Spring Cleaning — The Easy Way

This tip is from someone described as the “anti-Martha.” “Tackle a spring and fall cleanup each year — no excuses.” — Dan Ho, Host of “The Dan Ho Show” Is it just me or isn’t that exactly something Martha would say? Today, we offer some tweaks to alter the definition of “clean up” and make the prospect of Spring Cleaning less eye-roll inducing to many personality types.

Classics, Funs and Smart Structures with a lot of free time are the most likely to heed Dan’s advice. Obviously Organic Freedoms and Smart Freedoms will be the least likely. I’d say Organic Structures could fall somewhere in between the two. They know they should do it and maybe they have, but it’s just NOT a top priority or your pleasure. Smarts are always the first ones to hire out a task like this so they’ll likely hire someone.

I am 36 year old Classic and have never done an actual Spring-Cleaning. My joke for a while was that it was because I live in Manhattan and up until I turned 30 essentially moved every 1-2 years. MOVING is my Spring-Cleaning.

It wasn’t until I lived in the same spot for 5 years that I finally understood why people Spring clean. When I moved from that place, and the furniture had departed, I took a look around and the apartment was kind of nasty. I’d been living with a TON of exceptionally large dust bunnies, which was surprising because I clean my apartment 2x a month—although in the interest of full disclosure, I hire the most magnificent Ines. I do this because I don’t have the time or passion to do it myself and would rather sacrifice a retail purchase or savings to have my home clean and NOT being the one doing it.

But this brings me back to my quandary about Dan Ho’s “should.” (PixiesDidIt! doesn’t believe in “Shoulds”… life is too short to spend anytime “Shoulding all over yourself…” y’know?) So, if I don’t have the time or desire to do regular cleaning, I’m not sure how I’m ever going to accomplish an actual Spring Cleaning and Classics like me (and Funs) are pretty much the only types who are likely to do this regularly. And I’m just talking about the dirt aspect of cleaning, there’s also the “stuff” aspect. I recently moved after a short stint in an apartment and realized that I had gazillion toiletries that I never used, so I tossed a bunch and can now get to everything in my medicine cabinet. Plus I filled two garbage bags with clothes I never wear, and that was AFTER donating half my wardrobe two years prior.

My experiences are what lead me to believe that deep down Dan is right. If you don’t clean, and don’t do a Spring Clean, then eventually you will end up on A&E hoarders or something. But, our motto is life should be easy here’s how you turn a “Should” into a “Try”.

First, if you want to Spring Clean but have never done it or don’t have the time, stop making it be about doing the ENTIRE home, focus on one room a year. Yeah, a year! Busy Classics, Organic Structures & Smart Structures could definitely adapt to this formula. I’d say this could work for all types but Funs, Organic Freedoms & Smart Freedoms ought to adapt it one step further so that they do the room that moves them to act or disgusts them the most. (See Katie’s blog about organizing the thing she stares at the most — her television console.) This way nothing will ever be become that bad, nor something that the health department could condemn.