Spring Cleaning My Home and Closet (SOS)

Okay y’all. It’s Friday, which means two things: my weekend starts today and hello spring cleaning!

Is it weird I am giddy about this?

I periodically clean out my closet and give bags of clothes to girls in our church, because I would much rather get to give my clothes to people I know. Plus, I always wanted a little sister, so this kind of works out of for me. 😉

This round of spring cleaning, I mean business.

Paul and I currently live in an apartment that, though decently sized, is still an apartment and storage space is limited. Our closet, no matter how hard I have tried to organize and make it look good, is a disaster. Boxes piled on boxes, ornaments popping out the top on one side and a Valentines Day banner on the other, clothing squished every which way and scrunched up against the wall to make space… anybody else with me on this one? Of course not, y’all are all perfect. 😉 But, if you have a similar personality type to me you’ll understand me, this drives you crazy. Like… out the roof, gives me hives kind of crazy. I am that person who gets in trouble for throwing away something important, but because it was out on the counter or semi-crumpled, or whatever… I toss it. Surely it couldn’t be that important, right?

Wrong. HAHA. I have tried to get better about throwing papers and items that are out of place into a catch-all drawer.  I can get throw away happy… but with the catchall drawer, my husband can just go through that and love his “organized chaos” while I happily don’t have to look at it.

When spring cleaning out my closet, here are some things I consider:

1. You know those items you have picked up and kept the last 3 or 4 rounds of cleaning out your closet in the last year or two because you like it still, yet haven’t worn it in the last two years?… trust me, you’re not going to. Pitch it.
2.  Items you think, “Oh I could wear this for _______ if that ever comes up again.” No- get rid of it.
3.  Items that are over the top or were on trend once for about six months, get ride of it. I try to stay away from purchasing “trendy” things that stray from classic all together. I like classic with mod twists, but I truly try to stick to pieces I know will last a long time. If you have surplus amounts of money sitting around and can afford to buy pieces here and there that won’t last, that’s a different story. Have at it and send me pics! 😉 But when it comes to that budget life, I choose to stray from making purchases that I will possibly regret in a couple months when I need new jeans but spent my closet money for the quarter on a statement piece.
4. Shoes, y’all. If I am honest I have way too many. And, I only wear about 4 pairs of my shoes that take up space in my closet. So I am tossing a bunch of them to make way for future purchases. Shoes are a hit or miss on giving away. I have quite a few pairs of heels I am passing off that have been worn a few times. But some of my other shoes, like old sneakers that have seen their last workout, I am tossing.

Cleaning out the kitchen:

1. Guys, this one feels so good and should happen way more often than it does. Tossing left overs and stale chips bags– all the praise hands. How do we have three bags of the same chips? Who knows. But two of them are going.
2. I love taking everything off my pantry shelves and giving them a good wipe down to prevent ants. Baking flour and sugar, and crumbs can accumulate over time. This is a big fat welcome to bugs.
3. My name is Hannah, and I am a coffee mug hoarder. I have a really hard time getting ride of coffee mugs, because I have a personal connection to each one. That mug, I used to drink out of in college while studying. That one, so-and-so gave me. That one I got while on vacation at… Yeah, it’s a problem and something’s gotta give. Two full shelves in our kitchen cabinets are stacked full of coffee mugs. For the two of us. And, we each have our favorite 2 or 3 mugs, which means the other 50+ never. get. used.

   It’s time for an intervention. I will say my sweet goodbyes to each one, and toss it. If you want a coffee mug- holler at your girl- I will give you one. 😉

   Cleaning the stuff you don’t see:

   1. I clean my whole house basically every day. Tidying up, wiping down, Swiffering, and getting the crumbs around the base boards that somehow get there every single day. But, cleaning the spaces we don’t see- that’s the kicker. In between the washer and dryer, under the sofa and love seat, under the tv console, dusting the corners and getting up in the ceiling and the fans… these are places I am a little terrified to pull out and attack, but I am so ready. Usually we find a few socks, Presley’s bones and toys that went missing, and perhaps some food that rolled off our plate. O_o It’s so important to clean these areas!

   2. We love Clorox wipes- they’re our go-to. But, we actually just ordered our first bundle of Honest cleaning supplies. I will let you know how it goes. I have been giving distilled white vinegar a shot for counter tops and our stove top, too, which has been okay. The smell doesn’t last long, and from the burning my fingers feel… surely it’s cleaning the counter tops?

I hope this inspired you to get after your own place today! 

In a culture full of “more”, “surplus”, and “super sized”, I hope you simplify just a hair today. Toss what isn’t necessary- I promise it’s going to feel great.

Love you guys!

xoxo- Han