Tara’s #1 Tip For Easy Spring Cleaning: Have Less Stuff

Spring will officially arrive on March 20. That means, at least for many of us, it's time to start spring cleaning. Yay.

OK, I know that's not an exuberantly joyful response. But ACTUALLY. I enjoy cleaning WAY more than I did in the past.

See here's the thing: I am not a naturally organized person. Not in my mind. Not in my house. It has been a longtime thorn in my side. That's one of the reasons you may have seen my previous posts about leaning toward a more minimalist decor in my house. You can see those here and here. Less stuff means less stuff about which Tara has to worry. And that's good.

Part of my tendency toward disorganization isn't that I just don't care. It's just that I care TOO much. Perfection, they say, is the enemy of good. I believe that. I've spent hours and hours wondering about, not only how to organize my house, but the BEST way to organize my house.

Thus, I end up spending WAY too much time deciding how to categorize the extra buttons that come attached to the clothes we buy, and where to store them--and not enough time doing things that will really make a difference. That leads to massive frustration.

This process of de-cluttering over the past year or so has been a game-changer for me. Things still get jumbled from time to time, sure. But less clutter makes it so much easier to turn things right side up again. Not to mention cleaning. When every inch of every surface was covered, dusting and straightening was a never-ending, monotonous black hole.

I've also found I've come to love simplicity more and more. It calms my other tendency--which is to be anxious. If you'd like more about my thoughts on that *lovely* state of being ;), check out my previous post here.

If you're one of those people, like my Mom or Aunt Jan, who maintain a home filled with beautiful stuff as if they're operating a boutique, I think that's lovely. I'd love to come over and visit you and behold the beauty. But if you're more like me and need to keep things a bit simpler for your own peace of mind, I can't recommend it enough.

But if you're like me, make your spring cleaning WAY easier, and toss the stuff that doesn't...ya know..."spark joy."