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An organized colorful closet in a white painted vintage attic.
I SURVIVED THE BOMB CYCLONE
The weather is changing and Spring cleaning the house is on my mind. The bomb cyclone blizzard was all over the news here in Denver recently. It was amazingly cold and windy with deeply reduced visibility, icy roads, and the occasional falling tree. We all stayed home and rested up as long as we could. But the day after the blizzard ended, the roads were mostly clear and my daughters were off to work again. It was an intense but amazingly short event.
SPRING IS HERE AND CLEANING IS NEXT
This week the temperature will range from the mid-fifties to the low seventies. I think Spring has arrived, and of course, that means Spring cleaning the house. Oh joy.
Nonetheless, after the winter cold and mess, being able to open the windows for fresh air, and having a green lawn instead of mud sounds pretty good to me. Also, the house needs airing and dusting and cleaning, so here we go.
Get Your State of Mind Right
The first thing I do is acknowledge that I have more important things than a perfectly clean house to aim for. My health needs have to come first, with both exercise and proper rest being priorities. That means that the housecleaning schedule is spread over several days, in order to allow me to work more slowly and to rest more often.
SET A SCHEDULE WITH THE END IN MIND
My first step, therefore, is to set up a schedule that allows my home care and my health care both to have their times without pushing the end of Spring cleaning off into 2020! I usually give myself three to ten weekdays to finish each step. I follow the steps I outlined in this post [LINK HERE].
GATHER MATERIALS
Before I actually begin, though, I gather four containers. I have a trash bag, a box, and two laundry baskets. The trash bag is for trash. The box is for items needing to be placed into storage. The two laundry baskets are for (1) items to be carried to another room to be put away and (2) for items to be donated or given away. It’s also a good idea to gather recyclables, including old televisions, crt monitors, and old printers.
CLEAR THE STAGE FOR A CLEAN HOUSE THIS SPRING
The first step is to pick up out of place items and straighten each room so it looks well arranged. This is one of the few times I combine steps. I also gather any trash that needs to be thrown away. This includes anything from a candy bar wrapper to a broken toy or or a half-finished and forgotten puzzle. The reason I give myself so much more time is because I am much more thorough than my daily or weekly cleaning. I go through shelves and through drawers. Then I move furniture if I can do so. I go through closets and cabinets. In each place, I look for trash, out of place items to put away , donations for charities, or things to give away.
This is just the first step but I think it’s the basis for the rest of our Spring Cleaning journey. We’ll discuss further steps in future posts. Meanwhile, enjoy the beginning of Spring!
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT AT THE END
Basically, I’m putting things in their proper places while decluttering extensively. When I am finished for the day, I take all out of place items to their proper place. Then I take the trash out of the house to the trash can. Recyclables are placed in my car to be taken to the recycling plant. Donations are also placed in my car (separated from the recyclables) to be taken to the donation area.
Depending on how long it has been since I performed this step and how well I did it then, I may make from one to several trips for this Spring cleaning step.
This is just the first step but I think it’s the basis for the rest of our Spring Cleaning journey. We’ll discuss further steps in future posts. Meanwhile, enjoy the beginning of Spring!