Spring Cleaning Tips from Professional Organizers

Once again, I'm so excited to be included in this month's Professional Organizers Blog Carnival!

What is the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival?  I'm glad you asked!  It's a monthly blog post that professional organizers contribute to.  Each month is a different theme and includes posts related to that topic from several professional organizers.  It's a great place to find advice, ideas, and tips for the theme of the month.

This month is all about Spring Cleaning.  After the beating our homes take through the winter it's great to take some time when the warm weather hits to give our homes a good cleaning!

So check out all the tips in this post and find the ones that will help you give your home the fresh start it deserves this season!

7 Ways to Be Organized For Easter

Photo Credit: MyDoterra.com/familyloveandoils

Easter is one of my favourite holidays. But just like other holidays, it can be overwhelming. If you need to get organized for Easter, read on, because I'm sharing 7 tips to help you!

Help! I Need A Flexible Cleaning Routine!

Do you have a spouse who works shifts?  Is it hard to work your cleaning tasks around their sleeping schedule and your family time?  Today I'm going to be sharing some tips that will help you create a really flexible cleaning routine so you can still have a clean home, even if you can't follow all the regular cleaning routines you come across online.

Spring Cleaning Bundle!

[Update:  Sorry, this bundle sale is now over.  Some of the individual kits may be available on the websites listed though.]

I'm so excited to be partnering with Becky (Clean Mama) and Toni (A Bowl Full of Lemons) again to promote another amazing printable bundle sale!

I've had a chance to preview the bundle and it's got me almost looking forward to spring cleaning (and you all know how much I lo-ove cleaning... let alone any kind of deep cleaning!).  But I'm super pumped to get a jump on it so that when the warmer weather finally arrives (and let me tell you right now that feels like it's never going to happen!), I'll be able to head outside and enjoy it, instead of having to clean my home.

If you're thinking along the same lines as me, then this bundle is perfect for you!  It'll help you get your spring cleaning all organized... and if you have to clean you might as well do it in an organized way and get it done more efficiently right?!  OK... enough of me talking... check out what Becky and Toni have to say about this great bundle!

Day 7: Finding Balance {12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays}

Do you get overwhelmed during the holidays trying to keep up with the day-to-day tasks?  There are so many extra events and gatherings so we're not home as often.  And when we are home, we're busy with holiday wrapping, baking, and decorating.

It's hard to fit in time for things like cleaning and cooking!  In today's post I'll share tips to help you make use of your time so you can stay more balanced during the holidays and enjoy all the special memories you're making.

Day 1: Planning for Christmas {12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays}

Do you get overwhelmed during November and December?  Do you get to the end of Christmas Day and you're exhausted and wonder if it was all worth it?  There's shopping, baking, wrapping, card-writing, cooking, and decorating.  All in the midst of parties, gatherings, and celebrations with everyone and anyone you've had contact with all year!  It's a lot to juggle.  And it can easily become overwhelming.

But it doesn't have to be that way.  With some advance planning and organizing, you can simplify the holidays and get things done earlier, so you can breathe and actually enjoy this festive season.  Doesn't that sound good?

To help you do that, I'm going to be writing a series called 12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays.  Each of the 12 posts will focus on one aspect of being organized for this special time of year.  I'll spread the posts out over the next 6 weeks, with an average of 2 posts per week.

Each post will have practical tasks you can to get organized.  If you've already completed those tasks {good for you!!}, feel free to do something else that's overwhelming you.  If you haven't checked these items off your to-do list yet, then spend some time working on them so you won't have to do everything all at once at the end.

OK, so now that I've told you about the series, let's get to today's post!  I'm going to kick this series off with some tips to help you plan out the next few weeks.

When Life Gets Busy: Doing the Bare Minimum to Stay Afloat

I wrote a post a few weeks ago showing pictures of my messy home after a particularly busy time this summer.  It was well received and many of you commented on how you appreciated my honesty and that you felt better knowing that even a professional organizer's house gets cluttered sometimes.  You definitely helped me feel a little better about my mess and my decision to share it publically :)

I've been meaning to do an update post to show you the after pictures and give some tips on how you can cope and not get as overwhelmed during those particularly busy times when "life" happens.  Only I've still been quite busy so I never did.

