Spring has finally emerged, the flowers are beginning to blossom and you know what that means? It's time to think about livening up our homes with a bit of spring cleaning.
Alongside asking ChatGPT how to spring clean and sowing the best flowers for amazing colours, this time of year also reminds me how my mom would clamber into the attic and pull out boxes labelled 'Spring has sprung' whilst alternately lugging boxes labelled 'Baby, it's cold outside' back up in exchange.
From a very early age, my mom taught me how her 'storage swap' hack for springtime. Yes, when I was little I found the concept incredibly boring. But now, I'm a grown woman with two small children who really really cares about streamlining storage and I'm ready to share her wisdom.
Now, I use my mom's 'storage swap' storage hack every spring – and here's how it's completely changed my home.
Two types of storage
At its core, my mom's 'storage swap' hack relies on one thing – having two types of storage. There's the storage that you use to keep everything from spring and summer inside and there's the storage you use for autumn and winter. And these two types of storage only ever meet in passing.
Every spring, she tells me, you have to rotate seasonal items like the heavy coats, thick bedding, holiday decor and more and bring in the lighter wear back down. And the way to do that is to box it all up and exchange it with the boxes you have packed up in your attic for spring.
It's a full storage swap though and that means when you take out everything from your wardrobe and cupboards to put into storage (and anywhere else you collect items, no judgment), you can also perform a good deep clean on the areas you're about to fill up with spring/summer wear.
How to do it
It's up to you how you store your seasonal belongings, but my mom's hack is to use a selection of cardboard boxes that she folds down and slides under her bed or in the back of the cupboard for when it's time to unfold and stuff again when the seasons inevitably change. Vacuum bags also work great for this.
This technique helps with sorting through your things as they go back into the boxes, reorganizing, donating, and throwing away anything that you don't want to reappear next autumn/winter before it heads into the attic or garage.
But, you could also keep plastic boxes for storage that doubles up as additional storage in your home, once you've emptied out the things you need. Lastly, you could empty the spring/summer belongings out of your boxes and load the same storage boxes back up with the autumn/winter things, if you're short on attic or garage space.
I opt for the cardboard boxes, like my mom taught me, because I find it easier to sort through my things if I'm not also being overwhelmed with spring/summer being unloaded at the same time!
Top spring decluttering tips
There's a few other things that my mom taught me that work alongside the 'storage swap' hack nicely and that's preparing your belongings for when they come back out. Consider it a present to your future self.
So, when you pack away your autumn/winter things this spring for the seasonal change, here's a few things you can try to spruce up your things in storage:
- Air out your bedding in the fresh spring air before packing it away
- Pop a fragrant twig, like lavender, into your bedding when you're packing it away so it comes out smelling lovely
- Fix up any old clothing that might have holes, tears, or missing buttons
- Dust and clean any of your seasonal belongings ready for later in the year
