UGH. Why does Spring Cleaning have to be a thing!? We work on cleaning out random cupboards, doing a cleaning over haul on our houses and of course, the wardrobe/closet spring cleaning (see my tips and tricks for doing this one here: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=839989&binId=1.1184694&playlistPageNum=1).
But, what about Spring Cleaning your storage room? You know that one room in your house that is supposed to be properly organized, but ends up being a total mishmash of holiday decorations, pool toys (even though you don’t have a pool), boxes of old hockey equipment, suitcases, plastic cups from a summer party gone by, tools, winter boots that literally have holes through the sole…. Ok, ok, you get my drift here right?
TIP #1: Get rid of what you have not used, is broken, not thought or forgot about. After all, one man’s junk, can be another man’s treasure, right?
*Except this gorgeous sequin dress. I have no idea why this was down there! 🙂
We have a 1 year old and as much as I never believed it would happen, she has amassed so many toys that our living room looks like a Toys R Us catalogue. So, we decided that our ‘storage’ room was going to turn into her own little play room, but more accurately, a space where we could keep her toys. Also, have I mentioned that we share our living space with our 110+ pound bernedoodle?
TIP #2: Know when to surrender to the toys and just give them their own space. After all, ‘adult only’ nights aren’t as special when plastic slides become make shift seats right?
As it happens, this turned out to be a huge job. One second into starting it, I realized that it was going to take way too many trips to the dump and even more trips to our newly rented storage locker, thus having to be done over a few weekends and making our house messier and more cluttered in the process.
TIP #3: Give yourself time to get the job done.
As many of you know, Rob and I decided to get a Ford Edge late last year. It’s a perfect vehicle for us – enough room for us, JJ, all of her things and even though he can be a little squished, Louis (our dog). While the Edge is an amazing vehicle for our everyday, we definitely needed something a bit bigger to get this job done.
TIP #4: Embrace your inner trucker and rent yourself a real mean truck!
Enter the 2016 Ford F150 Limited. Man, is this thing a beast!!! At first I was pretty nervous about driving it, but the minute I actually did, I loved it. We were able to get the whole room cleared out with one trip to the dump and two trips to the storage locker (within 3 days). There was so much space to fit everything in and as a side note ladies, I’m pretty sure the interior made me want to re decorate my house.
Needless, to say, saving trips back and forth (aka time) is so important when doing home updates with a little one, so having the truck was 100% the best decision ever.
TIP #5: Refer to tip #2 but also, if you can find time savers, use them! They might just give you enough time to have a cold beer after a job well done or take your massive dog out for a hike!
In the end, we got almost everything out of storage and now just have to figure out how we’re going to create JJ’s new toy room (around the deep freeze of course). But, even just the act of going through everything and reorganizing was liberating. As most parents know, it always feels like a constant organizational battle in your house, so freeing up just a bit more space is always such a nice thing to be able to do.
TIP #6: Try as hard as you can to de-clutter and organize to free up as much ‘adult’ space as possible. This probably has to be done every month, but trust me, it is so worth it!
Side note: I also turned into a major truck girl during this process and cannot even imagine having gone through this with out the F150. I’m already trying to figure out how I can get my hands on one for our family trip up to Kelowna this summer! Boat, baby, dog, skis, wake boards, crib, high chair, toys, suitcases and it goes on and on….. Most definitely a job for a truck!
Stay tuned for pictures of the new play room!
xo
Nat