If you live in the Northeast or any part of the country where it snows often during the winter, you eventually get a little cabin fever. Why not channel that extra energy into something productive? Here are some ideas for organizing your home on a snowy day (for those who live in non-snowy areas, perhaps one of the rainy/cold days would be an excellent time for these too):
Attic
Depending on the state of your attic, this could be a multiple-day project. Start with one area and sort into major categories (e.g., holiday decorations, seasonal items, furniture, clothes, toys). If you get through this and still have time and energy, you could move to the next step: weeding out what you no longer use/need
Spare room
What is your vision for this room? Once you determine that, start by organizing the room into categories. For many people, this room is used as a dumping ground for when people are coming over, and you need to get the house cleaned up in a hurry. Perhaps this room just needs some TLC--spend some time putting things back in their proper home in the other parts of the house.
Bookshelf
Is your bookshelf overflowing, or a mishmash of topics? Take all the books out, and sort them into categories (however you would like them, either by topic, author, alphabetically, etc.). Weed out the ones you no longer are interested in(many libraries will take book donations for their annual sales), wipe down the empty shelves, and put the books back by category.
Drawer
If you don’t have much time or energy, start with one drawer. If you are feeling courageous, make that one drawer the junk drawer! Pull everything out of the drawer and wipe it out, and Sort the items into categories. Weed out what you don’t need, Assign new homes if necessary (do you have things in the drawer that are taking up prime real estate that you only use once a year? If so, maybe there is a better place to keep those things), and buy/locate containers if the items could benefit from some separation in the drawer. Here is another reference for organizing drawers.
Pantry
If you only have time for one shelf/section, go for it! If things are already organized, weed out the expired items or ones you know you won’t use. See these posts on organizing your entire pantry.
Desk
If you only have time for one or two drawers, follow the steps above. Use SWABS (Sort, Weed, Assign homes, Buy/locate containers, and Set up/label the final system) for the whole desk. Remember that paperwork can take a while, so don’t pull out more than you can work with in the time allotted.
Closet
Again, this will depend on the amount of time you have, but you could tackle one section (hanging clothes, shoes, items on shelves, even a dresser drawer) or the whole thing.
Organizing with Kids
Here are some ideas for involving kids with organizing on snow days (depending on their age and attention abilities): a box of old family pictures, accumulated school/art keepsakes, kid’s room (clothes, books, toys), mudroom.
I hope this gives you some ideas and inspiration, and a way to channel your cabin fever.
Reposted from our archives. Originally posted on 2/12/2015.