It’s that time of year again. The weather is getting nice, the kids are out of school, vacation is just around the corner…and our homes are still stuck in the clutter and mess of winter. Not to worry.  Here are a few tips that will help you get your spring cleaning done in no time.

The first thing you will want to do is recruit your team of helpers.  Make the spring cleaning a fun, family project.  This will give you some quality time to chat with your children or spouse while cleaning a room together and will give kids a sense of responsibility and accomplishment when the job is finished.

As you get started, it’s important to tackle only one room at a time (or maybe two rooms depending on the number of people you have helping).  Working on more than one room at a time can make your house appear much more cluttered and messy if you don’t have time to finish the job in one day.  Also, make sure to include commonly skipped areas such as closets, junk drawers, medicine cabinets, garage/basement/attic storage areas, and outside.

As you begin each room, divide items into one of four categories: trash, give away/sell, storage, or put away.  The trash can be immediately disposed of to get it out of the way.  Items from each room that can be donated or sold need to be kept together, so that when the cleaning is done they can be easily found and sorted.  You will find some items that you do not use on a daily or weekly basis, but you can’t bear to part with just yet. These things can be put into boxes or large plastic containers, labeled and stored neatly in a garage or other storage area.  All other items that don’t belong in the room or are out of place can quickly be put away.  This should assure that the room is de-cluttered and that the actual “cleaning” such as vacuuming, dusting and cleaning windows and curtains can be done quickly and easily.

As you finish each room, it’s important to consider why the room became messy to begin with. This can help you find ways to keep your home neat and organized so that all your hard work is not wasted.  Adding small items to areas that typically become cluttered can help your family to stay more organized on a daily basis.  These can include mail sorters in the kitchen or foyer area, plastic crates in the bathroom or medicine cabinet, organizers in the junk drawer, or stacking shelves in a closet.  Making a family chore chart can also help to keep your house tidy all year long.  If each family member does one chore per day, there will not be as much work to do when spring cleaning time rolls around again.