spring

The birds are chirping. The sun is shining. Crocuses are pushing their way up through the dirt. It’s spring. And that means it’s time to clean and declutter!

This morning, my husband called me on his walk to the train and told me to go outside. He said, “It’s beautiful! It’s, like, seventy degrees outside!” So, I swiped my cup of coffee off the counter, slipped on my shoes, and opened the back door, stepping onto the deck. It was sunny and smelled like spring, but I checked the temperature: 36 degrees. Well, that’s what happens in Chicago around mid-March. It might still be bitingly cold, but if that sun is shining, we are hopeful for spring.

For me, spring means many things: tulips, my birthday, Easter, replacing my signature pinot noir for sauvignon blanc, and—best of all—spring cleaning!

Spring weather, like fall weather, is productive weather: it’s warm enough to not hear frost crackle your bones when you move, but cool enough to not melt and bubble with sweat. Before the heat of summer focuses your mind on only one thing—relaxing—take this time to clean your house and garage from the dirt and grime leftover from winter’s bitter slop.

But maybe before you begin to wipe clean your windows and dust ceiling fans, consider decluttering the belongings you’ve accumulated while you nested this winter.

Before we clean, we tidy. And to tidy, we must declutter!

Spring Decluttering Checklist

CLOTHES, SHOES, and ACCESSORIES

Begin with your closets and dressers.

1) First, look through your sweaters and boots—all of the winter wear—and sort through everything you’ve worn this year, and everything you haven’t.

2) If you haven’t worn it this winter—you know, during the polar vortex—will you wear it next winter? If the answer is no, toss it in your “donate” pile.

3) Continue to sort through every single pair of boots, jeans, sweaters, and be ruthless. Have you worn it this winter? Will you wear it next winter? Did you even wear it 2 winters ago? If the answer is no, put it in the donate pile.

4) Then, take a long look at all of the items you’ve kept. You wore them this winter. BUT, did you enjoy wearing them? Was that chunky sweater cozy and cute, or did you feel like a recluse while wearing it?

This is what some might call the “sparks joy” part. For me, I like to ask the question: “Is this flattering or functional?” If I own something that is functional, but not flattering, I might keep it. But it might be functional and not flattering, and the flattering part bugs me more than the benefit of owning something functional. I have a sweater that is very warm, but I hate the way it looks on me. The color is all wrong. The chunkiness is just—no, thank you. So, I decided to donate it. Because it doesn’t make me feel good. Yes, I suppose, it does not spark joy despite its functionality.

6) Once you decide to donate the items you don’t wear and the items that don’t flatter you, organize the items you’ve kept by SEASON (winter, summer, etc)>> CATEGORY (cardigan or crewneck, jeans or dress pants)>> COLOR.

Do the same with your shoes. I’ve had the same UGGS for about ten years, and this year they were so damaged beyond repair. Someone might be able to use them, but it’s time for me to let them go. Even when they were ripped and torn and re-stitched, I wore them. But now, they’re done, and they cannot remain in my closet unworn for years. They need a new home.

Continue ruthlessly asking yourself these questions with your purses, jewelry, makeup. Have you used them this year? Will you use them next year? Do you even like them? Donate or organize them.

MEDICINE CABINET

Winter means colds, flus, and other sicknesses. It also means the accumulation of cough medicine and prescriptions. Dump out your medicine cabinets and bathroom drawers to sort through every single tube and bottle you own.

1) If the medication has expired, toss.

2) If you have a prescription or tube of something that was a one-time use, or perhaps never worked anyway, toss. (You can’t really donate medicine, but make sure you are trashing them appropriately.)

3) Take a look at your makeup, toothpaste, lotions and soaps. Do you need more than one mascara? More than one type of body lotion? Should you hold onto half used bottles thinking that you might end up using them next year?

The easiest way to make a decision is by sorting your stuff backwards:

— Isolate items you use daily—items you want to keep with absolute certainty.

— Then, look at the leftover items, the stuff you don’t use daily, the stuff that you are undecided about. Then, decide: do you really like that eye shadow? Does it flatter your coloring? Is it worth it to keep that lotion that smells so good but makes you feel like you’ve been slathered in butter? Go with your gut, and toss/donate them.

TRINKETS/DÉCOR

Before you replace your front door wreath with a wreath of peonies, do a clean sweep of all the little items that sit upon your shelves and console tables and end tables and dressers and countertops and tables.

Those cute little things might be adding beauty to your home, or they might just be collecting dust. Go with your gut: do these pieces of décor really add value to my space, or do they just add to my list of things to clean?

Toss and donate accordingly.

KITCHEN CABINETS

Time to organize your kitchen.

Did you end up using that egg-mac-muffin maker this winter, or is it still just taking up space?

What about those cans of beans? Are those still good?

All those half broken mugs. Are those still functional?

1) Open every cabinet and drawer, pull out the items you use on a daily basis, the items you must keep and you’re certain, wipe down the cabinet shelves and inner drawers, and then return those items neatly to their resting place.

2) Consider the other items you don’t use often. Is it worth it to keep them? Maybe you use that cookie cutter once a year for Christmas cookies, but it’s totally worth it to keep it stored in your utensil drawer. Or maybe you never use that one vase and it’s just collecting dust. Time to toss or donate.

BOOKS

While you were sequestered inside this bone-chilling winter, did you finish all the books you set out to read? What about the books you started but never finished? Are they just sitting there, hoping to be read? Are you lying to your books? Leading them on?

There are only a few books I will read over and over again, either because they bring me joy, or because I want my future children to read them someday, or because they’re reference books. I keep those. The others, I donate so that others can be filled with happiness as they read.

So do your books serve a purpose? Do they make your home feel cozy? Do they make you feel happy? Or are they staring you down, giving you anxiety because you know you’ll never finish reading them?

Donate or tidy.

Once you’ve done a clean sweep of all the things in your space, donating what no longer serves you, recycling what can be recycling, and tossing what is simply trash, it’s time to get out your rags and bucket, your microfiber dust cloth and vacuum, and put those good old fashioned never-stop-working American bones to good use, and begin the nitty gritty Spring Cleaning!

Don’t worry. Now that you’ve decluttered and organized, and after you’ve cleaned your house from second floor gutters to the basement sewage system, then you can finally relax with a glass of wine on the deck. By then, it will probably by July and the weather will finally be perfect!

Happy Spring Cleaning!