It’s been two weeks since the ‘First Day of Spring’.  How much Spring Cleaning have you accomplished? Last week we shared Part 1 of this guest post by Professional Organizer Eliza Cantlay of Simplicana that outlined Phase 1: Psych Up! And Phase 2: De-Clutter of her Spring Cleaning Process.

This week we finish it up with Eliza’s last 3 Phases of the Spring Cleaning Process!

Phase 3: CLEAN

• Wipe out all those drawers you de-cluttered! Again, start in the easiest space. If you dislike vacuuming, don’t start in a room that requires vacuuming or you’ll get burnt out too quickly.
• If you really hate cleaning or if you’re too busy for this phase, hire an eco-friendly cleaning service, one that uses non-toxic cleaning products like those mentioned in Part 1. Wait, did I really just give you permission to do that?! Yes I did.

Phase 4: ORGANIZE AND CONTAINERIZE!

• Oh, my favorite part! Now it’s time to sort all the stuff that didn’t get ditched or donated. So if you’re working in your pantry, group like items together: Baking, Breakfast, Beverages, etc. If you’re in the bathroom do the same: Dental, Eye Care, Medicine, and Makeup. Use containers to group these items together by type, or by person. The Container Store, Target, Amazon, and Bed Bath & Beyond are all excellent places to start looking for the right container.
• Don’t buy a drawer organizer without measuring your drawers first! Don’t buy a rolling shelf for your pantry without measuring your pantry first! You get the idea.
• Many people I meet say they’ve gotten organized before but had trouble staying organized. So use your new containers as boundaries: if all your makeup won’t fit in your makeup drawer, weed it down until it does. Use the drawer as a boundary. If your books won’t fit aesthetically onto your bookshelf, it may be time for a charity pickup and a Kindle.
• If organizing is new for you, consider hiring a professional organizer. More importantly than getting you organized, we can teach you the skills to stay organized. Despite the old expression, we organizers really can give you the rod and the fish. An education or transference of skills like this continues to pay for itself.

Phase 5: REWARD!

• Associate your hard work with positivity by giving yourself a REWARD! But don’t let that reward become next year’s clutter to clean. Reward yourself with something perishable (a nice bottle of wine or flowers) or an experience (get a massage or a take a photography class) instead of buying a thing.
• Relax, turn the phone off, take a bubble bath and give yourself another one of those self-high fives. You earned it.

Find bliss in your home this year with these Spring Cleaning Tips from Simplicana!