Spring Cleaning is Around the Corner: My Porter Can Help!

With the weather warming up, it can only mean one thing: Spring Cleaning is right around the corner. Whether your first child is on the way or you’re an experienced mom, space is constantly at a premium. Finding enough room for children (and their stuff) is a great challenge, but often with no obvious solution. You may have the good fortune of having an extra room, but if you’re like most families, you’ve accumulated an endless array of new trinkets and toys, overflowing closets, and cluttered work spaces.

A quick google search for “declutter my home,” yields thousands of results so take comfort in that you are not alone. But before you expose yourself to the deluge of information on the NET, we recommend following a logical, four-step progression to prepare your home.

1.  Inventory Your Home

Take inventory, room by room, of every space in your house and determine whether you need to address it. Drawers filled with who-knows-what? Take-out menus, expired coupons, and random trinkets all need to be cleared out. Extra room filled with wedding photos and picture frames, golf clubs, or just random junk? Closets overflowing with clothes, gear, and gifts? Understand the current status of your home, noting what can be thrown away and what needs to be kept. Only then can you start planning for the future.

2. Make a List of Upcoming Purchases

Most parents are shocked by the sheer multitude of play things and gear that children require. Ask yourself:

For babies: where will bottles, formula, bibs, and table high-seat be stored? Which rooms will larger items like swings, play mats, strollers, and other activity centers reside?
For older children: where will that new instrument, set of football pads, or latest school project be put before it displaces something else in your home?

By the time you end up compiling your list, it’s going to be a lot longer than you think. Taking in to account what will be thrown away and what will be coming in, it’s time to progress to the next step…

3. Optimize Current Space

Smart parents will get creative in utilizing their existing spaces. A small sliver of wall space could become a fold-down changing station. Former TV stands can become dressers, and cribs are becoming less thought of as beds but rather multi-purpose command and control units. You’ll be surprised at how much space can be found where you previously thought there was none. Get Creative. Ask yourself how you can transform something meant for single-use into something multi-purpose.

4. Add New Space

When you simply need more space, add it. No need for a construction project, just outsource it!

On-demand storage is all the rage in cities like Chicago and New York. Instead of renting a damp, dirty, and dusty storage unit along with a U-Haul and hours of your time, services like MyPorter in Atlanta will come to your home and safely transport your materials to a climate-controlled, secure warehouse for safekeeping. Best of all, you can view a photograph of everything you have stored online so you don’t forget what you have! When you need it back, two clicks, and it can be back to your home the same day. You can even store individual items or furniture pieces.
Starting at $7.50 / month for a single box, or $60 / month for 25 square feet of space to store whatever you desire – MyPorter will pick up your items for Free and deliver them back to you for a small fee.

• Don’t need winter gear from May to October? Let MyPorter take care of it and bring it back when the temperature starts to drop. You can swap out the shorts and tees!
• Have extra furniture that was “gifted” from your parents sitting around? Store it until you can use it or it’s time to “gift” it to your kids!
• Want to make room for an office or bedroom but don’t want to get rid of furniture and cherished memories? Put it in temporary storage, knowing it’s only two clicks from being restored.

Atlanta Mom’s Blog recommends MyPorter, a company founded in Atlanta whose reviews are exemplary and prices are extremely competitive. We think you’ll be surprised at how economical it can be to create new space in your home. They can be reached at 844-9-PORTER or at www.myporter.com. Use coupon code “ATLMOM” to get 50% off of your first month.
Good luck cleaning!