Spring Cleaning Tips & Inspiration

Where to begin?

It’s the middle of Spring Break right now in Michigan and if you are home with your family this year, this may be the perfect time to get the whole team on board for a whole house Deep Cleaning Party! Put on some Justin Timberlake dance songs & some comfy sweats for all & your home will be spiffy in half the time.

Age-Specific Cleaning + Decluttering Tasks

If you think that your 2 year old is too young to participate in the party, don’t fear: Window Washing is here to keep them happily-busy and entertained.

Here are some tasks for children of all ages:

1. Sorting Socks: Teach your 5+ year old how to marry socks and make a pile of all of the remaining “single” socks to put into a large, ziplock bag. Keep the single socks for 1 month in the laundry room until all of the socks are married. After a month passes, throw away the remaining socks.

2. Window Washing(from the inside): Toddlers are so great at this task and feel encouraged when they get to participate in big-kid activities too! Buy a few plastic spray bottles from the Dollar Tree and fill the bottles with water and a few drops of your favorite essential oils: Lavender in a purple bottle, Lemon in a yellow bottle and Eucalyptus in a green bottle(if you fancy fragrance); this will provide a fresh aroma to your home and will be gentle enough on your little ones hands. Plus, they will get excited about using the different color bottles. Next, give them a couple dry kitchen towels and show them how to spray and wipe the lower windows until they are dry. You can also ask them to wipe down any excess water that drips onto the floors while they are sweetly working so hard to glisten the windows.

3. Vacuuming the bedrooms & under the couch cushions: This is a great task for 7+ year olds who tend to be strong enough to whip the vacuum around and also may enjoy using the crevice nozzle attachment to deep clean the couch. It also helps to set a timer for 30 minutes to see how many rooms they can get done in that time period.

4. Decluttering Clothing: Our kids are constantly telling us that they have outgrown their shirts and pants. Therefore, I will often have them make a pile of all of the items that don’t fit from their dresser and closet, including: (underwear, pajamas, shirts, swimwear and pants) for me to go through. This task is best for 5+ year olds as they will surely hold onto items that they still love to wear & excitedly pile up items they don’t want you to dress them in anymore. When I go through their piles, I will throw away any torn or permanently-stained clothing and save the good items in a labeled bin in their closet that reads:
   ”One Size Down + All Seasons.” If they don’t have a younger sibling or cousin to give the items to, I will immediately place the items in a labeled trash bag, put it in my trunk and drop it off at the nearest Good Will that week.

5. Refrigerator Clean-out: This is for sure a Mom or Dad task because kids tend to jump ahead to the finish line and simply want to finish the task asap. This is something I like to do once/week, especially if a Costco run is on the to-do list. Bringing home all of those Mega-sized items does not feel as overwhelming if there is a clean fridge with space to fit 4 lbs of strawberries, a massive amount of chicken breast & a double package of Tortellini! Cleaning out the fridge before we head to the store allows me to waste less food, spruce up the shelves and get inspired as to what to cook in the week ahead.

6. Mudroom Shoes Clean-Out: Do your kids love trying on other kids shoes? My little ones definitely do & often try to get away with stealing their siblings or parents shoes on the way out the door, especially if they are high heels. Since Spring sports are approaching & snow season is behind us (crossing fingers), it’s a great time to play “Shoe Store.” Remove all of the shoes from the mudroom, line them up for each child to try on one at a time and place any shoes that need to be washed in a laundry basket. Then, take all of the shoes that no longer fit & put them aside in a labeled shoe bin for the next child down, donate them, or throw them away. I also like to keep all of the sports gear separate for each kid: Cleats can get SO muddy and those gorgeous shin guards tend to get quite dirty as well, so it helps to keep them in an easily-accessible space away from the clean shoes.

