Courtesy of La Closet Design
Courtesy of Organized Living
Purge Your Closet
There’s no better time to clean out your closet than at the turn of the New Year. Follow the golden rule of closet organization: If you haven’t worn it in a year, you probably won’t wear it again. Quickly survey the closet and bag all of your unwanted and unworn clothes for donation. Set aside those that have tears or missing buttons. The next tip will make it easier to get these garments quickly repaired.
Courtesy of Classically Yours Interiors
Courtesy of Martha Stewart
Laundry Room
Laundry rooms are notorious for being cramped. If you need new inspiration for making over your laundry room, these laundry room ideas will help you save precious space and time.
Put together kits for minor sewing repairs, stain removal, shoe care, and clothing storage, and set them within easy reach on the lowest shelf. A catchall holds loose change, popped buttons, or whatever else is in the pockets. Decant powder detergent into a glass container. It is easier to see when you’re running low when your powder is in a glass container.
Courtesy of Holland Design
Courtesy of Smart Space Design
Garage
To keep your garage in shape, it is helpful to sort through the things you want to keep, sell, donate, or trash. Once you have a better grasp of what you would like to keep, I suggest getting some form of shelving. With the shelving in place, it is helpful to store things in clear bins so that you can easily identify what is in each bin.
Checklist:
I am sure all of these tips are a bit overwhelming. To help you tackle your 2014 spring cleaning, I came up with a little checklist for your closest, laundry room, and garage.
Weekend One – Closet
- Have a couple trash bags handy to quickly dispose of unwanted garments.
- Sort through clothes and decide which ones you want to keep, mend, throw away, and donate.
- When you have sorted through everything, put the unwanted items in a bag and store it in your trunk. Next time you are near a donation center, you can easily get rid of the unwanted items.
- Come up with a system to make belts, socks, and other misc items easily accessible.
- If you keep sheets in your closet, I suggest putting them in a bin or a box to keep things a bit more organized.
- After you have hung up and folded the articles of clothing that you are going to keep, I would then sort through your shoes and find a place for them in your closet.
Weekend Two – Laundry Room
- Once again, have some trash bags handy so that you can easily sort through everything.
- If you have broken hangers or expired detergent, be sure to toss it out.
- If you have a basket filled with missing socks, consider whether or not you should toss them out and start collecting socks afresh. This will help you find matches easier and make the task less daunting.
- Consider putting your dry detergent in a clear jar so that you can easily identify when it is running low.
- You can get a plastic placemat to put under your liquid detergents and keep them from dripping on the cabinets or washing machine.
- If you have a bunch of loose change or random buttons, get a plastic bag or container to store these loose items in. This will make it a bit more organized in the drawers and help you find things easier.
- I recommend keeping a sewing kit in the laundry room and having a little space for clothes that need mending. You can keep the buttons in this kit for easy access.
Weekend Three– Garage
- Have a couple trash bags ready to quickly dispose of unwanted and unnecessary items.
- Sort through the sport gear and determine what still fits and what is still in use. You will need your children’s help for this task.
- Put everything you no longer need or want in a plastic bag and donate it.
- Throw broken things away.
- Get some plastic bins and try to combine things that are similar to better utilize the space.
- If you are putting in shelves for the first time, I recommend putting them up a few inches away from the floor so that you can still sweep underneath them.
Happy Cleaning!
