Your kids have moved out and now you’re standing there looking at an empty house.  Okay… it’s not really empty.  Though the kids are gone, there is still a lot of their stuff left behind.  This is especially true if they’ve left a little while ago.  They’ve probably stored things in your home for years and they’re not likely to come back and remove them.

When you have a full house, space is sometimes difficult to find.  Your home is busy and filled with people, so you’ve got to be organized.  It’s tough to clean when people are living there lives and making more mess every day.  Once the kids move out, you suddenly have empty rooms and it’s only a matter of time before those empty rooms get filled with junk.  Instead of being organized and throwing things out when you no longer need them, you start to stash items away in one of the spare bedrooms and the next thing you know Billy’s room has become a storage room.  So has Cindy’s.  So has the garage.

Instead of seeing your empty home as an opportunity to store more useless stuff, you can look at it an a chance to finally give the place a good cleaning.  But don’t do so without consulting your kids.  The last thing you need are your children coming home to visit to find all of their stuff gone.  That’s an easy way to hurt someone’s feelings.

Instead, have your kids over and everyone can clean the house together.  There is probably a lot of stuff in your children’s rooms that they will be able to get rid of.  Once you’ve gathered up all the old furniture, broken appliances and piles of miscellaneous junk, it’s time to call a junk removal company.  You can either rent a dumpster and pile everything into it yourself or have a full service company come over and do all of the work.  Either way, you’ll find that cleaning your house will make your everyday life more enjoyable.

Your kids will enjoy it too.  They will probably want to take some of their favourite items with them, and they’ll be happy that you involved them in the process.

Spring cleaning is an annual activity for some people.  It’s a great way to get over the winter blahs and get ready for the warm weather ahead.  Unfortunately it’s also a lot of work.  This is especially true if you don’t conduct a full scale clean every single year.

A lot of us have items sitting around that we’ve been meaning to organize or get rid of for years.  These things sit in our basements or our garages or our spare bedrooms and they gather dust and take up valuable space.  Getting rid of them can be an arduous exercise, but it’s also an activity that has a huge payoff.  Think about all the use you could get out of an empty room in your home?  You could turn that space into a den or a games room or a library.

But first you have to clean everything out.

There are a couple of ways to get rid of unwanted items.  The first is to have a garage sale.  This works well when the things you’re getting rid of are still valuable, just no longer wanted.  Price all of the items, make up a flyer, invite your neighbours, and try to sell as much as possible.  Garage sales are a lot more work than you’d expect, so try and get some friends or family members to help out.

For items that are damaged or broken, you can call in a junk removal company.  It’s time to finally get rid of that couch without cushions that’s been taking up space in your basement and that table with the broken leg that’s been propped up against the garage wall for years.  A junk removal company can dispose of your damaged furniture, appliances, electronics and other items that are essentially useless now.  You can usually opt for a full service or self service plan with a junk removal company.  It’s up to you whether you’d prefer to load a dumpster yourself or have someone else do it for you.

The third option is to donate as many goods as possible.  This is a great idea for old clothing that you can’t sell at a garage sale or give to friends and family.  There are many great organizations that take in old clothing and you can feel better knowing that your old dresses, shirts, pants and other items are going to be given to someone that truly needs them.  Some junk removal companies, such as Junk It,  actually go out of their way to donate whatever items they can to charitable organizations.  Ask about this option when you’re booking.

Once you’ve gotten rid of everything you no longer need, you’ll be able to enjoy your basement, garage or spare room so much more!  No longer will you have to dodge piles of junk when you’re trying to reach your lawnmower or navigate a round a pile of 80s fashions when you look inside your closet.