I should preface this post with the fact that before moving into the newer house I had initially intended to go through all of our belongings. If you’ve ever had to move house, you know that sometimes things happen so quickly and you have to get out, especially when renting. So this new house still has all the stuff we've acquired over five years, and this left the family and me feeling very clustered and cramped. Not fun!

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been doing mini clean out sessions here and there with a spring garage sale in mind for March. This month has crept on up though, and I’m not even close to where I wanted to be in preparation for this upcoming sale. Yikes! The silver lining is that the procrastination has forced me to have a MAJOR cleaning spree the last three days. I decided to document the process with some tips that helped along the way.

Day #1: Kitchen

Monday was the beginning of the major spring cleaning days, and on this day I decided to tackle the kitchen. I have to say that the kitchen day was the hardest and took the longest. Sorting through pots, pans, dishes, and don’t get me started on the spice cabinet, did we need five jars of dill?

One of my goals this year is to transition away from plastics keeping in mind not to be wasteful though. So any old plastic containers with missing lids or lids without bottoms, peace! Same went for pots and pans. Somehow we acquired six pot and pan lids with nothing to go with them. Where did all the pots and pans go? Who knows. Oh, and we're suckers for “maker” type kitchen gadgets. There was a Panini Press used maybe once or twice and a broken waffle maker. I also found the dehydrator I had picked up when I thought I wanted to make kale chips.

Overall it took me about five to seven hours to finish the kitchen. It was a lot of work, but the result was great! Everything in the kitchen is beautiful and organized, and we even have an empty drawer.

Day #2: Closets

I started the closet clean-outs over the weekend, but the real work came on Tuesday. When it came to going through clothes I had made three piles; keep, donate and sell. All of the clothes, shoes, and accessories that are loved and worn frequently I placed in the for keeps pile. Clothing that is in decent condition but has some wear I put in the donate pile and then anything that is still in excellent condition but hardly worn is in the sell pile for the upcoming garage sale.

The closet day was the easiest and the most fun for me personally. When I do closets, I like to listen to fun upbeat ’80s and ’90s music, take everything out, and then go through each item piece by piece. Anything of mine that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep I tried on to double check if it still fit and evaluated if it was something I love. The best part of cleaning out your closet is along the way you can find new outfits or rediscover items that you love. I found a super cute floral top and noticed how perfectly it goes with a plaid skirt I have. My Mom, Gail, also found her favorite pair of jeans she’s been missing.

Day #3: Storage Closets

The great thing about this house is there's a lot of storage space. The downside is that they can get cluttered quickly. I started with the smallest closet which is the linen closet next to my bathroom. From there I was able to say goodbye to old mismatched towels and move old dingy towels to the cleaning basket. I like to use old washcloths for cleaning the house. It’s a great way to put old towels to use. I also decided to let go of some old hair rollers and curl formers that were for my shorter hair.

The second storage unit has four doors. It’s taller than me and is the length of the landing at the top of the stairs. So it’s pretty decent in size. From there I said goodbye to old bedding and some decor that’s also no longer in use. The biggest project here was mainly rearranging and organizing. After that, there was also an empty shelf. Yay!

In the final storage unit, I went through where I keep props for pictures and videos. I didn't let go of much other than some older faux flowers. I did find an extra tripod which will be handy for the Washington trip coming up as well as some Fall items that I'll be able to use for posts in October.

“Out of clutter, find simplicity." ~ Albert Einstein

The plan is to drop off the items for donation Friday and then this weekend start pricing everything for the garage sale which will be next weekend. The thing I love most about having done this is that there is potential now for our items to find new homes where they’ll be put to good use instead of collecting dust here with us.

After three long days of cleaning, organizing and sorting I would be lying if I said I wasn’t exhausted and now I think I may need to schedule an appointment for a massage. My back hurts big time! All the work was worth it though. If I were to leave you with one chunk of advice, it’d be to take each day at a time. Don’t feel like you have to sort through everything in one day. I hope you enjoyed seeing and reading about this three-day spring cleaning spree. Thank you for reading, have a fantastic spring season!