7. Goodbye Winter Gear: I can’t wait to empty the car and the mudroom of all of our winter wear that occupies so much space for 3+ months every year. It’s hard to predict what the weather will gift us with in the Midwest, but you can at least launder the heavy coats, ski gloves and thick hats and happily store them away in a bin for next winter. Then, your mudroom can be warm weather ready with colorful raincoats and fleeces for soccer games. I like to have a couple clear bins labeled with “Winter Coats” ready to re-fill in our storage room and then I keep all of our gloves, hats and scarves for all seasons in a stationary 3-drawer dresser in the laundry room.

I hope you have the most delightful time sprucing up your space and an even better time frolicking outside soon!

For more organizing & decorating inspiration, check out our Instagram Portfolio of Before and After pictures and the latest updates from @sweethavendesignhome

Thank you so kindly for visiting our page!

-Kate Kelley, Professional Home Organizer in Saline, MI 48176

Our Favorite Organizational Products for Every Home

How to Marry your Organizational Styles

I have been married to my sweet hubby, Dave ( or “Bubs” as I call him) for almost 10 years & continue to learn alongside him how we can best complement each other’s different organizational styles. We were very blessed to build a family quicker than we imagined & currently have 5 littles running around at all times. Four of our children are old enough to go to school & the 5th, Connor-baby, is my little sidekick and home-terrorizer during the day :) When the weekend hits, our home can quickly become one big to-do list, but thankfully, we have worked together to implement organizational systems in our home from the inside-out to help the kids and ourselves put our home back together when it becomes messy. Everyone knows that if Mama Bear starts to feel overwhelmed by any messes left in sight, they will be put to work!

This is Dave and I on our honeymoon in 2013.

Dave wears many hats in his professional life & greatly values the hustle mentality: always pushing himself to accomplish more in his schedule & learning new ways to be more efficient. His work ethic, humility, creativity & selflessness are a constant source of inspiration to me as a Mother and business owner. Since sharing homes in Ann Arbor, Dexter & Saline together, we have really enjoyed *most* of the process of renovating our homes and equally value the peace of keeping our home clean and clutter-free (as much as the kids will allow.)

If you are searching for a solution to marry your organizational styles and get on the same page about your home, I thoroughly recommend taking this fun quiz from one of my favorite professional organizers who invented the “Clutterbug Method.” In this quiz, you and your significant other can each discover what kind of organizer you are & learn many tips on how to marry your unique, organizational styles.

Click the link here: The Clutterbug Quiz

Second to that, you can play the decluttering game below to commence your journey to uncover the home you two have always dreamed of as a team!

Identifying Each Other’s Definition of “Clutter”

In order to live in harmony in your shared space, it is important for each of you to learn what visual objects your partner finds stimulating and what causes them to feel uneasy. The key is to meet in the middle to discover your combined, organizational bliss.

From my experience in my business, I have found that most couples have different organizational styles or needs. For some, it may be very bothersome for them to see mail on the kitchen counter or laundry busting at the seams of a basket in their bedroom, but once those objects are neatly contained & out of sight, it’s no longer on their radar. Or, you could be most at peace when all of your colorful office supplies are neatly arranged on your desk where you can see it, but your partner finds that area to be cluttered and taking over too much space. All of these little hiccups have a solution, the challenge is to seek awareness of each other’s needs in a loving way.

Couples Decluttering Challenge

If you are searching for a solution to tackle your combined clutter together & are feeling brave, I thoroughly recommend this couples challenge:

1. Buy two different color post-it notes, one color for you and one for your partner.

2. Choose 1 Room per week where you will each take turns sticking your post-it notes to any surface in that room(on shelves, floors, or walls) that make you feel cluttered, identifying decor or belongings that don’t bring you joy to have in that space. Each person should have the same amount of time to complete this challenge so you can make quick and honest decisions.

3. Agree to keep the peace for the sake of the process. The ultimate goal is to be able to visualize what your partner considers clutter from their point of view & for them to learn the same about you. Taking the steps to declutter each room in your home this way provides an opportunity to experience lasting serenity in your relationship and home life.

4. Lastly, after you both have agreed upon what belongings to remove from your space & shared a few laughs, take the time to enjoy what you have recreated together!

Wishing you a most peaceful week,

xx-Kate