Yesterday, I finally went to get started on the update post.  But, when I went to delete what I thought was a draft of a post I started earlier, I actually deleted the original post with all my messy house pictures. 

And I haven't backed up my blog recently.  Because, well, life's been busy.  Back to school, sick kids, new organizing clients.  You know how how it is (well your busy things will likely be different than mine but you get the idea).

Yep.  The post was gone.  Grrr.

When Life Happens: A Professional Organizer's Messy Home (Recovered Version)

[Note: I accidentally deleted this post yesterday but I was able to recover the content so I'm re-posting it today.  If you commented on the original post, those comments are now lost :(  I'd love it if you commented on this post again!]

Do you get overwhelmed at times when things get busy and you can't keep up?  You're in a hurry in the morning so dishes are left in the sink.  You rush home and drop what's in your arms at the door.  Things pile up to deal with "later".

Usually you you can stay on top of things, but there are those periods when it's hard to keep up.

Life happens to all of us.  Including professional organizers.

I've mentioned several times this summer that I have a few clients that I'm doing a lot of work for, including one who had to declutter and organize her whole home to prepare to sell it.  I love my job but I've been working so much this summer that I'm not keeping up at my home.

I've been rushing out the door in the morning to drop my kids of at day camps or grandparents' homes, working long days, picking the kids up, quickly getting dinner ready, and then racing out to baseball practices or games or other activities most evenings.  By the time we're all home and the kids are in bed, I'm pooped out and need to recharge before doing it all over again.

One of the drawbacks of helping others declutter and organize their homes is that I end up being too tired sometimes to deal with our home.  I'm not always as busy as I've been lately, but now that I've got a few weeks without clients, I need to take back my house!  I looked around my house this morning and this is what I saw.

Creating A Summer Cleaning Routine for Kids

Do your kids help you clean the house in the summer?  Or during the school year?  Or both?  There are lots of different philosophies on kids and chores, especially for summertime.

I know many parents get overwhelmed keeping up with cleaning, while also taking care of their kids all day, and trying to spend time making memories together.

So it can be helpful to have your kids chip in and help clean the house.  It's also a great life learning experience and it teaches them to be more responsible.  Summertime can be a great opportunity to help your kids learn some new tasks too because they have time to practice them and gain mastery and independence.

How To Organize Your Summer

This is the first week of summer holidays for my kiddos and so far we're loving it!  We've been taking it easy, enjoying the warm weather, and working out our plans for what we'd like to do with the next 2 months.

As I mentioned in my July Goals post, today I want to share some of our summer plans and routines with you and give you tips to help you organize yours.  Hopefully they will give you some ideas, especially for those of you who have already been on summer holidays for awhile and are perhaps at that "I'm bored" stage :) 

Organizing Ideas For The Weekend: Spring Cleaning Checklists

Happy Friday!  Time for another organizing idea for your weekend!

It's finally feeling like spring here!  I still hear we're about a month behind "normal", which may explain why I only just got out the spring jackets today and threw the snowpants in the laundry.

I know lots of you have probably already been experiencing spring-like weather for weeks, so maybe you're finished all your spring cleaning.  Or maybe you're organized enough to have a cleaning schedule that allows you to get all those "extra" cleaning tasks done throughout the year.

But if you've been procrastinating enjoying the spring weather, these cleaning checklists will help you get your spring cleaning done!

Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule

For the last 2 weeks I've been telling you about the All Organized ebook Bundle and sharing reviews of some of the books included in this awesome bundle. 

Well, the sale ends TODAY!  So if you haven't bought yours yet, you need to do it before 11:59 p.m. EST or you'll miss out!

[Update: Sorry this bundle sale is over, but you can still get the book from today's review individually.  Read below for details!]

