My 12-Step Spring Clear-Out Routine + DECLUTTERING THE HOMESCHOOL HUTCH! With before, during, and after pictures!

Welcome to our Spring-Cleaning Series! If you are just joining us, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

Hi! Thanks for dropping by! Today I’m sharing my Spring Clear-Out Action-Plan with you! I have taken my favorite tidying tips and home-keeping habits from the books of tidying & minimalism experts Francine Jay, Karen Kingston, and Marie Kondo, and combined/adapted their methods to create a streamlined spring-cleaning and decluttering powerhouse routine!

This routine can be applied to each and every area of the home, one drawer, one shelf, one cupboard, one closet, one room at a time. Today I’m using it to bring a breath of fresh air to our Homeschool Hutch! Enjoy!

Decluttering the HOMESCHOOL HUTCH with my 12-Step Spring Clear-Out Routine!

~adapted from the methods of Francine Jay, Karen Kingston, and Marie Kondo~

Step 1: Make a list of the areas of your home that you’d like to spring-clean/declutter.

*All three experts say to start with this. How’s that for clarity?

Step 2: Mark two or three areas on the list that are causing the most daily distress.

*This idea is championed by both Karen Kingston and Francine Jay.

Step 3: Choose one of the “distress” areas to start on and stick with it until completion.

Step 4: Label two large boxes/bins (three if you are tackling a homeschool space) and one large trash bag as follows:

*These labels I have adapted and streamlined from Karen Kingston’s “Box Method”

TRASH: items that will be going straight to the dumpster
TREASURE: items you will definitely be keeping and returning to the current location
TRANSFER: items that need to be removed to various locations, such as items you will be donating, giving to a friend, or simply moving to another location in your home
HOMESCHOOL HOARD (if applicable): materials/supplies for homeschooling that you plan to use in the future but do not require immediately

Step 5: Take that before picture.

Step 6: Remove EVERYTHING and place on a large surface (preferably not the floor for both your back’s and sanity’s sake)

*All three experts recommend removing everything area by area, but NOT an entire room . . . cuz yikes.

Step 7: Give whatever surface is now exposed a lovely vacuum / wipe down/ scrub.

Step 8: Pick up items one by one and DO NOT put them back down until you have made a decision about what box/bag to place it in.

Step 9: When a box/bag fills, address its needs.

*Examples: reorganize the items from the “TREASURE box” back to their home. Take out the “TRASH.” Pick up the “TRANSFER” box and make deliveries around your home.

Step 10: Work until every item has been sorted through the box system filter and you are left with empty boxes/bags to take to the next area on your list.

*Pay special attention to where you place each item using Francine Jay’s “inner circle/outer circle” method.

Step 11: Make it lovely with my favorite tips from Marie Kondo!

*Check out these tips to make any space truly lovely to look at: Ditch the plastic baggies! + Boxed, Bowled, and Basketed!

Step 12: Take that after picture and brew yourself a cup of tea!

PLEASE NOTE: If you need a break during this process . . . take it! I recommend working in a select area until every item has been boxed if at all possible so you are not left with items strewn on the kitchen table overnight. But a few boxes full of pre-sorted items can be placed on a desk or tucked in a closet overnight (or over a weekend) and no harm done. At this very moment I still have a “transfer” box of loose ends waiting for me to tend to them.

Thanks for joining us!