Spring is just around the corner and many people start spring cleaning 🧽 you already have your bucket and cloth in hand and suddenly you see that there is little to clean because there is stuff floating everywhere. Without you realizing it, during the winter, things have secretly collected all over your house. Understandable, because who wants to clean up when you can also cocoon on the couch with a hot cup of coffee and a blanket 🙄
With 2 children who own half a toy store and a home business, I know better than anyone how stuff can take over your house. Yet you can easily get things back on the side AND create extra storage space at the same time. I'd like to share my golden tips with you to get the five most common 'collections' organized easily and quickly.
Clothing
Now that the temperatures are rising, those thick winter sweaters and scarves can be put away. Take a look at which items you don't or hardly wear anymore. Take them out and sell them on Vinted , for example, or take them to the clothing collection.
In any case, it is useful to divide your clothing into autumn/winter and spring/summer!
Get a few handy boxes for under your bed, put your autumn/winter collection in here now and your closet and coat rack are immediately a lot clearer. By the time autumn arrives again, you just switch everything up.
Shoes
That mountain next to the front door that seems to have become its own continent: Sneakers, work shoes, boots, new and worn shoes and those shoes you wish you could have cleaned months ago 😑
Get rid of your worn out shoes right away and clean your dirty pairs. Get a shoe rack and have each member of the household choose 2 or 3 pairs of shoes to put on the rack. You put the other pairs in (shoe) boxes and store them in the closet (or under that bed!).
Inside cabinets
A much forgotten part of every home, the inside of the cupboards. We cram in everything we want out of sight. Everything piles up there and before you know it you have no idea what you have in your house at all and when it comes to food, it's suddenly over the date. Eternal sin.
So empty a closet completely, find out right away and take a good look at the layout. Can all the space be used optimally or should a shelf be added? With a shelf insert you can create extra storage space in no time.
Sort things logically together. For example puzzles, craft supplies and games. Do you have small loose items that cannot be stacked? Put them together in a basket or crate.
Everything that doesn't go back in the closet can easily be given a second life via, for example, Marktplaats or a giveaway corner.
Toys
Children often die in the toys. One week they play continuously with one thing and the next week they don't look at it and are absorbed in something else. To prevent your living room from passing for a toy store, it is nice to store (part of) it.
Did you know that children can often play 'better' with something if they don't have too much choice? They call that stress of choice 😉
Start by sorting everything by, for example, brand or type. Get rid of everything that is no longer looked after. Store items that you do not want your child to be able to grab, such as paint, in a cupboard. You can never do enough reading, so put books in a place that is clearly visible. You put other toys in nice baskets or bins and put them where it is convenient for you. Put a number of baskets out of sight and switch again after a week or 2.
Paperwork
This is perhaps the most common chaos: your paperwork or administration. Nowadays a lot comes to you by e-mail, but as soon as an envelope arrives, it usually ends up in a pile. Or even worse in different piles scattered around the house. Terribly inconvenient when you have to do your tax return, for example.
Keep everything that comes in together in 1 handy and logical place. For some this is a basket in the hall, for others a bowl on the desk. Immediately open the envelopes and throw them away. Take a moment every week to sort the pile. Get some folders and create categories like work, home, tax, insurance, and subscriptions. I'm just name something. Pay the bills or schedule them via your bank app. Throw them away after they are paid or keep them in the correct folder.
It is best to keep all administration for the tax authorities for 5 years due to possible additional assessments. Companies and self-employed persons must keep their financial administration for 7 years.
Bonus tip: Do you want to keep your orderly home a little easier from now on? Then do a round of the house every evening. Take a basket or crate under your arm, collect all stray items along the way and put them right back where they belong.
So, now you can really start your spring cleaning!