Before Warmer Weather Sets In, Here Are 8 Wise Things to Declutter

The change of season lends a cyclical rhythm to our lives. It’s a pace that’s comforting in its predictability (the sun always rises), yet it can also make time feel like it’s moving faster than ever (summer is almost here again?!). However the ebb and flow of time makes you feel on a larger scale, you can channel the energy behind the change in seasons to feel more in sync with your home and the living that happens inside your four walls.

In the spirit of saying goodbye to the past season and getting prepared for the coming one, we’ve made a list of some smart things to declutter as the warmer weather starts to set in.

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As the winter season comes to a close, you can examine your wardrobe with an informed eye. You know the coat you always reached for and the boots that stayed on the closet shelf all season. Get them out of your house now, before another winter comes and you think you might wear them (but won’t, again).

Your family’s blanket usage is also fresh in your mind—how many got used during movie night, which kids prefer to grab blankets from the bed, and the blanket that you just can’t seem to get completely clean anymore. Donate your excess blankets, wash what’s left, and stow them for use next year.

It’s definitely possible to revive plants that have seen better days. But you may have some that have kicked the bucket or that you can’t find a good place for. Toss dead plants, pass along unhappy ones to your green-er thumbed friends, and make sure to trim dead parts off of the plants you do keep. Along these lines, go through your collection of plant pots, saucers, baskets, etc. Keep only what you’re using and maybe one or two you love for future plants.

Now that holiday hosting is behind us and you’re confronted with the fact that you didn’t use that bag of gold balloons for New Year’s Eve for the third year in a row, you may be willing to let it go. Take out all of your platters, drink dispensers, specialty napkins, and serving utensils and keep only the old faithfuls you reach for again and again.

Spring cleaning season is coming up, and you’re far more likely to be in the mood if you don’t have to wade through a mess of floor mops you never use to get to the steam cleaner. Decluttering your cleaning tools and products also allows you to see what you might need to re-stock before you need it.

Now, before you quite need them yet, is the time to go through your sunscreens and bug sprays. Toss anything that’s expired or that has separated (give each tube a little squeeze to find out). Once you’ve cleared out everything that’s no longer good, you’ll know what you need to stock up on and you’ll have it before you head to the beach and pool.

I recently went through our basket of teas and there were some that expired six years ago! (Old tea isn’t necessarily unsafe, but its potency wanes with time.) Since it may be awhile before you consume hot tea as regularly as you might have been doing during colder weather, take a moment to thin out your collection now. When you’re done, you might enjoy storing what’s left in one of these.

As the temperature shifts, your cooking may as well. Take stock of what’s hiding in the freezer and make plans to use it up so you have plenty of room for summer’s popsicles and ice cream.