Declutter Your Space, Reset Your Mind: A 3 Step Guide to Intentional Spring Cleaning
Written by Markie Tuckett
Ready to refresh your home without spending a dollar? This simple 3-step spring cleaning guide will help you declutter, organize, and reset your space — so your home feels lighter, calmer, and easier to live in.
Another winter has come and gone and we all seem to be emerging from our homes as if we haven’t seen sunlight or a warm day in eons. For most, it’s a very exciting time because we know Spring is here which is followed by Summer and Summer brings lots of sunny days, which is typically the best time of the year. I love Summer, I’m not going to lie. Being a resident in the most southern tip of Canada, we get the warmest temperatures around and of course an extended golfing and patio season. With all that being said, I do have an appreciation for Spring and here’s why; now is the time to set yourself up for a successful transition into the rest of the year and that comes with Spring Cleaning.
Now you may have read the word cleaning and thought “Markie no thanks, I clean enough” or just “immediately pass” but if I told you that Spring cleaning could provide you with a clear mind and put you in a relaxed state (of course after it’s done) would your ears perk up a bit and you stick around to hear me out?
Over the years as someone who struggles with depression, I’ve noticed that when my house is clean I feel great but when my house is organized I feel incredible. Spring cleaning often gets a bad rap for having to toss out your most prized possessions OR having to replace things that you may not have the funds to replace but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here are my top 3 tips for Spring Cleaning and the benefits it has to your mental health.
1) Prepare to declutter AND clean up.
Get some all-purpose spray or whatever cleaning solution you like and some micro-fibre cloths or paper-towel, maybe a small handheld vacuum and lastly a tote/large bin and a garbage bag. If you’re prepared to go through every last nook and cranny, this process will go a lot smoother and may even be a bit cathartic for you. You will be less likely to make a massive mess and then give up on it and lay in a pile of things to donate. While you’re organizing as well, you might as well put a little extra elbow grease on that area and give it a good cleaning.
2) Start with small areas first.
Your Spring cleaning does not need to be done in one day. I often like to pick away at it for a few weekends, maybe do all my kitchen drawers on a rainy Sunday and then the following weekend, dive into my closets. When going through things, I categorize my selection process of what to keep by telling myself things are either:
going back where they were (neatly of course) or;
things are going into the donation tote, or;
things are going right into a garbage bag.
This helps with decision fatigue. Also, if you look at something and you haven’t used it in months (AKA that blouse that used to fit you in grade 12 but you haven’t been able to button it up properly in 2 decades… ), well that’s a good one for the donation pile. I also note that if you look at something and it’s damaged or no longer in working condition, do not donate it, these donation centers can get overwhelmed with items they end up having to toss because someone else was too lazy to toss themselves.
3) Consider how things are stored.
My third and final tip is whatever you decide to keep, think about how it’s stored and how you would ideally utilize it going forward. A closet is a great example of this because if you take all your clothes out and donate 30 items and keep 60, when you put those 60 items back in your closet, what would be the best way to organize and group things. Are you someone who organizes things by what the article of clothing is? For example, all sweaters get grouped by what style they are, so hoodies, pull-overs, cardigans etc… If you want to also, I know people who organize their closets by colour and then when they get dressed it makes it easier to coordinate an outfit based on what colours jive. The same goes for your cabinets in your bathroom, organize it and make the things you use everyday like face cream (please tell me you use face cream) easier to access and pull-out.
Bonus tip: for bathroom products and toiletries, most products have expiry dates but it doesn’t tell you the day it expires, instead it tells you the shelf life of how long it’s good for after it’s opened. I’ve noticed an average product is good for six months to a year… so that sunscreen you’ve had since you went to Mexico in 2016 is probably no longer good anymore and can be emptied and recycled. I often label my items with a small piece of painters tape or a thin tip marker noting when it was opened so I can quickly know what to toss and keep.
I hope those tips which may seem like no brainers were helpful and if you’ve started your Spring cleaning already - I’m proud of you. It’s not an easy task; it can be time consuming and quite frankly annoying but it will do wonders for your mental health.
Mental health can be a fragile thing, especially these days… So if you can improve it even in the smallest way, it's worth it in my books. Spring cleaning is often associated with refreshing your living environment which leaves you feeling renewed and with a new sense of ease. It’s actually tied to some ancient practices around the world as part of a communal bonding experience but I’m not an expert in that so I will leave you to do some more research if you so please.
Get started on your Spring cleaning and feel happier and more at peace with your living space.
If you liked reading this article and felt it was beneficial, I would love to hear from you and connect with you. Find me on socials at Timber + Plumb and if you liked what you read here and want to learn more, you can read more blog posts like this on my website www.timberplumb.com.
Thanks for sticking around and happy cleaning!