Your De-Clutter Checklist for Fall

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As the cold weather approaches and we prepare to spend more and more time cooped up inside, fall is the perfect time to declutter and get the house ready for the colder months ahead. Here’s a step-by-step checklist to declutter areas of your home to start the season off on the right foot.
Front of House:

  • Remove all summer and out of season items, and limit 2 coats and 2 pairs of shoes per family member at front of house.
  • Scan and digitally store all the kids’ art that has accumulated in drawers or cubbies. Save a few for sentimentality and either frame, hang or put the rest in a memory box in child’s room or in basement storage.
  • Start a binder system at the front door where all correspondence from school, bills, and other paper reminders get stored. If you already use this system, edit through the binder and recycle or digitally store whatever you can. Recycle the rest.
  • Replace the summer front door mat with a heavy duty mat to catch mess that will come with boots.
  • Make room for a box of tissues and hand sanitizer by the front door to help with stuffy noses and keep germs at bay.

Kitchen:

  • Clean every area of the fridge. Remove all shelves and door baskets and give them a thorough clean.
  • Dispose of all expired salad dressings, barbecue marinades, etc.
  • Batch all like pantry items in large plastic or metal bins for easy access when cooking.
  • Consider investing in a slow cooker to make delicious and hearty stews for when it’s cold out.
  • Clean out the area under the sink where grime can build up and clean all garbage receptacles and green bins.
  • Clean your dishwasher. Do you know you should run a dishwasher cleaner every few weeks? Follow manufacturers’ recommendations for optimum performance.
  • Check air filters or water filters in fridge and ensure they are clean. Replace if needed.

Bathroom:

  • Clean area under the sink. Edit down the number of bottles, cleaning supplies etc.
  • Check all sealing on tile joints. Apply new bead of caulking if needed.
  • Does your marble tile or any other natural stone need to be re-sealed? Re-seal if necessary.
  • Buy some new white fluffy towels (can be inexpensive!) and use any ratty or stained towels as cleaning rags by cutting them down into smaller squares
  • Hang a new piece of art. Even the bathroom can be a treasure box of beautiful things.
  • Run an essential oil diffuser with something like lemon or lavender to cleanse the air and make the space smell amazing.

Bedroom:

  • Have you flipped and vacuumed your mattress recently? Give it a flip to lengthen its life.
  • Do a closet purge. Consider pairing down to a capsule style wardrobe where you limit the number of pieces and donate the rest to charity.
  • Invest in a faux fur throw to cozy up in for the colder months.

Basement:

  • Do a toy purge. Be ruthless and dispose of broken toys and games with missing pieces.
  • Make sure you have back-up filters for your furnace. Take a photo and save it in an album on your phone for easy future reference.
  • Have you cleaned your washer recently? Washers need to be cleaned every few washes. Check manufacturers recommendations for how often to clean.
  • Empty out closets of paint cans or other leftover construction supplies.
  • Consider calling a service like Just Junk to come on site and clear away/ donate unwanted items.

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