Spring Into Clean

It’s time to get organized.

As we move into the full-fledged, blossoming weeks of spring, many homeowners are using this time to do some deep cleaning to revamp their abodes for the warmer months. Although everyone’s definition of spring cleaning is different, a big aspect of it is an organizational process to rid your home of unused or unwanted items, along with tidying up the things you’d like to keep.

Tiffany Hively, a design consultant with California Closets St. Louis, recommends starting off the spring cleaning procedure with a simple categorization process. In a clothing closet, she suggests putting types of clothing together, like hanging all long-sleeved shirts together in one group, short-sleeved shirts in another.

“You want to take everything out of the space and go through it,” Hively says. “Divide everything into three categories: one to donate, one for items you’re wearing on a regular basis and one for items that have sentimental value.”

Hively mentions that California Closets St. Louis has a partnership with a program called Dress for Success, which seeks “to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life,” according to the organization’s website. California Closets St. Louis will take the donated items from its clients’ closets to Dress for Success to be put to good use.

After the donated items have been sorted and the regularly worn clothing items categorized, Hively recommends putting sentimental clothing into labeled boxes for storage.

“It could be something you wore when you were bringing your first baby home from the hospital – it’s something you want to keep, although it’s not in your rotation of clothing you wear every day,” she says.

The same thing goes for pantries and offices.

“Take everything out, categorize and check expiration dates,” she says. “Purge what you don’t need, and return the items in a way that’s accessible for what you use most. You’ll save time and create ease and convenience on a daily basis.”

Saint Louis Closet Co. president Jennifer Williams recommends starting small with your spring cleaning – with just one closet space at a time.

“Once you get one space organized, you will really realize the time saving and overall satisfaction that organization can bring,” she says. “We offer free in-home estimates, which take about an hour and allow our clients to see the transformation possibilities.”

Williams and her team work within any type of budget to start with basic hanging and shelving. Once the organizational system is installed, clients can come back and add doors, drawers, hooks and other accessories.

“This allows the process to start off simple, cost-effective and quick,” Williams says.

Her go-to spring cleaning tip is to take everything out of a drawer, cabinet or closet. This allows you to clean, paint or even install an organizational system. She reiterates starting small with one space at a time, noting that the motivation from one cleaned and organized space will put you on a path of living a more organized life.

From there, Hively says she’s seeing more people tackle organizing their entire home, space by space.

“It’s more than just the closets,” she says. “People are focusing on the entire home as a way to create order in their lives and love how they live.”

She notes that California Closets St. Louis has been helping organize everything from playrooms to mudrooms to offices, and that its clients have been excited to see that there’s a place for everything – not just in their closets.

“We come in, take inventory of the things they have, go over the vision for the space and hear what’s working and what’s not,” she says. “At the initial consultation, we’ll measure the space, take inventory of their items and find out what’s working and what’s not. We create all of our designs in a 3-D CAD [computer-assisted design] software, allowing our clients to see exactly what their space will look like during the presentation, which typically takes place in one of our showrooms so they can see the products.”

At Saint Louis Closet Co., Williams and her team offer free in-home estimates, where design consultants can measure the prospective clients’ closets and other spaces that need organizing and provide a design and price. Its organization systems are custom-manufactured at the company’s Maplewood factory and are then installed in the home within one day.

“Spring is a great time to clean up and rid your home of clutter that has accumulated from the holidays and long winter,” Williams says. “There’s nothing more satisfying than working with clients at the blueprint stage and getting them really thinking about the overall home organizational needs.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.