Spring has officially sprung, along with edicts proclaiming it’s time to get out in the sun—and then clean your house from top to bottom. Um, who decided that?
Alas, many people, it seems. Spring is a time of renewal, prompting people to swap winter’s stagnation for the promise of a new season—by way of cleaning supplies.
We support people’s desire to mop to their hearts’ content. But if tearing the whole house apart to clean every nook and cranny seems overwhelming right now, we get it. Why not start on a small scale, and get rid of the clutter that inevitably builds up over the winter months? And yes—there’s a term for it!
What is a ‘doom room’?
There are times when the stuff we own threatens to overwhelm us—and now that junk has a name.
“Doom piles” and “depression rooms” are buzzy terms that seem to be everywhere suddenly, thanks to mountains of TikTok videos. The monikers describe heaps of junk you’ve swept into a bag or box (or onto the floor) to clear some much-needed space. And the truth is, even organizing pros have these in their homes.
“I often have small areas that are cluttered—like my bag or car or another spot I let build up,” admits Katie McCann, the organizing pro at Haven.
In fact, Lisa Davis, a shopping expert at RetailMeNot, says having a doom pile or two might relieve some personal pressure.
“Most people already have so much on their plate without the extra stress of a perfect-looking home, so if there needs to be a dedicated crap room, then so be it,” she declares.
Addressing the piles, however, is the next hurdle—and it’s one many of us just plain ignore. To help, we’ve got the scoop on a new organizing method in town. We’re talking about “five things tidying,” and it’s a snap to try. Read on for tips on a low-pressure way to get your rooms in order this spring.
What is the ‘five things’ method?
Photo by Organize Don’t Agonize
The principle behind the method is simple: There is only a small handful of items to pick up or organize in any one space at a time (five, to be exact).
The beauty of this cleaning approach is that it breaks down your mess into simple categories, giving you the chance to tackle just a couple of issues if that’s all the time and energy you can muster.
These five things include dishes (abandoned coffee cups, snack bowls), trash (old tissues, junk mail, empty soda cans), and laundry—whether clean but unfolded, or dirty and strewn about. The last two categories are things that have a place and things that do not.
“When you’re dealing with accumulated mess, it’s easier to break it up into small bites,” points out Charlotte Granville, a remodeling specialist with Fixr.
Cleaning up the five
After identifying your five things, it’s time to decide which to attack. And no, you don’t have to clean up all five—it’s even okay to just stop at identifying the piles, if this is all you can manage.
“You could even theme your days with this technique so that when Monday rolls around, you’re only focused on, say, clothing,” notes McCann. “And then the other categories don’t need to be worried about until their day pops up.”
So, if you address one or two of the categories in a day, it’s a big win. You might start with the trash or the dishes, as these tend to be the easiest ones.
For the garbage category, grab a bag and stuff it with what you’ve gathered, then take out the trash right then.
Meanwhile, if your dishes have old food bits stuck on them, run them under warm, soapy water and load as many as you can into the dishwasher.
Things with and without a place
Photo by Eagle Designs and Woodworking, Inc.
Things that have a place are, as it might seem, easier to understand.
For example, shoes piled up by the door belong in that basket on the coat closet floor. Books that someone pulled from the bookcase should go right back on the shelves (don’t worry about the order!).
As for the things that do not have a place, this grouping is what most of us will call junk or clutter. It’s the broken toy sitting under the coffee table or the outgrown sweatshirt hanging on the stair railing. These things are waiting to be donated, reused, or recycled.
Organizing during spring helps
Photo by Sasser Construction L.C.
Managing your daily (or weekly) clutter is a worthy goal; but sometimes, it makes sense to tie your efforts to a more significant life event, McCann says
“A great time to declutter is when you’re going through a transition, such as a move, the change of seasons, having a baby, or getting married,” she explains.
This way, you clean up because your needs have changed, and “you might feel more comfortable changing your surroundings too.”
Go at your own pace
Davis recommends starting small and setting achievable goals.
“This might mean doing just one thing a day, like dusting the TV, sorting clothes to donate, or sweeping out the garage,” she says.
And by week’s end, you’ll have accomplished more than you think. The bottom line is to keep your objective (cleaning up!) in sight and not feel too much pressure. You don’t want to get overwhelmed and abandon the whole project.
