Spring Cleaning Checklist: 9 Areas to Declutter

There’s just something about fresh spring air that gets us in the mood to organize, declutter and clean! If you feel the same way, then you’ll love this spring cleaning checklist, complete with all the essential areas to declutter. 

The Ultimate Spring Cleaning Checklist

Our hope is that with this handy spring cleaning checklist you can step into a new season feeling light, and ready to be more productive. We’ve included areas around your home to declutter, as well as helpful tips for decluttering digitally. Ready to get organized? Let’s do it! 

1. Closets

This one is a no-brainer, but nevertheless important. Have your storage areas gotten a bit out of control? If so, then a trip to the Container Store might be in your future. Sometimes it’s not that you’re unorganized or that you have too much stuff, you may just not have good storage solutions for the things you have. 

Go through each of your closets and see if you need to find better compartments for organizing your things. As you get better organized, throw out (or recycle!) anything that you no longer use or need. 

Don’t forget to declutter your wardrobe too! As you store away your winter clothes, set aside anything that you didn’t wear all season or any items that are starting to get worn or even out-of-style. It’s okay…it happens to all of us!

Put your warm weather clothes front and center, and set aside anything that you no longer like or doesn’t feel like you. Turn on some music, pour some bubbly and have a little fashion show! Try your spring and summer clothes on and see if you still like what’s in your wardrobe. Meanwhile, make a list of anything you feel like your wardrobe is missing. 

Need inspiration for your wardrobe? Check out our blog post: What to Wear for Your Brand Photoshoot for help building our capsule wardrobe!

Take any of the clothes you set aside and donate them. Year after year, you’ll find that you get better at building a capsule wardrobe and understanding your personal style. Our hope is that as time goes on, you’ll have less and less to get rid of! 

2. Books & Journals

Do you have a looming shelf of books that you haven’t gotten around to reading? Rather than feel guilty about it, take a moment to sort through the books you have and donate any that you’re no longer interested in or that you know you’re never going to get around to reading.

Take note of any books you’ve forgotten about that you really do want to read. Place them somewhere where you’ll be motivated to find time to read these top-of-your-list books. 

Go through your journals too. If you’re like us, you have a stack of notebooks—all filled out about halfway through. We can’t help it, we just love buying new notebooks with cute covers. And we can be like this with planners too. Sort through your journals and planners and aim to just keep one of each out at a time. Store or recycle the rest!

3. Desk

When the days get busy, it’s perfectly normal for your desk to get a bit messy and disorganized. If your desk has gotten out of control, start by decluttering the surface. Only keep things you truly love to look at throughout the day on your desk. Get rid of the rest! 

Then sort through your drawers. Consider if you need a new storage solution, whether it be a binder or folders—or maybe a cute storage box you can keep on a nearby bookshelf. 

Take your entire office into consideration too. Does this room bring you joy? Remove anything that doesn’t inspire passion. Your office should be a space that supports your creativity and productivity. 

4. Computer

It can be so easy to let files, photos, and emails get out of hand. Going through each of these areas can take quite a bit of time, but the mental clarity and space will be so worth it. 

As you sort through your files and photos, create folders to make it easier to stay organized moving forward. 

Though it is time consuming, when decluttering your inbox, go through and unsubscribe from any newsletters that you never read. Delete any email accounts that you no longer use, and create folders or star emails that you want to save for later. 

5. Mail

Speaking of mail, do you have a stack of mail piling up somewhere in your office or kitchen? Whether it’s things you plan to read later or mail that you’re not sure whether to store or toss, letters, bills, coupons, and flyers can pile up quickly. 

Sort through your mail and create three piles: one pile for stuff you need to save for your records, one pile for things you can deal with right now, and one pile to toss. 

Then, designate a box or folder to hold any important documents that you need to save. Deal with the mail that requires action so you can toss those papers once you’re done with them too. 

6. Phone

Next up on our spring cleaning checklist: your phone! This may be one you’re dreading…especially if you take as many photos throughout a single day as we do! It can be mentally draining to sit down and delete photos and videos you no longer need, but it’s even more draining to know that tons and tons of photos and videos you don’t need are cluttering up your phone. So, we’re going to do it. You can do it too!

You can also declutter your phone by deleting any apps you no longer use. Make sure to check your current subscriptions to make sure you’re not paying for anything you don’t use. 

And just for fun, perhaps it’s time to refresh your phone background!

7. Bathroom

Your bathroom should be a place of relaxation and restoration. Does your bathroom make you feel calm and restored? If not, it’s time to get to work.

Sort through your bathroom drawers and cabinets and get rid of any items that you don’t use or are expired. Organize small miscellaneous things like bobby pins, hair ties, and lipsticks and find small boxes or jars for these things so that your draws and cabinets don’t get messy.

Pull out your favorite things, whether it be a pretty bottle of facial oil or your jade roller, and place them on a tray to decorate around your sink. You could also store everything away and simply place a bouquet of flowers in your bathroom. Your bathroom should feel pretty and even a bit girly if you wish! Let your personality show so that this room can feel more like a spa and less like a space of clutter.

8. Kitchen

This room can be intimidating to think about sorting. Most kitchens have the dreaded junk drawer. Spice racks and pantries get unorganized easily. And every fridge has a handful of expired condiments cluttering up the shelves.

Schedule some time to discard anything in your fridge or pantry that is expired, and don’t forget to check the date on your spices!

Use baskets or plastic containers to help you store and organize these spaces. You can even install some open shelving if you need more storage space. Use glass jars to store any bulk items that you use regularly. 

Let’s not forget the junk drawer! Declutter it and use dividers to keep it clean and simple moving forward. 

9. Car

Last but not least is your car. Winter can be rough on your car, especially when the weather is cold and it’s no fun being outside cleaning it up unnecessarily. 

Spring is the perfect time to toss any trash, receipts, empty water bottles, or coffee cups that have been hibernating inside your car. You can keep a small trash bin in your car if you happen to have a lot of trash piling up in your car. 

Declutter and organize your console, glove compartment, and trunk. And then treat yourself to a drive-through car wash!

Congratulations, you did it! You completed this comprehensive spring cleaning checklist and you’re ready for a productive and happy new season.

Need to declutter your client load too? Check out our blog post: 8 Signs it’s Time to Let Go of a Client.