Happy Spring! The weather may not feel much like Spring yet but the longer days sure have me motivated to do some Spring cleaning. Spring cleaning to me is more than washing windows and dusting ceiling fans. To me, it's cleaning out cluttered areas of the house and getting rid of the "stuff" (for lack of a better word) that doesn't serve me anymore. Spring is a new season, a new beginning and an opportunity to welcome new energy into your space. My cleaning list included:
Cleaning out my pantry- Honestly, my pantry has been a project of mine for the past few months. I've been collecting reusable storage containers so I finally got a chance to add labels to them i.e Chex, Jasmine Rice, Brown Sugar etc. I used chalkboard style labels and white chalk style markers that I got from the Container Store.
Cleaning out the refrigerator- Oh boy!! I'll admit that there was a jar that should have been thrown out in April of 2016. I don't know how it survived all this time in there unless it was already expired when I opened it. I don't even want to think about it anymore. Anyway, It's safe to say that the refrigerator is clean and everything in it is fresh now. I also restocked it with some of our favorite items. A variety of Teaonic iced tea lines our top shelf.
Cleaning out my clothing closet- I have such a hard time putting outfits together when I can't see what I have. I can't see what I have because my wardrobe consists of a lot of useless articles of clothing that seem to eat up the articles of clothing that are wearable. I probably use about 30% of my closet which is 100% jam packed. I ended up putting together a big bag of clothing and sneakers to donate to charity. Hopefully they will be useful to someone else.
Cleaning up the office- Business cards, notes and mail end up accumulating on top of the desk. I filed away everything that I needed to keep and threw out any useless papers or business cards. Yes, I do keep some business cards because although everything is googleable, business cards have specific names or phone extensions that you might need on them. I also keep them because sometimes cards have scribbling on the back that you need. They are all organized of course in a business card holder book. We have books in the office, in the bedroom, in the attic and books that our parents are still getting rid of at their houses. Going through those books will be saved for another day. Oh, so many books. First, I organized the books by relevance. i kept the books that we might reference handy. Then, I organized them by genre and found new homes for most of them in a more organized way clearing up a lot more surface area in our home.
I like to be mindful as I throw things out and remember to be grateful for having them and thankful for the ways they once served me. Spring cleaning had some challenges while my husband fought with an old stubborn tub drain, but we're in good shape now. Thank goodness the tub wasn't on my list of responsibilities because we might have had a different outcome. Happy Spring cleaning!!
