Although it’s already summer, we have only had one day over 30°C. Don’t get me wrong – I’m perfectly happy with cooler days; you can layer clothes, but when it’s hot, you can only take off so much and still be socially acceptable.
But when the weather begins to warm up, thoughts turn to spring cleaning. The practice goes back centuries: For climates that experience cold winter months, spring cleaning usually takes place when the weather begins to be warm enough to open windows but not warm enough yet for swarms of bugs coming in as a side effect. Also, back when wood was the main source of heat, if it was warm enough not to need the wood-burning stove, it was the ideal time to clean out the soot and to dust the house, letting the breeze help carry it away. In modern times, where most houses no longer depend on wood or fireplaces as the main heat source and windows can be opened year-round (with the heater returning indoors to comfortable temperatures), spring cleaning is still a tradition.
Most people have those areas in their homes where things can stand around for months or even years before they put them in their proper places; sometimes those things that don’t have a proper place stand around even longer. Spring cleaning is the ideal occasion to look around, notice those stand-arounds, and put them away properly or eliminate them altogether.
“Mis en place” is a French culinary term meaning “putting in place”, or “gathering” (as in gathering ingredients in preparation for cooking). Outside of the kitchen, it can be used as a description for putting everything in its place. Spring cleaning and mis en place is a great opportunity to de-clutter.
Here are 10 tips for de-cluttering:
- Once-in-the-hand principle: Firstly, get yourself a basket to carry from room to room to gather things that need putting in their places; once the basket is full, put the items where they go. Don’t lay things down somewhere else “for now”!
- Two-Year Gauge: If you haven’t touched, missed, or used an item in the past two years, chances are you won’t miss it – give it away, donate it to a second-hand shop, or recycle it.
- Clothes: Do you have clothes you’ve kept but never wear, or they’re the wrong size, or they’re worn out? Keep one worn-out outfit for dirty work, but bag up the other items to donate, scrap, or give away.
- Kitchen: Go through your food cupboards: Toss out anything past its expiry date (this is at your discretion; foods today rather more honestly call it a “best before date”, as canned goods are often good for a while past that…); rotate the older cans of food to the front, the newest toward the back (also best practice when putting away new shopping); toss out any spices that have gone off or are stale.
- Storage: Do you have plastic containers without matching lids or lids without containers? Get rid of them. Do you have duplicate utensils that you don’t need? Donate them. Do you have pots or pans that are worn out? Replace them if need be.
- Linens (towels, bedding, etc.): Toss or recycle any threadbare, ripped, or worn-out items. Fold the keepers and store them neatly (stacks tend to get lazy over time, don’t they?).
- Electronic Gadgets: Go through your electronic items and match cables to each piece of (working) equipment, and recycle the rest. Along the same line, clean out your inbox of superfluous emails.
- Toiletries: Toss anything that has gone off – hand cream, makeup, nail polish and medicines included.
- Paperwork: Get rid of any guarantees that have expired, old paperwork, or manuals for items you no longer own; file and organize what you keep. While you’re there, check those pens to see which ones still work and chuck the rest.
- Sentimentality: Don’t hold on to something out of guilt (someone gave you X…) or obligation (they might notice I’ve tossed it). If it brings you no joy, is not practical, or isn’t in keeping with your aesthetic, don’t keep it.
Have you already started spring cleaning this year? Tackling one point at a time (in a day, or a week) will make it possible, and you’ll be done before the cat can lick its ear!
I’m curious to know if any of these tips inspire you to de-clutter a specific area – please comment below!
It’s been nearly a month since I’ve posted a blog – my deepest apologies! It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes life takes over a bit too much to think straight. Just like for everyone else on the planet, life as we knew it has come to a grinding halt, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s just different, and it takes some adjusting time. For me, that’s meant recovering energy from a mild case of Covid-19 – it mainly just wiped out our energy for about a month, giving me achy joints; in the meantime, I’ve been getting used to having my husband at home 24/7 as he works from home. It means we get to have lunch together, but it also means that I’ve spent more time in the kitchen than usual. Even with all the adjustments, I could get used to it all and enjoy it! The introvert in me is fine not having a loaded agenda; I’ve had more time to write, to do a bit of “urban” (read “indoor potted plants“) gardening (mainly kitchen herbs), and tackle a bit of spring cleaning.
Stephanie Huesler 