and store it on the shelf in the laundry room. We’re still able to get to them when we need something, but we’re less likely to pull out a new one before we need it. We try to follow the “something in, something out” rule and throw away older products (if we find that we don’t really like them or they’re not really effective) when we get out a new one.

Towels, Towels and More Towels

It’s also easy to keep dozens of extra towels in your linen closet “just in case” you need them one day. If you find that you have way too many for your family’s needs, consider paring back to a number that’s closer to what you really need. Cut up worn towels as rags and pack the rest away in the basement so that you can get to them if you need them without having to deal with them on a daily basis.

The Medicine Cabinet

And finally, the medicine cabinet is another area where it’s easy to become overstocked, but it’s also an area where it’s important to get rid of expired items and keep a list of the basics.

Think about what medicine you use regularly and need to keep on hand and create an inventory list for yourself, similar to the one you keep in your pantry. For us, even though we live in the boonies, the list is pretty basic – children and adult’s Tylenol, children and adult’s Motrin, Sudafed, NyQuil (for my husband), Airborne, Milk of Magnesia, Tums, bandaids, Neosporin, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, a thermometer and a couple packs of Pedialyte. Per the FDA’s newest recommendations, we don’t give our kids (who are all under 5) any over-the-counter medicines besides pain relievers/fever reducers, and our inventory reflects this.

Running out of the basics is never fun, especially in the middle of the night with a feverish toddler, so I try to stay aware of what we have and what we might need so that our stock never gets too low. Storing all of our bandaids and bandages organized inside the first aid kit we bought years ago keeps them organized and makes them easy to sort through. The rest of the medicines get sorted every six months or so to get rid of any that have expired.

Maintaining the Bathroom

Because the bathroom, like the kitchen, is used regularly throughout the day, it can be a challenge to keep it sparkling and organized. My advice comes straight from the FlyLady’s playbook. My husband still uses a new towel every day (despite my best efforts to convince him to let it air dry and reuse it for a few days first!), and my morning routine now includes just grabbing his towel and wiping down the sink before taking it to the laundry room. You could also keep a rag and mild cleaning solution under the cabinet for a quick spray and wipe each morning. Because our master bathroom is also the only bathroom on our main level, it’s important to keep it clean, and the simple process of wiping the sink makes a huge difference.

Are you dreading cleaning your bathrooms today? Do you have overflowing cabinets and linen closets full of products you might use one day? What’s one thing you know you should add to the give/sell pile but you really don’t want to?

Spring Cleaning Party: Tackling the Kitchen

Mandi Ehman — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:47:45 +0000

Today we’re finishing off the first week of the Spring Cleaning Party with Day 2 in the kitchen. Be sure to link to your before and after pictures in the comments of Tsh’s post so we can see what you’ve accomplished!

Organizing and Cleaning the Kitchen

Tsh has some great before and after shots today of her cabinets as she describes the process for organizing food staples, pots and pans, kids dishes, storage containers and more.

Last week, I shared pictures of my kitchen, which I love because of its simplicity and function. My lower cabinets are organized in theory, but my 19-month-old thinks they are a treasure trove created just for her playing pleasure –and I think kids playing in the kitchen cabinets is one of the simple pleasures of life – so they rarely look organized.

I’ve also shared before about the many benefits of having an organized pantry. Organizing your ingredients not only saves you time and money, but also makes grocery shopping easier because you know what you have and what you need.

And finally, while you’ve got your drawers and cabinets cleared out anyway, consider reorganizing some of your kitchen, making use of “zones” to create a more efficient and functional space.

On the cleaning side of things, be sure to clean out the vent on the bottom front of your refrigerator, vacuum under the oven (if you have a drawer, they often pull right out) and get rid of any gadgets with broken or missing parts.

I think the kitchen is often the most cluttered room in the house because so much of it can be judged as useful as we try to justify its presence. Try taking a radical approach and packing up as many of the gadgets as you can to see how having more space actually makes your kitchen more user-friendly than the gadgets themselves do!

Quick Tip: Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances

While stainless steel appliances are pretty, they can often be a pain to keep clean and fingerprint free. Rather than buying expensive stainless steel cleaners, simply grab a bottle of baby oil next time you’re at the store. Use just a little bit, wiping it on with one rag and buffing it off with a clean, dry rag, for shiny appliances that can be touched up throughout the week!

Enjoy your weekend, and rest up as we get ready to tackle the rest of our homes next week!