Sophia Kaiser ’22
We’re finally approaching springtime, and there’s nothing better than having a clean room ready for when the warm weather hits. If your room looks anything like mine, your school books are all over the place, and you haven’t seen your favorite sweatshirt in over three months. It might even be so bad that you have to wake up five minutes earlier than usual to account for the five-minute trek over clothing piles in your room before heading off to school. Obviously, it’s time for some spring cleaning. I have spring-cleaned every year since before I can remember, so I have a couple of tips for you.
- Get Rid of Anything That Shouldn’t Be There
Before putting things where they belong, bring all of the random dishes, blankets, toys, etc. to the places they need to be. This should clear up space in your room to ensure that everything is going where they belong so you can find them when you need to. Who knows, maybe your brother has been looking for that sock for months!
- Start With the Floor
Now that you’re sure that everything in your room belongs there, begin to pick up the items on your floor. Bring in a large trash bag, and get rid of all of the crumpled-up math worksheets and random advertisements from colleges that you have sitting all over the place. Anything else on your floor, pick it up and put it into the space it belongs. Throw your dirty clothes in the laundry. Once your floor is cleaned, the hard part is over. Grab a vacuum and quickly run it over the floor, including under your bed and chairs, so that all the small crumbs and pieces of fluff are picked up.
- Clear Off Any Surfaces
Because you can now walk around your room, it is time to start organizing your surfaces. Place any unwanted items where they are supposed to be within your room. Then, (I know this might sound crazy but hear me out) take all of the leftover items (those that are supposed to be out), and put them on the floor. Then, with a surface cleaner and a rag, clean all the surfaces to get rid of dust and any germs that might be sitting on them from the moldy pizza that was sitting there for three weeks. Once they’re all clean, put everything back and make sure it is neat.
- Organize Your Drawers
Go through your drawers and make sure they’re neat, and that you know where everything is. There’s nothing worse than running late for school and not knowing where your graphing calculator is. Organize your drawers by theme so that all of your school supplies are in one place, and your makeup is in another. Open each of your folders for school and get rid of any paperwork you don’t need. I highly suggest creating a binder to put all tests, quizzes, and notes in so you don’t lose them, and you’ll have them to study for finals.
- Get Rid of Unwanted Clothes
Now is the satisfying part. Go through every drawer, every closet, anywhere there is clothes, and pick up each piece of clothing individually. If you look at it and don’t instantly want to wear it, give it away. Think about it: if you aren’t excited to wear it now after being stuck in the house for a year, will you ever be excited by it? Probably not. So make piles of clothes to give away, and donate them to charity or friends and family. This will instantly make your room feel less cluttered and hey, fewer clothes means more shopping! Make sure to put any remaining clothes back into the drawers neatly so you won’t have to reorganize them again.
- Make your Bed
The final step of spring cleaning is making your bed. Throw on some fresh sheets, fluff your pillows, fold your blankets, and you will immediately feel great!
With these six steps, not only will your room be spotless, but you’ll likely feel satisfied and your mind will be clear. Now you’ll be more excited to spend time in your room, and it won’t stress you out not knowing where everything is. Who knows, maybe you will discover five new shirts that you forgot you had! I hope these tips will help to prepare us all for spring, and believe me: you won’t regret going into summer vacation with a clean room!