Spring Cleaning Tips: 7 Organization Hacks For the Year Ahead

The concept of spring cleaning can take on different meanings for different people. Some prefer to stick to the deep house clean and focus on mopping, vacuuming, dusting and wiping. Others use the opportunity to revamp their entire home, from deep cleaning and sorting through old items to updating appliances and taking care of the handy work a home might require.

While many might have already accomplished the “cleaning” part of spring cleaning, the season is also a great opportunity to sift through and re-reorganize belongings, from tools to office supplies.

The need for organization and order in a household has contributed to a lucrative home goods and organizational product industry. Retail sales for organizational home goods came totaled $16 billion in 2016, according to a report released earlier this month by Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com. Perhaps the millions of copies of books sold by the “decluttering guru” Marie Kondo had something to do with it.

“The U.S. has reached ‘peak stuff’—people owning too many things. A strong trend has subsequently emerged that advocates for simplicity, minimalism, and control of clutter,” David Sprinkle, a research director with Packaged Facts said in a statement. “It’s not just getting rid of things, but recognizing that everything you own needs a place to store.”

Find a place for everything this season using these organizational hacks from Martha Stewart and these Office Depot tips for the Family Features Editorial Syndicate:

Read: Spring Cleaning Tips 2017: 7 Quick Ways To A Cleaner Home

-For office organization, preemptively create piles for paperwork you might encounter: bills, lists or office papers. Separate and categorize and file away medical, financial or legal documents in a filing cabinet or trunk. Label and alphabetize these files.

-Small office items like paper clips and pins deserve their own bowls for the desk, while separate drawer organizers for pens, pencils sticky notes and scissors help to keep items separated and untangled.

-Use an eye-catching flower bucket as an umbrella holder in your entryway.

-Inexpensive office organization products can be great for closets and hidden storage spaces. Use adhesive hooks to hang jewelry or purses within a bedroom closet.

-Use plastic stacking bins for shoes, accessories and even socks to free up drawer space for folded sweaters and garments. Or even put soft accessories, undergarments and socks into a storage cart that can sit within your closet.

-For cluttered, open book cases, you might not even need to declutter absolutely everything. Fit a roller shade – or even a long scarf or piece of fabric – to the top of the case to conceal what’s inside.

-Don’t let photos accumulate in drawers or on desks. Pick up a few inexpensive photo albums and file away the memories. Or scan images into your computer so they’re saved.