By Christina Morton DesAuguste
Christina is the founder of The Organizing Company and has been organizing professionally since 2013. She is currently loving Cole Haan Oxfords, Boulder’s Pearl Street on a Sunday, and washable rugs. It’s the little things in life!
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We’ve had a few warm spring-like days here in Colorado lately and I’m really noticing the spring cleaning urge creeping up. I usually don’t feel a strong need to do it, but this year the feelings are real.
It’s been unusually cold this winter (at least in my mind) and I’ve been hunkered down nesting with no energy to go above and beyond.
I’ll be honest; there are things that I’ve put in my garage haphazardly because it was too cold to take the time to put them away properly or create a proper home for them. All things considered, it’s not terrible (I’m still an organizer, afterall), but to me it’s bothersome and I’m excited to get out there and get the garage dialed in again.
I’m guessing you might have a similar experience.
But I know there’s a lot of confusion about spring cleaning and I thought I’d weigh in on what I think it should entail and what the differences are between spring cleaning and spring organizing.
Spring cleaning originally was literally just about cleaning. But a deep clean though. The stuff you don’t do as regularly or the stuff that was hard/unpleasant to do in the cold. Shaking out the rugs, cleaning window screens, cleaning baseboards, etc.
I think in modern day America it has morphed a bit to the point that a lot of people also associate spring cleaning with getting rid of stuff and/or decluttering.
It makes sense; as you’re deep cleaning a closet or the garage or wherever, you probably will notice things you haven’t used in a long time and can get rid of. Surfaces around the house may have gotten cluttered with things that have a home and just need to be put away.
So when someone says they’re going to do some spring cleaning, it probably entails deep cleaning plus some decluttering and/or purging of unwanted belongings.
I’ll get to how I define it shortly.
But first, there are a few different opinions about decluttering versus purging we need to address.
Some people equate them as synonyms. Other people distinguish them by referring to clearing surfaces and putting things away where they belong as decluttering, versus getting rid of stuff as purging. This is the camp I fall into.
So decluttering may lead to purging, but they aren’t the same thing in my mind or business. That’s a blog post for another time, but that’s how I’ll distinguish them for this post.
Decluttering = Putting the clutter away where it belongs so surfaces are clear and everything is in its “home” (This can also be called tidying)
Purging = Removing things from your home entirely (people call it editing, sifting, culling, etc)
While I’m giving definitions, let me include a couple more that will be helpful to us.
Cleaning = Dusting, scrubbing, polishing, washing, vacuuming, mopping, sanitizing, etc of your home and its furnishings
Organizing = Creating orderly homes for all of your belongings. It requires categorization, creating systems, creating homes (decluttering), containing things, and, usually, some purging. Or curating, as I like to call it (click here for a full rundown of my method to learn why I call it curating).
Cleaning and organizing are not the same thing, in the spring or any time of the year.
So when I think about spring cleaning, it usually feels like it’s missing something.
I love the idea of freshening up the house and getting rid of stuff you don’t need, but, in my experience, it usually needs some organizing before I get to that point.
That’s why I distinguish spring organizing as its own exercise, but as a vital prerequisite to spring cleaning.
If we just focus on spring cleaning as it’s been defined in some circles, it doesn’t solve the issues like:
-If you only purge (whether you define it as decluttering or not), what happens to the clutter that you do want to keep?
-How do you declutter if the clutter doesn’t have a home? You need to organize to create homes for the clutter.
-Getting rid of stuff usually leads to reworking the space to utilize it better (aka organizing).
-If your home has gotten cluttered, your mental inventory of what you have may be skewed. So trying to make decisions about what to get rid of when things are disorganized may cause you to feel hesitant to let go, possibly leading to anxiety or to keeping stuff you really don’t need. It’s inefficient and means you have to revisit or repurchase those items later.
Decluttering and purging isolated from organizing will still leave piles (or boxes/bins) of stuff without a home that you have to move around as you clean. Or closets packed to the brim that don’t get deep cleaned at all.
