dare to dump

the sun just started hitting our balcony this morning.  it may have hit it earlier this week, but clouds got in the way.

sun hitting the balcony = the earth is beginning its shift towards the sun = warmth

and after i kicked around a pile a leaves at our future home i found the first petals of daffodils poking out through the soil.

i know you are all psyched for spring.

however...when there is spring, there also comes spring cleaning.

i'm not trying to be a debbie downer.  but it needs to be done.

my home is screaming for help.

vanilla pudding on top of my cereal boxes.

ice cream maker in our bedroom closet.

laundry baskets full of paper that needs to be filed.

stuffed animals that need to be ::cough, cough::  thrown away.

i don't mind cleaning.  i was raised my a cleaning lady.  it's in my blood.

i always start with the pantry.  it's the quickest area that can cleaned while making you feel like you've accomplished something.

chaos.

i know where everything is.  that's all that matters, right?!?!

don't be afraid to throw things away.  for me, i had a hard time throwing away this peach bundt mix from williams sonoma that my neighbor gave me after she de-cluttered her pantry.  it was in my pantry for two years and survived three pantry clean outs.  i finally put my foot down in december of 2010.

au revoir, peach-bundt-you-probably-tasted-like-mothballs-anyway.

step one:  grab a garbage can.

have a brown bag on the side for non-perishable food items you know you won't use, but can be donated to your local food pantry.

have handy a bucket of sudsy water and a rag.

step two:  walk to pantry.

step three:  take everything out.

i usually start at the top and work my way down.  chuck out things that you won't use or are just plain ol' stale.  remember not to throw away anything that can be used at food bank.

step four:  put aside items that are staying.

step five: wipe down shelves.

yes.  my hands are really that pasty.

now would be a good time to add some character to your cabinets, try contact paper.  if your shelves are scuffed up and unsightly, this would be perfect.

target sells an array of different styles and materials to protect your shelves.

just cut.  peel. adhere.

from my experience for larger shelves, have another person help you.  it will save you from losing your mind.

step six:  put everything back.

i know this is obvious, but i'd hate for someone to clean out their pantry and not put anything back because i didn't instruct them to.

just kidding, but seriously, this is a good time to organize your items according to how you use them.

baking shelf after some tlc.

canned veggies.

pasta. rice.

in our pantry, we have it organized from top to bottom:

• cereal
• pasta and rice
• canned items, sauce, vinegars
• snacks, chips, crackers
• baking items

the baking items may have to be moved up soon.  chicken nugget is becoming more curious by the day.  i've already had to move the sprinkles up to the cabinet in my kitchen.

yeah. that happened.

(and if you look close enough at our baking shelf, you can see the lick marks on the pink sprinkle container. )

although my home is torn to shreds right now, i'm glad i accomplished something.

throwing junk away and organizing refreshes me.

next up:  cleaning out the loft.  papers, magazines, and stuffed animals galore!

what's your must-do spring cleaning chore?

thanks for stopping by:)

jill