Seasonal Organization

Winter is on its way. Snow has already made its way to the Rockies and the Cascades, here in Washington. As I am preparing myself for ski season, many of you should be winterizing your homes, pulling out your parkas and mittens, digging out your sweaters and long johns, and doing a winter clean sweep of your house. I am a firm believer in cleaning out your "stuff" as the seasons transition. Not just spring cleaning, but summer, fall and winter cleaning, too! It is so easy to shove stuff in the corner, create piles to "come back to," have messy build up or an overflowing junk drawer. By cleaning out your piles and stashes quarterly this will help to reduce clutter in your house, ultimately leaving you more organized.

My greatest suggestion for seasonal cleaning is to do a seasonal swap. In other words, put away the clothes, tools, toys and miscellaneous things from the previous season that you don't need to get to for a while. Finding a permanent spot for out-of-season belongings you will create more room for your in-season belongings. Now, this permanent spot can certainly be a place on a shelf or inside of a box, you just need to determine what works for you and your needs.

I keep my out-of-season belongings in clear plastic Rubbermaid tubs from Target, which are then stored in our storage closet. I like the idea of the clear plastic so that I can easily identify what is inside of the box. It is just as easy, though, to get a cardboard or colored plastic box and write the contents on a piece of masking tape or directly on the box. Rubbermaid also manufactures various colored storage bins, namely for the holidays. Target has orange and black boxes for sale right now, and soon it will be green and red. Those bins are also a good way to help you to stay organized using a color-coding system. Switching out your shovel or snow blower for your lawnmower is also something that needs to happen at this time. Ideally you have a shed or garage where you can easily store your summer maintenance equipment. It is important to keep this space organized for accessibility.

Seasonal cleaning is a perfect time to take inventory in your house to determine what you have and what you no longer use or need. If you didn't wear it last season, or within the last six months, it is time to donate it. You probably won't wear it within the next six months. It's taking up space, and if you aren't wearing it, there certainly are other less fortunate people who would love to.

If you have kids I am certain that they have toys and clothes they are outgrowing. A good seasonal cleaning tip for dealing with your children is the same as I would suggest for you. Take an inventory of their clothing and donate whatever they have outgrown. Now, it makes perfect sense to save the clothing if you have younger children who can wear these garments as they grow into them. The trick is to use one of those handy bins, clearly mark it by size, sex and season, and put it in your neatly arranged storage area. The key is to actually come back to it once your younger children grow into that size. Then, tackle the toys. If your kids have broken toys that they are deeply attached to - fix them or dump them. If there are toys they no longer play with, donate them, same goes for stuffed animals that just sit around collecting dust. Find a home in your storage area for their out-of-season toys, and bring out the newly seasoned novelties.

Growing up, there was always one spot in my house where we would put things that didn't have a certain place. The closet at the top of the stairs. It was a bottomless black hole. I am guessing that my family isn't the only family that has the bottomless closet or room. If this sounds like an area of your house, there is no better time than now to create an organizational system, or at least go through whatever it is that is inside that room and get rid of some stuff. It will make you feel so much better every time you open that door to see a clean, organized space.