So why not take the opportunity to really reset your home while you’re in the mode of refreshing it?
My humble opinion:
Do spring organizing and spring cleaning.
Spring organizing covers both the decluttering and purging aspects commonly associated with spring cleaning, but it does it more efficiently and actually finishes the job by making sure everything actually has a home in your home.
Then you can get to the actual cleaning.
That’s why I like to define spring cleaning as doing a deep clean of your home, including activities like dusting, scrubbing, polishing, washing, vacuuming, mopping, sanitizing, etc of your home and its furnishings.
Why do spring organizing before spring cleaning?
The process of organizing your home includes removing clutter and unwanted items from the surfaces of your home by returning them to or creating homes for them, which makes surfaces and furnishings easier to clean. Plus, when everything is organized it’s easier to move things out/in for deep cleaning shelves, drawers, etc.
Otherwise, you’re just shuffling piles from one spot to another while you clean. Not only will this kill your motivation and momentum, it will probably also mean that the stuff in the piles is hiding dust and debris and you’ll have to do more cleaning when you do finally organize it.
I recommend organizing the entire house (including the garage) before you start cleaning, rather than organizing and then immediately cleaning one room at a time.
Here’s why:
It’s the assembly line method. It’s more efficient to focus on one task and then move on to the next task.
Doing one task at a time will save time pulling out supplies over and over. Plus, you’ll have fewer trips to drop off donations, you’ll have fewer times to wash cleaning rags, fewer times to bust out the step ladder, etc.
I would dust every room and let it settle (not even Swiffer catches it all, let’s be real) before coming back and vacuuming/sweeping every room, etc. It’s more efficient because you’re using that assembly line method on the house as a whole.
Not to mention, organizing and deep cleaning are large tasks all on their own. If you combine them into one big task, it can feel overwhelming and drain your motivation and momentum.
AND (wow, there are more reasons that I initially thought!) it will allow you to better utilize help, whether from family members or professionals. You can have your family organizing their spaces/stuff and keep everyone on track easier because they’re doing the same tasks, and then you can delegate cleaning tasks that really take advantage of the assembly line method and have one kid dusting the house and another coming behind to do the next task, and another doing the next task, and so on. Trying to get your kids or partner to dust, wipe down cabinets, clean baseboards, and vacuum is a hard sell. But delegating one or two tasks per session is a lot easier (and did I mention it’s more efficient?).
So organize the entire house then clean the entire house.
An exception to my organize before cleaning principle:
There have only been a handful of times in 11.5 years of organizing other peoples’ homes that it really needed to be cleaned before it was organized- and then cleaned again.
If there are visible dust bunnies, cobwebs, or there is a noticeable layer of dust or pet hair, you probably need to accept that you’ll need to clean twice:
An initial dust, vacuum, and mop to get the bulk of the dust and pet hair that would otherwise be kicked up while organizing. It’s really hard to organize when stuff is coated in dust, even in a mask. Plus, you’ll still have to dust (or launder) the stuff before putting it away in its new home so that the dust won’t be transferred to the insides of drawers, cabinets, closets that may or may not already be dusty.
Then organize and put everything in its home.
Then come back and do another dust and full deep clean.
It’s less efficient, but necessary if things have gotten to that point. I’d recommend calling in professional cleaners for the first clean, at least. Give them a heads up about the situation (including the need for masks, protective eyewear, gloves, and the right supplies) and ask them to move objects to clean under them before putting them back (or putting them somewhere). It’ll take a lot of time, but it’s well worth it and will help you focus your time and energy on the other aspects of the project.
So if that exception doesn’t apply to you, do your spring organizing before your spring cleaning this year to really reset and refresh your home for the spring!
I’ll be sharing some more details on what spring organizing and spring cleaning should entail, so make sure you’re on my mailing list to get notified when I post the next blog- especially if you like checklists or challenges!
Happy Organizing!
Christina
March 6th, 2025
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