Thanks to Cindy Bernstein of Aim4Order for this episode of Tips from the Pros with a checklist for spring organizing.

Spring is finally here and I’ve created a checklist of things to do to get rid of the clutter around the house. Some things might have to wait – like putting away the winter boots and coats – until the weather gets a little warmer. The less clutter you have, the less time you spend looking for lost items and the more time you have to spend with your family and friends.

Entryway

• Put away winter mittens, snow boots, hats and coats you won’t need any more.
• Make sure you have enough space in the closet for everything. If not, add a shelf or hooks.
• If you have a cabinet or drawers in your entry, go through and eliminate what you don’t need.

Kitchen

• Make sure that your most used items are in the front of drawers or cabinets.
• Discard anything that is cracked or otherwise damaged.
• Check to see if you have plastic containers or cake pans that were borrowed or left from a party and return them to their owners.
• Organize your spices. Ditch anything expired.
• Go through the refrigerator and dispose of anything expired or leftovers that have been in there too long.
• Do the same with the freezer. Vow to label and date anything you freeze from now on so you can find it easily.

Living Room/Den

• Do you have loads of books that you already read and don’t need any longer? Those can be donated. If there are books you love to read over and over, it’s okay to keep them. And if you have books that are reference books you need, keep those too.
• Too many photos can become a problem. You can scan them or have them scanned and saved onto a DVD or external hard drive. If you have old family photos you want to keep, find some nice decorative boxes where you can keep them on the shelves where you used to have the books.

Bedrooms

• Is there junk in your bedroom that should be in another room? It could be drinking glasses, magazines, books or anything else that doesn’t belong. Take it to the place where it should be.
• Do you store things in your room that you never use? It could be clothing, accessories, costume jewelry, etc. Your room will feel more peaceful and conducive to sleeping if you have less clutter.
• Get bins or baskets for the kids (or pet toys). Make it easy for kids to clean up on their own.
• Simple dividers can help keep your drawers organized. Old shoe boxes also work fine.
• Try rolling T-shirts instead of just piling them up in drawers. It’s easier to find the shirt you want that way.
• Put toiletries into baskets to eliminate clutter from the tops of dressers.

Bathrooms

• What is under your sink? Are there cleaning products you never use? Shampoos that have fallen out of favor? Get rid of them and make space for the things you do use and need.
• If you have clutter around the sink area, maybe it can now go in a basket under the sink.
• Do you have medications in the bathroom? Go through them and remove expired prescriptions. Dispose of them correctly. There are places where you can dispose of these drugs all over town. 
• Any medical waste like syringes or lancets should be put in a metal or plastic container and thrown away with your trash.
• Put up a shower caddy instead of having shampoos, shaving cream and soap on the edge of the tub.

Laundry Room

• Clean up around the washer and dryer. 
• Get rid of any supplies that you don’t like or use.
• Do you have a stack of socks that are missing mates? Get rid of them if you haven’t seen the mate in a while.
• Empty the trash can where you toss the lint.

Closets

• Go through winter clothes and donate or discard anything you never wear, don’t like or doesn’t fit.
• Do that before you pack away winter clothes if you move clothing in and out of storage elsewhere in your home. Don’t waste your time packing up things you don’t need or use.
• Do the same with winter shoes and boots. If footwear needs repairs, either take it right away to get repaired or let go of it.
• Group like things together. You can sort clothes by color, by whether or not they are short or long sleeved or whatever system makes sense to you.
• Make the most of top shelf of the closet. It tends to get a lot of abuse throughout the year. Straighten it up and get rid of things when you can.
• Purses, ties, belts and scarves tend to pile up. Can you purge at least 20% of them?

Garage/Shed

• Do you have work gloves that have big holes them? Ditch them for a fresh pair.
• Install hooks on pegboard to organize hand tools. You can find them easily and they look nice too.
• Wall mount grips are nice for long handled tools like shovels and rakes.
• Take the lawn mower in for service before mowing season starts.

Miscellaneous

• Bills and important papers can get filed into a file cabinet or box.
• Go through your digital photos and delete duplicates or blurry images.
• Do a pen purge! Gather up all of the pens you have accumulated around the house and only keep the ones that work, you like and need.

If you find you have some valuable things in your closet that you don’t want to donate, contact me and Howard can sell them on eBay for you.