Stay spruced, Seattle!
A couple days before the stay at home order, I launched some virtual and socially distant sprucing options as a way to continue organizing. I understand how hard it is to feel so cooped up at home, the place is a mess, the work-from-home station keeps moving from the kitchen counter to the table, then the sofa.
Now that the orders have been extended through early May, it’s imperative to create a space that works for us and can be easily maintained. But how do we start organizing? It’s not always intuitive and many of us just don’t have time whether we’re suddenly homeschooling kids, caring for family, pivoting our business plans.
Here’s how - start small. Yep, that’s it! Pick a corner of your space like the snack cupboard, laundry room, coat closet, junk drawer, you name it (my hall closet is pictured below). Follow these steps to take control of the clutter and you will feel so much better!
Set a timer - anywhere from 20-30 minutes. I like a 20-minute timer because that feels so quick, many follow the Pomodoro method of working in 25-minute bursts. If it’s a coat closet or a cupboard, then 30 minutes feels more doable like you can get the task mostly done.
Empty/clear the space - yes, that means pull everything out of the junk drawer or empty out the coat closet.
Sort items by category - group like things together and separate so you can see how much you have.
Edit - toss trash/recycling, relocate any items that are in the wrong place, then evaluate what’s left. Do you need it/use it? Set aside items for donation (more about this below).
Put everything else back - now that you have fewer items going back into the space, think about if anything needs to be moved around based on how you reach for it, frequency of use.
If you have items for donation, you can search for a Northwest Center clothing donation bin to find one in your neighborhood. Note that some of these may be full. Please don’t dump items - hang onto larger, bulky items until donation centers reopen or for smaller household items, check out my pro tip below.
For household items and toys (including Legos!), you can reuse a shipping box, pack your donations, print a free shipping label, and send to Give Back Box. You can even get a donation receipt for your records and choose a specific charity you to support.
Now that you have organized one area, keep the momentum going! Pick a few other areas in the house that you want to tackle and remember to keep it small and simple. It’s hard to take on a big overhaul of garage or family room, so build up to a project like that by working on smaller spaces.
Still feeling stumped and need some new perspective on how to rework your space? Schedule a virtual consult to your sprucing $65 (valued at $95)!
Virtual consults include:
30-minute call or FaceTime/Skype tour
An action plan to get your space organized
Follow-up email support to answer any questions once you’ve started working on the space (including product recommendations/ideas on repurposing existing items in your space)
You can stay spruced while you stay at home!