This weekend, why not take a little time to reorganise your home and have a read of our ultimate spring cleaning checklist. It’s no ‘daytime drinks with the girls’ or ‘shop ’til you drop’ but I can guarantee you’ll feel revitalised and satisfied! And you might be surprised at what you might find down the depths of the sofa or in the darkness under the bed…
Kitchen Cleanout — Cinderella Style
Start off with the kitchen — this is usually the main room of the house and gets a lot of footfall (how many times do we have to clean up muddy paw prints or round up abandoned keys?!) Think about what you want most out of your kitchen — if it’s not ‘dumping ground’ or ‘mud slide’ then let’s get cracking!
How you can easily clean your kitchen in four steps –
#1 Have a clear out
Make use of an empty washing basket to round up all the loose ends that have accumulated in your kitchen. Once you’ve done so, post a note stating that if these items aren’t taken away within ‘x’ amount of time, they’re for the bin! This usually gets a response.
#2 Organisation
Things that get scattered around the kitchen because they are used a lot but don’t have a home — find a space for them. Organise a kitchen drawer with some dividers and have a different section for assortments such as keys, headphones, spare chargers and crayons if you happen to have little ones.
#3 Re-arrangement
Re-arrange your kitchen drawers and cupboards to make sure you have all the necessities in the right places — i.e. tea towels near the sink and pans near the oven. Little things like this will save you time and effort, making you a proper whiz in the kitchen!
#4 Clear/sort your cupboards
Are you guilty of keeping Balti paste for years because “you might just attempt making curry again”? What about that leftover pizza at the back of your fridge that’s grown a questionable blanket over winter? Have a PROPER sort through your fridge and food cupboards. Remember the three Ss…
- Smelly
- Sticky
- Slimy
If you match the dreaded three Ss, you really should throw whatever it is out! Although there are exceptions, such as some cheeses, honey and that jelly that’s setting for little one’s birthday party tomorrow!
In all seriousness though, don’t keep meats past their use-by — this is important! Yoghurt, fruit and veg you can get away with longer — be ruthless but don’t be wasteful 🙂
To stay on top of your kitchen cleaning, you should repeat options 1 and 4 as often as you think is necessary. You could even use option 1 as a ‘rinse and repeat’ step by introducing strict rules on people leaving their belongings lying around.
That’s it, you’re done with the kitchen! Onto the next room…
Bedroom Blues
Now for the second most overly-disorganised space: the bedroom. I’m not sure how many times I’ve had a clear out of my clothes, but every time I end up keeping things because I “might have use for a striped halter-neck” or will “surely want to wear those ridiculously uncomfortable shoes that broke my toe last time”.
Remember, if you haven’t worn something in the last two years, you can be pretty sure you never will again! It’s definitely time to hand it over to a charity shop or even try get a few pennies for it on eBay if it’s in good condition (tip: wait for free listing periods so it won’t cost you anything if your item doesn’t sell!)
Do you have a cluttered bookcase? What about those drawers under your bed? Collect everything together and sort it into four piles or boxes:
- Essential items — I use it at least twice a week
- Maybe I should keep this — I use it about once a month
- “Why do I have this?” Items which are rarely used
- “I’m not even sure what this is!”
I think these categories are pretty self-explanatory — be strict about what you keep — there’s nothing worse than clutter! It collects dust, makes your space look smaller and can be unsightly (depending what’s on show!)
A tidy home is a tidy mind (right?) so start off with this simple checklist to put you on the path to righteousness! Do you have any tips you’d like to add or think we should cover another room? Let us know!
