Anyone have a room or area that looks like this? or you feel like it looks like this?
Ok so maybe your disaster area isn't this bad (or maybe it is .... we don't judge) .... and the thought of cleaning this makes you cry, close the door and walk away .... how do you clean it? Well many people will say "if you get rid of a lot of stuff it will be easy to keep the space clean" and yes, this is true. Less stuff equals less mess or shorter clean up time. But you have the right to keep as much as you want and still have a clean space.
I'm sure by this point you are saying "ok Jessie, are ya gonna give me some ideas?". Why yes I am... right now. Get some boxes, crates, or laundry baskets and trash bags. I prefer to have a large trash can with a sturdy bag when I tackle a large project. Recently I needed to tackle my garage. Since I took a leave of absence from my teaching job due to the birth of my son I needed to bring home all my school stuff (completely unorganized and thrown in boxes) and I threw it all in my garage along with everything else I wanted to keep but didn't have time to organize in the house. I invited over a friend to play with my little man and keep me company. I proceeded to go through all my boxes. I trashed things that were trash or things I DID NOT need to keep and were not thrift store worthy. I also had two large boxes labeled keep and give away. The important part about this is the "keep" box. I threw everything in this box that I wanted to keep. Some things I knew exactly where in the house they go and some had no home yet. Below is my "keep" box.
The point of this "junk" box is to save time. Do I know where that tupperware goes? Yup, the kitchen. Where that cute little chick goes? Yup, the toy box. But instead of stopping a million times and walking that item to it's home over over the house I just throw it in the box. I maximized my "child help" time for the sorting in the garage. Now, this box is in my utility room. Each day, when I have 5 minutes (which with kids or busy jobs this is usually the extent of your free time - tiny chunks) I go to the box and grab a few things and put them away. I don't tell myself "put everything away in one sitting" .... that is time consuming and nuts. But I have a clean garage and will empty this box a little at a time.
I use this strategy for other messy rooms of my house and have used it in kids' rooms when I've organized other friends' homes. This works when cleaning out pantries and linen closests. I pull everything out and throw it (nicely) into a box. This gives me a clean closet, bedroom, desk, pantry, etc. Sometimes that is all I have time for. But it feels great looking at the space and seeing it all clean and empty. Then, the next time I have 10 minutes I put a few things back where they are supposed to go. Little by little I empty the box. This is NOT a good strategy for cleaning out your fridge... hahaha... hopefully you aren't asking why? When a huge project is broken up into small junks it is much more manageable.
The box is the key. Of course you can pull everything out and put it on the floor or table but we usually find ourselves being pulled into another direction once we've pulled everything out or you are simply too tired to continue. Having the "stuff" in a box or basket allows the area to look clean even though you have lots to still do. It also allows you room to clean. Think of cleaning a shelf of knick-knacks. What's the best way to clean it? Take everything off, clean the space and then put the things back. One extra benefit of the "pulling it all out" strategy is that sometimes you realize that it doesn't all fit back in nicely and then you have to decide - do you REALLY wanna keep it or can it go?!? Best way to downsize.
Works with kids toys as well. Load all of the toys in a box or boxes, clean the play area and put back the most favorite toys. When you see that you still have a huge box of toys but no organized room then get rid of some. Kids will play with 1,000 toys but will be just as happy with 50 .... my son is only 4 months but I'm sure that statement is true. Less stuff, easier clean up. I LOVE the pop up baskets from IKEA for toys and easy clean up. No labeled boxes for perfect organization - you just throw it all in the basket and on goes the lid. Definitely something toddlers and kids can help with.
As I was online grabbing a few photos for this post I came across this book cover. Anyone read this books as a child?
This was probably when I first felt my OCD urges. I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this book as a child. My absolute favorite part was the last page...
Those boxes excite me!!!! Every one labeled and everything has a place... bahahahahahaha
