Spring cleaning season is coming! I mean, literally. This week. I am posting about 7 spring cleaning chores that are often forgotten, how to fold your sheets like a rockstar, and more. Make sure you have subscribed to to my email list so you don’t miss my tips for getting your house organized. Now is a good time to organize your thoughts and schedule in order to own your spring cleaning this year.
The importance of efficiency
I have actually been thinking of ways to make my home run more efficiently in addition to being clean. Organization is obviously a top priority.Ā Keeping every space in our homes as organized as possible has several benefits including:
- housekeeping efficiency – we all want out households to run better
- peace of mind – chaos and clutter can make me feel crazy.
- simplification when it comes to packing and moving – which seems to happen a lot at my house.
- avoiding hoarder tendencies – please see #2 of this list
With all that being said I think the best place to start is the cleaning closet itself. This will set the tone for the rest of your cleaning and organizing this spring. If you don’t already have a designated cleaning closet, but you have space in your laundry room or an unused coat closet, those spaces can easily accommodate what we are going to do.
In fact, I have brooms and mops hung on hooks outside my cleaning closet, because space is limited and my laundry room has wall space behind the hanging rack.
Getting Started is the hardest part
Let’s start with a few items you may want/need to purchase. I see no reason to spend tons of money on organization. If you have canvas bins and/or plastic baskets lying around those will do just fine. After all, we are talking about a cleaning closet. That you use. To store cleaning supplies. It’s not a store-front window.
I got my cleaning supply caddy HERE. It is first of all, large enough to fit all of my cleaning supplies in but it also fits on the shelf just right.
I also recommend using a canvas bin or a basket like THIS for cleaning rags, towels, and vacuum parts.
Okay! Let’s knock this out! This really shouldn’t take longer than half an hour.
Step 1: Clean out your cleaning closet
Go ahead and take everything out of your cleaning closet. This is a good time to get rid of any old cleaning products, worn out cleaning rags, and faulty cleaning equipment. No reason to keep storing things that serve no purpose.
Be sure to appropriately dispose of any chemical solvents or cleaning products.
Unwanted cleaning tools such as brooms or vacuum cleaners can be donated if they are in working order.
Step 2: Fill bins/baskets
For starters, make sure you have enough bins and baskets for the amount of items you’ll be storing. You want to have everything contained when this is all said and done.
The other thing I want to stress is the concept of function over form. It’s not as important for your cleaning closet to look like a magazine cover as it is for you to know where all of your cleaning supplies are and be able to grab and go. Don’t feel like you have to spend a ton of money on matching containers for this to be organized and functional.
Step 3: Start with the floor and work your way up
If you can’t find a place to put the vacuum then this whole project is blown up, so start there. Put the bulky items like vacuum cleaners in place and work your way up.
- Obviously, the vacuum is going on the floor. This doesn’t need explaining.
- On the bottom shelf I have a canvas bin of cleaning rags. This makes for an easy grab for kids and adults alike.
- The cleaning caddy is on the second shelf from the bottom because it’s easy to grab but I can also see down in it to know if I have everything I need. You can fill your cleaning supply caddy with products you use regularly like window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, counter and bathroom spray and so on.
- On the next shelf I have additional cleaning supplies that I don’t necessarily use every time I clean, but they are accessible if I do need them. I also have extra sponges and scrubbing pads stored here. Behind that are my vacuum attachments.
- The fourth shelf up has bulk cleaning supplies that I want to keep out of reach of little hands and out of my way.
- The fifth shelf has two baskets – one with dog supplies and the other with cat supplies. And by supplies I mean flea/tick medications, nail trimmers, and travel supplies.
- If your closet has space, mount hooks to the back wall of the closet and hang your mop, broom, Swiffer, and dust pan. I used a metal hook set from hobby lobby, and it works great!
I found that by the time I got to the top shelf, all I had left were boxes that didn’t need to be anywhere else anyway.
Sort everything else you plan to store in your cleaning closet and assign baskets and shelves to those things, as needed.
This is what my finished product looks like:
Now your cleaning supplies are organized and ready to be used. No more fumbling around looking for your cleaning rags, or the appropriate vacuum attachment. Having your cleaning supplies organized will not only cut time from your cleaning routine, it will also help you keep track of when supplies are running low or need to be cleaned.
The important thing to remember here is for you to know where your cleaning supplies are. If you are able to purchase all matching containers, great! If not, that’s fine. Just get organized!
Now you’re ready to conquer the rest of the house! And believe me, we will conquer the rest of the house in the days and weeks to come.
How do you have your cleaning closet organized?
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