“Where did all this stuff come from??? Why don’t I have room for anything?” Does this sound like something you hear yourself saying way too often? I feel like I say it every weekend in my house. Chances are “all that stuff” came from Christmas presents. We receive a lot of things during the holiday, which add to our already cluttered storage, leaving us with little room to store our new things that we want to use. Why save this for “spring cleaning”? NOW is the time to do a quick 10 minute purge, and I intend to help you do just that with my quick tip for “5 items you should purge before the year is over”.
Sweaters
Photo by Tijana Drndarski on Unsplash
Yes there may be a lot of clothes in your closet that you can get rid of, but we are still in our busy season, and we just don’t have time for that. This quick exercise of getting rid of sweaters you haven’t worn, will give much needed space in your closet for two main reasons. First, sweaters are really bulky and take up a lot of space, unlike shirt that can be hung on a hanger. Secondly, sweaters rarely go out of style, which causes us to save them, because we think we will wear them. Check yourself, and do a quick inventory- My rule is if you didn’t wear it last winter, chances are you will not wear it this winter. Time to give them away. Just getting rid of 3-4 sweaters will create much needed space immediately.
Candles
Photo by Noelle Australia on Unsplash
My bet is you received at least one candle for your birthday, this holiday, or both! If you are like me, you have a collection of half used candles that you swear you will finish using….soon. Toss them!! You will continue to get new candles every year and every season. Have you ever walked past a candle in a store, that you thought smelled great, and didn’t buy it? I’m guessing not. Candles are so cheap, and give us that quick fix of relaxation we want in our home, they are an easy and sensible purchase for us….which is why you have too many! Throw away your half used candles, you will not miss them, and you will be amazed at how much space you will gain from this quick little project. I was holding on to half used tea lights! Why??!!! They had to go!
Toys
Photo by Hannah Rodrigo on Unsplash
My kids get so many toys each year, and though my youngest still plays with all of them, I have learned that I still need to remove some so he doesn’t get sensory overload. I either box them up in plastic bins I hoard have, or donate them to friends who have younger kids than me, or my favorite, I sell them on Facebook yard sale. Don’t ask me why I get such a thrill out of selling a toy for $3. Just finding a few bulky toys to remove, can give you much needed space for the new ones.
Towels
We have a ton of towels. We get them gifted to us all the time, which I love, but they always take over my linen closet if I don’t purge them. Any towel that is discolored, has a bleach stain, or dirt that wont come off, gets tossed (or moved to the garage for “dirty” cleaning jobs). If any of your towels resemble this at all, its time to throw them away! And please don’t cut them into rags!! They leave lint and frayed cotton everywhere when you wash them or try to clean with them.
Scarves and gloves
Last, and certainly not least, are scarves and gloves. If you are like me, and love updating your scarves and gloves each year, then you likely need to purge these as well, for the sake of your coat closet! I counted mine last week and I had (past tense) 12 scarves that were just mine! I only use the same 3 each season, so guess what is happening with the other ones? They are just sitting there collecting dust and taking up space. After I purged all those scarves, my coat closet looked so much more organized! And because I have nice scarves, I was able to donate the excess scarves to the local church near me who takes these types of donations, which also made me feel good to know these beautiful scarves were being put to good use.
Each of these exercises took me less than 10 minutes. I didn’t overthink it, I gave myself a time limit, and I didn’t go on a crazy purge like you see them do on television. The point was to do this quickly so I could make room for my new items, and move on the next quick task. I will schedule time for a big purge when I have more free time (and will power) to do so. For now, I needed a quick easy solution for cleaning up my living room after Christmas Day.
If you find other items in your house that are useful for this exercise, I would love to hear them!
Sending you Squeeky thoughts!
Michelle M
The Squeeky Clean Method 