Spring Cleaning the Attic

How can I be talking about spring cleaning when we still have snow on the ground?! It's gotten warm enough over the last couple of days, though, for some grass in our yard to peep out. But I realize the rest of the country may be experiencing spring-like weather. It's a great time to clean the attic whatever the case.

Spring is a wonderful time to attack the attic - it's still cool enough to be able to tackle this decluttering job! You certainly don't want to wait until summer. And the timing is perfect - you may find you have enough for a yard sale. Now that's motivating, isn't it?

Start by walking around your attic to take a mental inventory of what you have there. Designate corners for each category - Christmas, other seasonal decorations, keepsakes, off-season clothing, suitcases and traveling accessories, home repair supplies - whatever categories represent your life.

Now that you have designated certain corners for the categories you have stored in your attic, it's time to sort.

Start in one corner of your attic. You may want to surround yourself with several boxes - one for each category plus one for giveaways. As you sort each item, ask yourself:
- is it necessary?
- have you used it in the last year?
- is it important to you or someone else?
- could someone else use it?

If you absolutely must keep the item you're sorting, place it in the appropriate box. Have a trash bag nearby for those things that don't even qualify for giveaways.

Work your way around the attic. You may discover additional categories as you go. You may also find items in your attic which would be better used elsewhere in your home. Be creative - are there some keepsakes you want to keep that could serve as storage containers in your house? Your mother's tea cups could hold jewelry in your dresser drawer, for example. A trunk could hold toys or linens.

Place each box in the corner you have designated for that category.

Now that you've decluttered and sorted, you're ready to look at your storage needs for your attic.

Look at each category to see what would best house those items. Do you need large clear storage containers for linens? Do you need small boxes for books? Do you need a place to hang out-of-season clothes? Do you need shelves, drawers, hooks, etc?

Before you go out and purchase storage containers, look around your house, basement, garage, etc. to see if you already have such storage. You may have an unused dresser that would work for storage if it were moved up to the attic, for example.

Label each container with the contents so when you're hunting for something, you don't need to open every container. If you are using clear storage containers, write your list on a piece of paper and slide it down the side of the container so you can read it without opening the box.

Celebrate - good job done!!