Today I want to tell you about one more ebook from this bundle that I've read, and share some of the ways I think it will help me organize my life!

Introducing the All Organized Ebook Bundle!

I'm so excited to finally be able to tell you all about this fantastic ebook bundle that's all about ORGANIZING!!  If you're planning to do any organizing and cleaning for spring, then you won't want to miss out on this amazing bundle.  It's filled with a ton of ideas to help you!  Here are all the details.

[Sorry, this bundle sale is now over.  You can still purchase any of the individual books through the links in this post though.  Happy reading!]

Click these links to read my reviews of some of these books!  

Simple Living: 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life 

Paperless Home Organization

Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule

Coming on Monday: All Organized eBook Bundle Sale

Happy 1st day of Spring!  There's still snow on the ground here and the temps are a wee bit chilly.  But I just noticed a teeny tiny little green thing poking out of the ground where the snow has melted... which means my bulbs know it's spring at least!

We just finished a huge clean-up of our home last week in preparation for my son's 10th birthday party.  I like having a clean house, but I just don't like actually cleaning.  So when we have the entire house clean at the same time it's a pretty amazing feeling.

But I know I still need to do some spring cleaning for those deep down tasks that only need to be done once in awhile.  And you know I'm always decluttering, but there's something about spring that makes me want to declutter and organize even more!  Fun times ahead :)

If you're planning to do any spring cleaning and organizing in the next few weeks, I know you'll be just as excited as I am about what's coming up on Monday!

8 Tips for "Take Back the House and Get Back to Routines Day"!

What?  You've never heard of "Take Back the House and Get Back to Routines" day?  With all the crazy holidays out there, I'm surprised Hallmark hasn't picked up on this one!

I love the holidays and the lack of structure.  It's often a little crazy before and during Christmas with everything that needs to be done and all the gatherings and events to attend.  But around here, the days after Christmas/New Year's were relaxing and fun.

But, I also love structure and routine, and an uncluttered house.  Which is what today's all about!  This morning I'm sharing what I did last night and what I'm doing today, to take back the house and get back into routines.  And along the way I'm sharing 8 tips to help you do the same! 

How To Clean A Lunch Bag {Instead of Buying a New One!}

Have your kids' lunch bags ever become really sticky?  Not just stuff you can easily wipe out.  I'm talking so sticky it's hard to open and close the zipper.

Well did you know you can clean a lunch bag?  I mean REALLY clean a lunch bag.  To de-stick-ify it?  {Yep... I'm making up words.  It fits the situation though!}

10 Tips for Setting Up a Cleaning Routine for Kids

Do you struggle to get your kids help you clean the house?  Are they expected to contribute to the upkeep of your home?  Do they have a cleaning routine?

Today I'll share how I organized our cleaning routine this summer and some tips to help you set up a cleaning routine for your kids.

Organizing Resource: Pulling Yourself Together

Is "Get Organized" on your new year's resolution list?  Are you looking for resources to help you get organized in 2013?  

There are tons of great e-books out there that give you strategies and tips to help you out.  Many of them even include printable lists and charts to guide you.  

From time to time I will let you know about them here on the blog.  Today I'm excited to introduce you to Clean Mama's new ebook...

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 14 (Laundry)

Welcome to Day Fourteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to help you organize your laundry room.  

No More Toothpaste In My Sink!

Do you hate having toothpaste all over your sink or counters because your kids either put too much on their toothbrushes or because they can't handle the tube very well?  I sure do!  No matter how often I clean our bathroom, the sink and counters have toothpaste on them as soon as my kids brush their teeth.

I was tired of nagging them to clean it up or teaching them how to be more careful with the tube.  And at 8 and 5 they are old enough to be brushing their teeth without me putting their toothpaste on their brushes {plus I just don't have time to be doing that!}.  Oh, and I should mention, all 4 of us use one bathroom upstairs so it gets messy quickly and it's not a mess I can ignore because I see it...multiple times a day.