A basement declutter by Allie Shaw
By Shelley Cooke
As we head into another spring season, we are faced with the age-old tradition of spring cleaning. While some people relish this time of year and are enthusiastic about deep cleaning their home, others struggle to find the motivation to get their home in order.
If you find yourself in that second category, perhaps learning more about the undeniable benefits of spring cleaning and decluttering that you may not have considered will fuel your motivation and lead to greater success.
To fully appreciate why this annual ritual is so essential and how spring cleaning is beneficial for our physical and mental well-being, I reached out to two experts in the field for some advice on how to get started and the rewarding aftermath that transpires when it’s all done!
Allie Shaw, a professional organizer, decided to launch her own company in 2020, when Covid was leading people to organize new workspaces and living situations. Prior to that, she would help friends and family with their own decluttering and organizing needs. Based on her experience, Allie has developed a few tips and tricks to help her clients keep their homes organized and to make spring cleaning easier.
The first tip is to do a spring clearing before doing a spring cleaning. If people take the time to curate (or declutter) their stuff, the cleaning becomes easier. It also helps us to do an assessment of what we actually own, especially when we tackle our attics, basements and storage lockers.
Often people forget what they have until they go through a clearing of it, which can make us more mindful of our consumption habits. In the process of spring clearing, Allie says that “anything that makes you feel mad, sad or bad should be cleared away.”
Often when we look at certain rooms in our house that need clearing, we put it off because it seems too monumental. It becomes a nagging silent to-do list that never gets tended to. Allie strongly recommends that decluttering be done when people have the physicality to do it. Once the decluttering is done, then they can organize and categorize what’s left. This leaves them with a feeling of accomplishment and pride.
Allie’s underlying principle of decluttering/organizing is that “a house should always be in motion.” When we constantly curate or edit the stuff that comes into our home, it helps us to maintain organization, which makes routine cleaning easier and more efficient. She reminds us that cleaning and organizing should be a practice not a project.
Another expert I consulted with is Gaile Giraud Hodge from Gaile is Here. She describes herself as a woman who “absolutely loves cleaning, decluttering, rearranging, decorating and scrubbing things clean. These things have always been therapeutic for me.” Before starting up her own business, Gaile was helping people in vulnerable situations to stay organized and maintain a clean living space. She thought why not turn something she loves doing into a business? Five years later, she now has a team of six individuals who share her passion for making other people’s lives less stressful.
Gaile thinks of spring cleaning as springing into a new environment; it’s an opportunity to reset ourselves. Her advice is “to go through your entire house and check beauty products, cleaning products, check for expired items, toys and broken items.” She also suggests letting go of clothes that haven’t been worn in over a year. As we tend to accumulate things quickly, Gaile recommends that “you take something out when something new comes in.”
Both Gaile and Allie enjoy working with children and teaching them how to donate toys that they no longer need or use. With the support of their parents, they encourage children to put their used toys in a basket and donate them to a shelter or a charity. Not only does it teach little ones the virtue of charity and giving back, it also creates more floor space to play in.
It’s important not to underestimate the benefits of decluttering and spring cleaning our homes. It improves our physical health by eliminating dust, allergens and pollutants that have accumulated indoors over the winter months; as well, it enhances our mental well-being. We feel empowered and in control of our environment, and it gives us a wonderful sense of tranquility.