7QTF - Spring Cleaning & Decluttering

"I earnestly admonish you, therefore, my brothers, to look after your spiritual well-being with judicious concern. Death is certain; life is short and vanishes like smoke. Fix your minds, then, on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity." — St. Francis of Paola

Happy Friday All!

As a Catholic, we are still celebrating the Easter Season. That season is between Easter Sunday (Christ's Resurrection) and Pentecost Sunday (the Holy Spirit's decent onto the Apostles and others). During this time, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, The Ascension of Our Lord, and Mary's Crowning... to name a few things.

But as this Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday, check out Tracy's 7QTF Blog Post, as she linked up everything I would have, and more. I would add the Divine Mercy Novena to the list but that is is... Anywhooooo...

Today I am linking up with Kelly @ This Ain't The Lyceum for 7QTF. By the way, read her "ABOUT", she is really a funny lady.

Today I'm talking about Spring cleaning and decluttering. Which one do you think comes first? Remember that show Clean House? They would take everything out of the room(s) they were cleaning and make piles, Keep, Toss, Sell. Of course we are not getting PAID and our home is not being professionally decorated, BUT the pay out in peace of mind is good. My seven quick tips for getting it done...

1) MAKE A PLAN and CHECK LIST. Which room do you want to do first? What projects are you doing? Check it off the list when complete.

Here is a Spring Cleaning list I found online. There are many. You could make your own from it. Google Spring Cleaning List (or Pinterest it):

2) DECLUTTER: Look, most of us are pretty decluttered (ok, I am because I'm odd AND in my defense, I have one child so I don't have several people to declutter).  You can not clean properly if you have lots of stuff. My rule of thumb is, if you haven't played with it, worn it, used it in a year (unless it is fine china or special occasion item) then you should sell or toss. If you apply this simple logic, you will be successful. Think about the graces you will receive if you give things to people who will use them!!! This year, things we will toss are:

• Toys - we have been pretty good about it, but there are bins of things my child hasn't played with in years. And though I keep a basket for the grandchildren and people with many children who visit, I think it's time to let go of the enormous amount of stuff in the playroom.
• Christmas Decor - we have too many ornaments. It's time to weed them out.
• Clothes that don't fit or are worn
• Tupperware - I can not tell you how old and used our tupperware (code name for all plastic stuff in the cabinet) is.
• Kitchen Gadgets - there are some things we never use.
• Maybe some books. MAYBE!
• Furniture we don't use.
• organize the classroom (we are homeschoolers and THIS is a must)

3) DEEP CLEAN: As you go from room to room, and remove the stuff. Do not forget to deep clean. This is a good time to

• wash curtains or at least dust them.
• clean the windows inside and out.
• don't forget the baseboards... and in my house the walls (YES we live in dust central).
• toss expired things in the bathroom/pantry/freezer
• Please use non-toxic, organic cleansers.

4) SWITCH SEASONS: In our home, we switch season with clothing, bed linens, etc. My guys LOVE to put a throw on in the mornings. So out go the thicker throws for thinner ones. Me, I'm hot-blooded, so NO THANKS! lol Seriously though, we have bins and we put away the Fall/Winter and the Spring/Summer comes out. It's just what we do. It's also pleasing to the eye when you look in a closet.

5) COMPLETE THE PROJECTS:  Are you painting? Paint while the room is cleared out for the decluttering process. Paint, then deep clean. Then bring the stuff back in. If you are putting in a new fence, do the new fence first, then stain/seal it... THEN address landscaping around it. No matter what you accomplish, check it off the list. A few projects in the next couple months for us:

• New fence
• Painting garage walls/ceilings
• Organizing garage
• Re-staining the back patio
• If we win the lottery - new floors, new paint color, new windows, upgraded bathrooms, etc. Hey - a girl can dream!

6) RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO BUY NEW: Um, isn't it always tempting, when you clean things out, to buy new things to replace them. If you do BUY NEW, it has to pass the "makes sense" test and the "makes cents" test. In other words, is it a NEED or WANT? AND does it work within your budget. Maybe you want all new furniture (um I do), but I can not afford to replace it all. So, maybe I can only afford new tupperware. Don't toss good stuff you use just to buy new. That makes no sense or cents.

7) DO NOT FORGET MAINTENANCE!  You should have your Air Conditioner serviced in the Spring AND you should have your fireplace serviced in the Fall.

It sounds like a lot and can be overwhelming. I've got a cleaning schedule: Davis Family Cleaning Schedule. The first time I shared it was 2013. It's not changed and is a great guide for us.  I did a LOT of research years ago and created it.  On it there are daily/weekly/monthly/yearly things. You can change it around to suit you. If you did put together a rough sketch, you could save having to do it all at once... and who doesn't love that?!

Have a great Friday! Many blessings to you!

Em