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A Fresh Start on a Budget

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Spring cleaning phase 2: Tidying up and finding new homes for stuff.

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Last Updated on April 13, 2016 by karissa ancell

This post is coming to you at the end of the month and not the beginning of the month because I felt that it made more sense to do the phase of cleaning before writing about it. That way I would know what worked and where I struggled and could pass that information on to you. So Phase two of spring cleaning was all about Tidying up and finding new homes for stuff. Before we get to the actual spring cleaning phase of deep cleaning I wanted to find homes for things and clean off big piles of things that had been accumulating.

 

Tidying up and finding new homes for stuff.

So the last couple weeks my husband and I have been focused on getting our main living area cleaned up. Our Living room and dining room also have desks in them so it’s our make shift office as well. It’s not a large space and other than the bedrooms and bathrooms where all three of us spend the majority of our time. The kitchen is right there as well. So even though I did de-cluttering in February if you have a lot of clutter you know that like laundry you are never really done with this task. So this area of our house had a lot of stuff in it still. So we got some book shelves to go on either side of our TV.  One side we dedicated to Bella’s stuff and one is mostly my things. They are from Target and we got bins to go in them which are great for storing things.

Our new storage units

 

Now this was Bella posing for school dress up day but I got a shot of the shelves in the back ground. I like having the extra storage. Bella keeps most of her toys in her room but she does tend to leave a lot of books and toys out that she plays with in the mornings, this gives them a place to go.

I found that in phase two I also did a lot of purging. I cleared our desks and there was a lot of paper purging. It cuts down on the feeling of clutter so much to have all that paper gone. I know that one of my upcoming organization goals is to start dealing with paper more often. We are both horrible about letting bills, school papers, magazines, etc pile up and then only dealing with it when it becomes a huge task that takes forever to do. I need to start dealing with it more frequently and then it will be less of an issue. That’s one of the things I’m really trying to pay attention to during each phase of spring cleaning. What areas are our biggest problems and issues around the house because phase four is about finding new systems to help us keep our home cleaner and more organized. So I am aware of our paper issue also we had a lot of tidying to do with Bella’s art supplies, she has a lot and we need to figure out a better way of keeping them from spreading around to everywhere. We cleaned it up and it’s a lot better than it was but it’s still an area that needs work.

So for phase two of spring cleaning here are my tips:

1. Working on clearing surfaces. This includes counters, shelves, desks and tables. Find homes for things and trash or donate what is not needed. We need clear surfaces when we move on to the cleaning stage. If your surfaces are full of stuff you won’t be able to clean them.

2. Find homes for items in rooms that they are frequently used in. Although Bella has a bookshelf in her room that holds her books she does read books a lot in the living room so giving her a place to have some books out here makes sense in our house.

3. Keep purging trash and clutter. The less you have in your home the less you have to maintain  and the easier it will be to keep your home clean. even though clearing clutter was phase one. I’m going to keep trying to get rid of clutter during each phase of my spring cleaning.

I still have a lot to do or phase two even though the month is almost over but as a family we are working on it and that was the point of me doing this series. To motivate me to work on it and hopefully to motivate some of you to do some spring cleaning  as well. If you compare my house today to before I started in January I think it is looking much better as a whole and progress is being made towards us having a less cluttered and more organized home. Which is what is important to me. It’s about making progress not about perfection.

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  7. Kim Eldredge - New Frontier Books says

    I’ve been deep in the throes of cleaning and purging. Not because it’s spring but because I’m moving. I’ve found that the more I get rid of, the more I WANT to get rid of! I’ve been taking a hard look at anything that doesn’t get used regularly (or deeply loved) and out it goes!

    After the move, I’m considering actually cutting BACK on my “storage” because if I have shelves and boxes and bins — I fill it up!

    And like you, I get buried in paper clutter as well. My biggest helper is having a “shred” basket. Anything paper goes in there to be shredded and recycled. Once a month, I haul it to the copy center to have it shredded. (I never got around to it with an at-home shredder. Easier to drop it off and pay the $2!) And I have a label maker on my desk. Now, weekly, I DEAL with the papers. Choices are SHRED or FILE. That’s it!
    Kim Eldredge – New Frontier Books recently posted…Are you still a published author if you’re part of an anthology?My Profile

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