This time of year always makes me feel the same way. That restlessness, that urgency, that urge to open all of the windows and let fresh air blow through the house. That urge to clean out, pack up winter stuff, and deep clean literally every inch of our house. That urge to organize, purge, donate and scrub all of the nooks and crannies that don't usually get touched. That urge to wipe down baseboards, shake out the throw rugs, scrub the boot trays, give all of our blinds a bath (click HERE to see how I did it at our last house), and wipe down every surface possible.
Spring cleaning is in full swing around here. And I kinda love it.
Not that our house is sparkling clean right now--not even close (we're in the middle of renovating our ensuite, so dust is just something that we're getting used to by now and piles of tools in our bedroom is just every day life by this point). But, still...a girl can dream of a sparkly clean house.
So, here is a little tip if it all feels too overwhelming--if you're looking at your house (like I was looking at mine) and wondering "Where do I even start??"...just pick one little place. Everyone can clean or organize just one little place. A whole house feels impossible, but one little space is totally doable.
Maybe it's your front hall closet. Maybe it's that part of the counter in your kitchen that collects all of your junk. Maybe it's a dresser drawer. Maybe it's the dining room table. Just do one little space at a time and all of a sudden by the end of a few weeks you'll have done an overhaul on your whole house.
So I decided to start with the two little places that were bugging me the most. Our kitchen cupboards and our fridge.
Remember a few years ago, when we were living in our old house, and I totally organized my kitchen cupboards? (click HERE to see what I did back then and how I actually organized it all, step by step). After posting my kitchen cupboards for the world to see, I can't even tell you how many emails I got from people telling me that they now had newly beautifully organized pantries and cupboards too. I'd get stopped in the hallway of my school by teachers showing me pictures on their phones of their pretty cupboards, buckets all labelled, shelves all having a purpose. It was pretty fantastic. But after moving into our new house, I instead shoved everything into my cupboards and decided future Erica would deal with it when it started bugging me enough.
So now is finally the time.
Because our kitchen cupboards once looked like THIS.
No particular place for anything. No real order. Just a plain old mess.
But now, after only a bit of work, we have beautiful organization. And my heart can beat steadily once again.
Because with just a few labels (which is the KEY to this whole process of actually helping everyone in your family actually KEEP it organized and beautiful) and a few white buckets from Dollarama, everything now has a very particular home. Just as I like it.
I also bought these long containers from Dollarama for our baking supplies...
but use what you already have on hand if you can--like these mason jars, huge pickle jar full of chocolate chips and pasta sauce jar for my baking soda. Not everything has to be bought brand new.
And our cereal? Well isn't is just so much better staring at these beauties than cardboard boxes?
From a mess, to complete order--I can now sleep at night.
Well, except for this little lady whose been wanting to snuggle and nurse all night long for the past few weeks---but, I digress...at least my cupboards are pretty, and she's super cute--so all is good.
So...once I was finished tackling the cupboards, I moved onto the fridge.
There isn't a lot to be said about a fridge clean out--it's not fun. It takes a long time.
But it's totally worth it.
But if you buy these amazing fridge sheets (from Walmart, in the kitchen hand towel section), you'll fall in love with how easy it is to actually clean out your fridge and keep it clean on a daily basis. These sheets can be thrown right in the laundry and with a push of a button they're clean and new again. AND, if/when milk spills (or juice or other liquids), these soft sheets soak it right up and you all of a sudden don't have milk dripping down into every inch of your fridge.
So win/win.
Happy spring cleaning everyone. Tell me what you're doing over at your house so I can be a bit inspired to keep going.
Have a good rest of your weekend!
Erica xo
