Cleaning and Removing Clutter at the Same Time

We often hear our clients say, “My house really isn’t cluttered – I’ve been so busy that I just haven’t had the time to pick up for a few days.”

Sometimes clutter really isn’t an actual problem. It’s happened because you’ve run out of energy by the end of the day and you let the cleaning and picking up go by the wayside.

Believe it or not, when this type of clutter accumulates, it’s much easier to pick up than you might think.

Often this kind of “overwhelming clutter” is simply a matter of organization and putting things where they belong.

Let’s grab a laundry basket and see about de-cluttering one room at a time while you do your regular cleaning.

Start by Picking up the Mess before You Clean

Pick a weekend day to clean, if there are many rooms that need to have the clutter picked up, don’t worry about getting to every room in one day. Do a couple of rooms one day, then when the next weekend comes rolling around you can finish up.

Resolve yourself to tackle rooms one at a time until they are all brought back to a level of organization you are comfortable with. The important thing is, don’t walk out of a room and call it “finished” unless it is.

And remember, in between cleanings to keep the rooms you’ve already cleaned – clean!

Go through a room; pick up all items that don’t belong in that particular room and put them in the laundry basket. When the basket is full, set it aside and you can put them where they go as you clean the rooms they do belong in.

If you have another laundry basket or an empty box, it may also help if you place this at the door of the room so you can use it as a depository until you are ready to organize the room and put the things away that do belong in there.

After you have cleaned up the clutter consisting of items that are simply misplaced and don’t belong in that room, what you have left should be ordinary trash, old papers, etc., that can be thrown away.

This will be the starting process as you go through each room.

Clean, Dust and Vacuum as You Go

After you have picked up and removed the clutter, it’s time to give the room a good cleaning.

Remember when you clean to make every move count. Dust first and vacuum last. Clean from top to bottom and from back to front. This way you’re not dusting the dust twice and you’re not stepping over the carpets you just vacuumed leaving footprints in your wake.

Have all your cleaning supplies with you so you’re not getting sidetracked by leaving the room to get the furniture polish or vacuum extension.

It never fails when I forget something; I take a wrong turn and start in on something else.

Living Room

If you’re picking up the living room, polish the furniture before you replace items on ends tables or shelves. Finish up with a good vacuuming or, if you have hard surfaced floors, a light damp mopping.

Dining Room

Your dining room table probably doesn’t get as much junk-clutter as the living room or family room. But the table is often a repository for mail and miscellaneous papers, or even craft projects. Throw away the junk and return other clutter to its rightful place and clean the table top.

Put a nice tablecloth on and top it with an arrangement of fresh flowers. Nothing makes a dining room look classier than a nice table cloth, candles in candlesticks, and a floral arrangement.

Don’t forget to check the chairs and make sure there’s nothing dropped on them; then push them into place around the table, clean the floor and you’re done.

Stay Focused / Don’t Get Distracted

A big deterrent at cleaning clutter is getting distracted. After all, how important is it really? Cleaning clutter? It’s not going anyplace – you can attest to that. But one of the hazards of picking up clutter is it’s easy to be sidetracked.

Whatever it is, you’d rather be doing almost anything else. In your heart, you know the job can wait – and wait – and wait.

Don’t let clutter rule you.

The problem is, the longer you put off picking up the clutter and putting it away, the bigger it grows. Then you’ll find yourself on the phone calling Mrs. Clean.