Spring organizing tips to help your organizing clients
Spring is here. The air is warmer, the sun is brighter and this motivates everyone to want to clear out the old and make everything fresh and new again. Use these 10 spring organizing tips to help your organizing clients get their homes clean and organized and ready for spring!
1. Declutter first!
The first and most important step in spring organizing is to get rid of clutter. The less clutter, the easier it is to clean and organize. The simplest way to begin is to do a sweep of the house with a recycling bin and garbage bag and collect the obvious trash. This is an easy task that will give your clients an immediate sense of accomplishment and motivate them to do more. If you only do one of these spring organizing tips, do this one!
2. Identify clutter hot-spots
Look at where clutter collects around your client’s home and set up attractive ways to organize it. Place a decorative bowl on the counter for keys, or a nice basket by the front door for shoes. Have a place to sort and contain mail where it collects. Hang hooks where coats or backpacks get thrown when they walk in the house.
3. Set small goals and stay focused
If they are feeling overwhelmed with a spring organizing project, help them by breaking it down into 10-15 minute sessions. Encourage your client to avoid distractions and stay focused on that one project until it is complete.
4. Sort items into categories and store like-items together
Choose broad and obvious categories that everyone in the house will be able to understand. Keep it simple so your client can easily maintain it. Use clear containers and labels for easy identification.
5. Deal with sentimental items
If your client has items that are large or bulky, suggest they take a picture of it and save the photo instead of the item. If it is a child’s art project or toy, take a photo of the child holding it. If it’s clothing, take a photo of the person wearing it. Scan photos and digitize videos.
6. Make a home for everything
Clutter usually accumulates because items have no home. Assign a specific home to frequently used items. Make sure everyone in the house knows where things go and is on board with your system.
7. Be creative and re-purpose
Look around at what your client already has and find creative ways to re-purpose items. For example: old dressers are great for linen, dish, or even paper storage. Over the door shoe racks can be used to store toiletries, toys or accessories. Your client’s will love the fact that you saved them some money by using what they have instead of buying all new containers.
8. Look up!
Don’t forget to make use of your client’s vertical space. This is especially important in small homes or apartments. Purchase tall bookshelves and tall storage furniture, build shelving all the way to the top of the closets, hang large items from the ceiling of the garage. Store seldom used items at the very top of the space and place more frequently used items within reach.
9. Help them let go
If your client is having trouble letting go during your spring organizing session, encourage them to do something positive with your unwanted items. Donate to a local charity in need and give them a receipt to take a tax-deduction. Or, help them sell items. Quality clothes can go to consignment. Collectibles do well on e-bay. Toys, children’s clothing, and knick-knacks are yard sale best sellers. For antiques, china, silver, or art, try an auction warehouse. Craigslist.org or Facebook Marketplace are great for used furniture, electronics, sports equipment and pretty much anything else you can think of.
10. Don’t over-stuff
When helping your clients put things back, keep closets, cabinets and drawers less than 80% full. This way your client can see and access everything easily. If things don’t fit, then more decluttering needs to happen, or perhaps another storage solution needs to be put in place. To help them keep clutter at bay, teach them to live by the rule: one item in, one item out.
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