Spring Cleaning Fever

I spent the weekend spring cleaning, organizing and gardening -- getting my world in order. I'd already cleaned out my dresser and my closet, The place was torn up for most of the weekend until I started pulling it all back together last night. I spent several hours cleaning out the toys, stored in the living room armoire. It felt like they were beginning to multiply and take up more and more space. So I thinned them out, packed them in a more compact, organized system and went from two full shelves in the armoire to one which was not completely full. Feels so good.

After reading this, I was reminded that you should rotate toys, so I took out things that don't get used much or are too advanced still. I also found a lot of books shoved in the cupboard, so I took some of those to put away as well. So I have a little box of things to put in storage. I threw away an amazing amount of junk: torn coloring book pages, broken crayon bits, broken trinkets and old banged up glow in the dark bracelets that neither glowed in the dark nor had clasps.

Then I organized and cleaned up magazines that were beginning to pile up. Then dusted, vacuumed, and the tidied the front entryway. I stepped out to my balcony garden for a few minutes to quickly plant an herb garden kit I received for Christmas. I thought it would only take a few minutes when I read the three steps listed on the back of the box. There was a different set of more complicated directions inside, so that was much more difficult than anticipated. But we should have chives, cilantro and parsley and more basil  and thyme soon. I also groomed the tomatoes, planted sweet peas and sprayed a special all-natural concoction to ward off bugs on the herbs and tomatoes.

Next I straightened up the sofas & pillows, put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, swept and mopped. It feels SO good. I'm itching to get into the fridge and kitchen cupboards next. I know there's more space to be had once things are well organized and a few things go away. The front closet has also spun out of control, it's been added to the agenda.

There is something so refreshing about taking on small cleaning tasks each week. You can take a few minutes or  a day and get nice results you can manage going forward. It's a great time to start taking on small tasks around the house so when the lovely spring weather comes you'll be able to throw your windows open and your house will be looking fabulous when you get ready to spend the summer out of doors.

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