Getting Motivated for Spring Cleaning from Ask Anna
Hello lovely friends! Today I am off to the SNAP conference to learn new things, be inspired and meet a whole bunch of creative bloggers. So I thought today would be a good day for you to do the same - so I have lined up some amazing guest bloggers to bring you all kinds of great information.
And today, we are starting with the ever so lovely Ask Anna. Could she be any lovelier?
And since she is way more capable and talented to inspire you with spring cleaning motivation - I am just going to let her get right to it....
Good morning Finding Home readers!! I am so excited to be visiting you today! I know many of us are Spring Cleaning right now so I thought I'd share this question, I received from one of my readers, and the simple solutions for how I get, and stay, motivated to clean! Here are her questions:
"I am doing the proverbial spring cleaning....going through my closet and cupboards and throwing stuff out in mass quantities....just barely the tip of the iceberg at this stage. My question is how do I stay motivated? I do this every year and fizzle out before I am done.....and then I have the same unused cups in the top shelf, the same unused sheets in the linen closet....the same shoes that look cute until I try them on with an outfit and they never leave the closet....it is very frustrating."
This is a tough subject because it's different for everyone but I'll share with you how I get, and stay, motivated.
#1 Plan a garage sale
I work well with deadlines because if I know something is coming up then I can't procrastinate. At the end of spring cleaning and spring de-cluttering I always have a garage sale. It's a great way to get all the "junk" out of your house and you know what they say, "one person's trash is another person's treasure!" Plus having a garage sale is a fantastic way to make a few extra dollars! My friend and I had one a couple weeks ago and I seriously didn't think I would make any money because I wasn't selling anything spectacular, just a bunch of odds and ends, but at the end of the day I ended up making $130.00! Woo-hoo! It's not a lot of money but it's more than I had before!
#2 Get inspired
I have found that if I'm just de-cluttering for the "fun of it" it's not as much fun as when I have a plan. You're probably losing interest in getting organized because you've been looking at the same boring linen closet, the same boring cupboard, etc. every year and it's not interesting to you anymore. I recommend getting on Pinterest and finding inspiration for how to make those spaces more fun.
Here are a few examples, my linen closet was super boring until this year I decided to revamp it. Now everything is nicely organized in baskets so there isn't any room for those "unused sheets".
Here's another fun idea for organizing your shoes. I found this on Pinterest and I love it because if you organize your shoes like this then you will know exactly what's there and what you should get rid of!
For your closet shelves purchase baskets to store your items so that you can only keep what fits in the baskets. This is a great way to de-clutter and stay organized over time. Make a rule that you are limited to what the baskets hold and it will keep the clutter down and keep you organized! Every time you buy something new, you move something else to the garage sale pile. I have baskets on the shelves in my closet and I love them.
For your kitchen cupboards you can treat yourself to a cute new shelf liner and some baskets, which is an inexpensive way to update your cupboards. Installing your new shelf liner will force you inspire you to take everything out of your cupboards, and then when it's time to put things back in you can apply my rule, "only put back in what you actually use!". Here is my post on how I organize my kitchen cupboards.
These are just a few examples, you can find tons of more inspiration on Pinterest. {If you aren't already on Pinterest send me your email address and I'd be happy to send you an invite!}
#3 Get Motivated
What motivates you? For me it's checking things off a list, it just feels good to put a huge line through something I've completed! I recommend finding a list, or making a list, that will inspire you to clean and organize. A list will also help to motivate you because it helps you know what to do. I find that if I don't have a list then I flounder because I get distracted and end up working on something totally different then what I started out doing. Here are a few great lists that I put together that will help you with everything from daily cleaning tasks to every 6 months tasks.
I also asked this question on my Facebook page to see what motivated/inspired you and I loved what Rachel had to say:
"With small kids, restoring order is something of an uphill struggle. Spaces they won't get to spoil, like cupboards are lovely when organized, I get a little thrill opening the door to order. With family spaces I generally motivate myself by organizing for visitors to come after a cleaning/organizing session. Enjoying their company without worrying what they think of my messy home is so lovely it keeps me motivated."
I love that she invites people over after getting organized! I totally agree with her, there's nothing like inviting people over to your house to inspire you to get organized and finish what you've started!!! And then when the job is done you get to reward yourself with some hangout time!
Thanks for letting me visit today and I hope you are feeling inspired and ready to get back to your spring cleaning and organizing! Just think about how amazing you'll feel once it's all done and over with and you've made big bucks at your garage sale!!!
For more cleaning, organizing & decorating tips and inspiration stop by and visit me at my
Thanks so much Anna - I hope you will take a moment and stop by her blog and be inspired even further!
