As many of you know, I’ve been a little under the weather this week. Being sick I haven’t had much energy to post so I asked my friend Valerie, of Simply Organized Val, to guest post here at Mommy Bits. With warmer weather upon us I thought Valerie would be the perfact gal to help us all get our homes ready for Spring! I hope you’ll all show her a little love!

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Pull back the curtains and throw open the windows!  It’s spring time again!  Spring is the time of year that we like to sweep the cobwebs from our homes and our minds.  Spring cleaning often tops our list of chores for this season.  But, before we can clean it’s important to de-clutter our homes and get rid of the excess stuff we’ve accumulated over the winter. 

Because I know that for the most part my family will be living outside for the next few months I like to prepare the inside so that it will be as low maintenance as possible.  The last thing I want to do on a beautiful day is tidy up the house.  I want everyone to have all that they need to enjoy the outdoors ready and accessible. 

The best place to start is in the closets, drawers and storage areas.  First thing is to go through clothing and get rid of anything that wasn’t worn all winter.  No need to hog my limited storage space with clothes that will no longer fit or be worn next fall.  Also, this is the time to get out the spring and summer clothes and find out what fits.  My daughter loves this part.  It’s like getting new clothes.  She likes to do a fashion show of everything from last season.  She sorts the clothes by “keep” and “give away” and I then pull out the consignment worthy pieces.   

Working with a boy may be a little harder.  I have to coax my 11 year old son in to trying on his shorts from last season to see if they are long enough.  Seems they rarely are!  He eventually gets into it as well sorting his things into “that’s for babies” and “this is cool” piles.   I do the same with my closet and my husbands.  (When he’s not home of course!)  

Now I need to get rid of the stuff.  This part is easy because in our area (Cincinnati) there are plenty of places willing to take our extras off our hands.  Clothes for the upcoming season can be consigned.  I think the best places in our area to consign are Snooty Fox- for adult clothing,  Plato’s Closet for teens clothing and Once Upon a Child for kids clothes .

Now if you are looking to donate, try Dress for Success or Goodwill for locations near you.

After the clothes are taken care of then move to the other closets in your home.  Store winter coats, snow boots, mittens, hats, etc. until next fall and make room for roller skates, jump ropes, side walk chalk and bike helmets. Donate any old sports equipment or skates that are too small to www.sportsgifts.com. They will send them to under privileged children here and abroad.  If you’ve got old toys and games to get rid of check out www.cincinnatichildrens.org for a full list of donations needed help sick kids staying in the hospital.

Gather any magazines and catalogs that have piled up over the winter and put them in the recycling bin.  Many schools and churches now have recycling bins on the property that can help them make money for their organizations.  Check out www.paperretriever.com for one near you.

After clearing away the clutter your home will be easy to deep clean.  Then you and your family can enjoy the great outdoors all summer long.

Happy Organizing!

Valerie Morgan-Saunders
www.simplyorganizedval.com
www.simplyorganizedval.blogspot.com