It is a known fact that hard work often means a certain type of enjoyment in future. Most individuals love immediate gains. Before putting up your Chinese New Year decorations, spring cleaning is a common tradition among Singaporeans who celebrate Chinese New Year. It is often a task that can be done on any day throughout the year, but left to just before CNY celebrations so that the tradition can be upheld.
Here are some useful tips you could use to ensure your spring cleaning is effective!
Create a checklist of 5 categories
Items to Move Away
This category will be filled with items that are used on a day to day basis but are currently in the wrong location. It could be your favourite biscuits by the bed, your television remote control on the dining table, or your favourite sweaters and shawls all over the house.
Items to Fix
Items in this category would probably consist of everything that has value or a sentimental value. It could be your broken kiddy sunglasses your parents got your for your tenth birthday, or your favourite pair of jeans that would now require some alteration. It could even be bulky living room furniture that you feel would be a too much of a pity to discard. The items that cannot be fixed and with sentimental value can be kept away in a box and the items that require fixing could be placed away by the doorway so that you would go send them for fixing after you are done with the spring cleaning process.
Items to Sell
These are items of financial value but with no sentimental value at all. They may be in the form of nice clothes that are too small for you, or items you purchased in a very rash manner at a past sale! It is also common for many consumers to purchase products that look nice, but have no real use for it at all. It is also common to purchase items in multiple variations when you are unsure of what to buy. Thankfully for Carousell, we may possibly be able to eliminate them with cash returns.
Items to Donate
For all items that definitely cannot be sold but still in good use, donating them to a non-profit or charity organisation would seem like the right thing to do. However it is best you drop them an e-mail or call them first to check if these items would be of value to them. Such organisations are often used as dumping grounds. It is unethical to transfer a problem to another when you cannot solve them on your own.
Items to Dispose
If you are staring at an item and they do not fall in any of the above categories, this is where they probably belong to! There would definitely be some items that you would think you would be useful in the future. If you can come up with a realistic use for them in the next 3 months, you might want to put them in a box and store them in a place that would cause no obstruction at all. The best location to store them would be underneath your bed. However, if you are suffering from space constraints, the most practical method of storage would be upward. You could invest in some stackable storage boxes whereby the content of items can be clearly seen and accessed.
Manage room by room
Spring cleaning may possibly take more than a day. Therefore, you should always start with your bedroom so that at the very least, you would have a neat and tidy place to sleep at night. The kitchen, living room, and toilets should be attacked soon after. Create a culture of good storage habits (especially in the living room). Determine permanent places for every item so that enjoying a home that is consistently tidy will become possible.
Give the kitchens and the toilets a huge clean-up. Clean off every bit of grease or stain you see. Ensure that simple cleaning is done on subsequent days so that you would not have to go through this tortuous activity again! Should this prove to be taking too much of a toll on you, simply do a search online for a part time cleaner to help you out. Do not forget to check their ratings while you are at it!
This post is brought to you in collaboration with Masons Home Decor.
