Category: Decluttering
The weather may be hotting up, and we’re officially heading into summer. If, like us, you didn’t manage to get round to that essential spring clean, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time.
Here’s our top tips to hack the clean so it won’t take up that valuable summer time and allow you to spend more time with friends and family.
Break it down
One of our main problems with the big annual clean is feeling overwhelmed when we start to think of all those jobs waiting to be done.
In reality, there doesn’t have to be so much to swallow if you make each task more bitesize. Make a list of everything that you want to do, then break it down. Instead of being faced with 1000 jobs, you can create lists of about ten per room that can be tackled over a number of days.
Not only will you start to see progress from the start, you’ll be spurred on to do more.
Call in help
You really don’t need to do it alone. A job shared is a job halved, after all. If you need to do a big deep clean, why not call in a local cleaner. There are plenty of small local businesses and franchisees who can help out for one off jobs, like Merry Maids here at Minworth Business Park. Of course, once you’ve seen how much easier it life becomes, we’re sure you’ll be using them for the weekly clean as well.
Alternatively, why not ask a friend or family member to help – in return for a similar favour from you. Okay, you do end up cleaning two homes, but you can have more fun while you’re hard at work.
Create a donation box
This can be quite difficult for people who like to hoard or keep sentimental items. Creating a donation box and choosing a charity that means something to you will help incentivise you to sort through everything. Knowing that everything is going to a good cause will make it far easier to be ruthless and clear things out.
Dust and bleach
If there is one thing that will make a huge difference, it’s giving your surfaces a good dust. Use a drop of bleach in water to wipe over surfaces, and not only will your home look clean, but it will smell clean too. With a lovely summer freshness to your home, you’ll end up doing more cleaning than you intended.
Declutter using the 12 month rule
Do you still have something in your bathroom, cabinet, cupboard or wardrobe that you haven’t used, worn or eaten in the past 12 months? Then the golden rule is simple. Get rid.
Styles change, food expires and clutter grows. So to clear your head, become more productive in your life and make room for more buys, be brutal and clear it out.
Finally – open those windows wide, get outside and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!
The bedroom should be a place of sanctuary and relaxation where we recharge for the busy week ahead. But with many of us being time poor and juggling a hundred jobs at once, it can be hard to keep order and make sure your room doesn’t feel like it’s a storage area for clothes, rather than somewhere to sleep.
There is nothing relaxing about being surrounded by yesterday’s outfits, that pile of unsorted clean washing, or mounds of throws and pillows that only have a home once you have made the bed.
Getting your bedroom decluttered and organised doesn’t need to cost the earth. Try some of these simple life hacks to make sure you can retreat to your room for that well-earned rest.
The bedside basket
If you like to dress your bed each morning, then you’ll have a throw and plenty of cushions for a beautiful finish. But at nighttime when your headed to bed, these somehow go from pride of place on the bed, directly to the bedroom floor. There is, however, a simple solution.
A bedside basket will give you somewhere to place them neatly in the evening, and also save valuable minutes in the morning hunting for them before work.
The storage bed
If you are thinking of changing your bed and are short of space, an Ottoman bed maybe the answer to your prayers. Not only can it craftily hide a whole seasons worth of clothes, but it adds another sneaky layer of storage to your room, especially if you are short of space.
If you aren’t planning on changing your bed anytime soon, then make the most of the space underneath. There are plenty of options available, but woven baskets add a little more style than the plastic versions. Make sure you don’t forget where everything goes by attaching a brown string tag to each one. Then, even if you aren’t someone who folds their laundry, at least it’s in some order for when you are hunting for it!
Space saver bags
Space saver bags may remind you of advertisements from the 1990s but they are genuinely a great way to store bulkier items, from the winter duvet to your collection of thick woollen jumpers that you won’t be touching through the summer months. They are relatively cheap to buy, save space, light to pack away and keep everything clean and dust free without the need to re-wash once you get them out again.
Practice the art of Feng Shui
While this may not seem like the easiest way for many of us to get organised, it is a valuable way to declutter your space, and your mind.
The key is to clear away items that serve no purpose – which can be difficult as we attach memories to different things. However, consider whether you have used the item in the last 12 months. Does it remind you of a person you no longer see or care about, or is it just some family ‘heirloom’ that none of you like, keeping only out of obligation? It’s time to get strict with yourself, realign your energy and make that important trip to the charity shop so someone else can enjoy it. You’ll end up with a beautiful new space where you can relax.
There are a few things we British find synonymous with spring – lighter evenings, lambs running through the fields, the drenching of an April shower – and of course, the spring clean.
There is nothing more satisfying than a thorough spring clean – it’s a time when we open wide the windows, letting the warm sunshine and fresh air blow away the dregs of the winter; when we delve deep into cupboards and sort through the unnecessary clutter; when we chase spiders and cobwebs out and put a shine on all the woodwork.
The spring clean is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years – possibly even to ancient Egyptian times if Wikipedia is to be believed! However, modern day living has brought with it some unique challenges.
It’s a fact that in today’s consumer lifestyle we have more stuff – more clothes, more sports gear, more gym equipment, more hobbies, more possessions and so on. It’s also true that modern homes are getting more compact and – as anyone who has been house hunting recently can attest – are seriously lacking in storage.
In times gone by we would have just heaved all of that extra clutter up into the attic space. But who has attic space anymore? That’s already been converted into an extra bedroom.
The rest would be squashed into the garage, carefully stacked and balanced to avoid the car. Except – we don’t really keep cars in the garage anymore, if you even have a garage, because it’s already been adapted into an extended kitchen.
Self Storage Heroes
That’s where your local self-storage heroes leap to your rescue. Indoor self-storage is a rapidly growing industry in the UK, as we discover the advantages to having additional storage units to keep all of our less used, bulkier possessions.
As you root through the cupboards and prepare for the beautiful months of sunshine ahead, sort all of your thick winter clothing into boxes. This will leave more space in the wardrobe for your summer wear – with air to let the fabrics breath.
You’ll soon discover piles of memorabilia – the children’s school reports and certificates, medals and trophies, that they no longer want to display, but you can’t bear to bin.
Not to mention the stack of exercise equipment – stepping machines, thigh trainers, weights and running machines – that you currently use as a rather expensive clothes dryer.
It’s time to take all of your “I’ll use it one day” belongings and place them in self-storage. There’s no need to pay for unused space – there are a choice of storage unit sizes so you only rent what you need.
Everything is packed away, safe, dry and secure, until you need it. Your self-storage hero from Cookes Storage will even come and collect it for you, so there’s no excuse not to get that clutter cleared.
And as you put the final polish on the shelves and rub the last smear from the windows, you can relax in your spacious, freshly cleaned home, ready to enjoy the rest of spring.