Spring into Cleaning

The term ‘spring cleaning’ hardly conjures up happy images of our favourite season. We prefer butterflies, fresh cut grass and buds on the trees. But as moms know, it’s not all glamour and the real work has to get done.

The ‘real work’ being spring decluttering, that is, and it will leave you with a surprising feeling of calm when it’s all done. Here are our tips on how to get it done:

Sort It
Go room-by-room, sorting into three piles (or better yet, straight into boxes or garbage bags): Keep, Donate, Discard.

One of the hardest things to deal with (especially if kids are underfoot) is the overflowing toy box. If you suspect that some toys aren’t being played with, stash them out of sight in a cardboard box for a month. If time’s gone by and no one has noticed, it might be time to get rid of them.

Donate It
Value Village is a popular destination for gently used goods, but the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and smaller places like St. Vincent de Paul get the lion’s share of our donations. It feels good to give. Did you know that a fraction of clothing donations actually makes it out on the racks at St. Vinnie’s on Wellington? A large majority of items are shipped out to Third World countries.

If you have furniture to donate, consider calling Helping With Furniture. They’re a volunteer-run, charitable group who picks up furniture and household goods from private donors and delivers it to refugee claimants in the Ottawa area.