I’ve Got Spring Fever, Do You?
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Anyone who lives in the Midwest knows that this winter was terrible. It was soooooooo cold and nasty, and it seemed like the sun rarely came out at all. Well, I’m happy to report that it’s warming up in these parts and I’ve got spring fever like you wouldn’t believe. In fact, I’ve been bursting with energy and enthusiasm for all things spring- so much so that it’s driving my husband effin’ crazy. If you heard all of the complaints, you might think that I’m running a slave labor camp or something over here…but I’m not. To me, extra work is fun. Wahooooooo!
Spring Fever On a Budget
Anyway, like I said, I’ve been on a little bit of a home improvement rampage for the past few weeks. At the same time, I’ve been
careful not to led my spring fever lead to excessive spending. We all know what a slippery slope that can be and how easy it is to blow more money than you planned when fixing up your home. But, so far, I’ve been able to find a ton of free ways to spruce up my space. What have I done so far, you ask?
Organizing Things is Free
I took my entire garage apart and reorganized it. It was so cold when we moved in that we literally just stacked random boxes up all over the garage without even going through them. So, a few Saturdays ago, I took everything out of the garage and found it a “home.” I also determined what I wanted to keep and set everything else aside for a huge-ass garage sale. See anything you want? It’s yours.
Cleaning Your Outdoor Space is Fun
I bought a new fire pit (with a gift card from Christmas) and assembled it in the back yard. I also took apart and deep-cleaned a children’s playhouse that was left in our backyard by the prior owners of this house. Of course, Greg thought I was nuts and played the “You know you’re a _____ when” game the entire time.
For example, “You know you’re OCD when you clean outside toys with a scrub brush and soap.”
Funny.
I also cleaned out our flower beds and prepared them for Spring. I can’t wait to start planting things!
Getting Rid of Shit is Super Fun
I went through my kid’s clothes and located all of the warm weather outfits in both of their sizes. We are now officially ready to wear shorts and flip-flops (and I am almost done washing socks). Once it finally warms up, I’m going to add my youngest daughter’s winter clothes to the garage sale and put my oldest daughter’s clothes away until #2 can wear them.
Our family room isn’t huge, so I also talked Greg into mounting our television above our fireplace. It made our family room seem much bigger and I was able to sell my ugly, worthless TV stand on Craigslist. And guess what, it sold like hotcakes! The stuff that people willingly buy never ceases to amaze me.
Did I Mention that Organizing Stuff is Fun?
Once I finished all of that, I completely organized and decorated my new office. Now everything has a place and is easy to find. It’s awesome! Unfortunately, I still do most of my work on the couch with my dog sitting on my arm. Old habits die hard, I guess.
So that’s what I’ve done so far, but I plan to do more when it warms up. For example, we’re going to plant a vegetable garden for the first time. My four-year-old is so excited!
Do you have spring fever? What projects have you started working on? What projects are currently planning?
Wow, looks awesome! I’m so impressed! We’ve been doing a little bit of cleaning and organizing (and listing things to sell on Ebay), but not as much as you! I totally hear you on the spring fever- we are DYING for warmer weather!!
Me too! I just looked outside and it’s snowing a little. What the hell!
Im with you Holly I like cleaning and getting rid of stuff. I especially cant wait to clean the yard up. Though tomorrow mother nature is threatening us with 45 cm of snow. Dumb bitch.
Crap! This is never going to end!
I live in the Midwest, and am SOOO with you on the happiness for Spring to be here. My wife and I started our yearly “deep cleaning” of our home a few weeks ago – at least the inside. Now that it’s getting nicer out we’re looking forward to doing some outdoors work soon. That garage needs some SERIOUS attention.
So did ours! Now its looking good side from all of my garage sale stuff.
We love a bit of spring cleaning. We’re currently selling some old stuff on Craigslist, which is nice because we’re organizing and getting a bit of cash!
Nice! I just sold my TV stand off craigslist last night. Winning!
Getting Rid of Shit is Super Fun <– this made me laugh – and not just a little bit. I'm going to use this phrase the next time we're doing some decluttering. 🙂
Ha! It is fun!
It went below zero something like 110 times this Winter (and counting). I can’t wait for Spring after such a crappy Winter. The city is re-grading our lawn along with our neighbors to handle heavier rainfall (last year 20+ storm drains failed because it was just too much water during a couple storms). I plan on taking a week off and rebuilding a two-tier retaining wall, putting in a patio area, and finally doing some landscaping for a bonfire pit area. Oh, and putting in the raised-bed vegetable gardens my wife has been asking for : )
Nice!
I totally have spring cleaning fever too and thanks for making me see I am not the only crazy one with OCD! Don’t you start to wonder like WHERE did all this stuff come from and why do I think I needed it?
I don’t know where all of my stuff comes from either. It’s crazy!
I really love arranging my things and cleaning our house. And last Sunday, I cleaned up our fish pond, it really feels good looking at our clean fish pond.
Nice! I would love to have a fish pond!
Ooohh, green grass – I’m SO jealous!!! Still a good couple of feet of snow on the ground here, and freezing cold. 🙁 I am getting the spring fever bug, though, so we’re working on the inside of the house. That office turned out great, by the way! We’re going to double our veggie garden size this year in hopes that we’ll be able to freeze/can stuff for the entire year.
Nice! This is our first veggie garden so I’m not sure what to expect, but it cant be that hard, right?
Wow is that grass I see in your backyard? You guys are lucky everything isn’t still covered in snow. I love to organize too. The best part is you can keep reorganizing and changing your systems as much as you would like. We’ve lived in our house 1.5 years and I am still changing things!
It is snowing again today though =(
I can’t speak to spring fever, but I do love organizing! I’m quite obsessed with minimizing our stuff. After the garage sales we had last year prior to our move, I’ve sold items or donated items monthly. But it love just moving things around and regrouping too- it makes space feel new and fresh. Your garage looks fantastic! And yes, I’ve also been known to obsessively scrub large plastic kids toys as well. They don’t care, but I do!!
I care too. I want to at least know that I cleaned it, even if it doesn’t look clean.
I’m so ready for Spring to truly be here! I usually enjoy fall/winter but this year it was just so blasted crazy. We’re getting ready to start working on the garden and some things outside. We have a growing collection of things we’ll be selling as well, I never understand why some people buy the stuff they do but I’ll happily let them take it. 😉
Me too. Some of it will even say FREE on it! I just want to get rid of all of it.
OMG! It looks great, but l think you’re the first person l know who likes to clean! I hate it with a passion. Organizing l don’t mind so much. The end result is always nice though. Glad the weather warmed up for you .
I think it matters more to me now that I work from home. If I have to be here all day, it needs to be clean!
I’m ready for spring, too, but it looks like you’re WAY better at cleaning an organizing than I am. Maybe it’s time for a trip to Texas, Holly? “You know you’re OCD when you head to Texas to clean Joe’s garage…..” I’d be WAY okay with that.
Ha! I should probably start a home organization business, but I don’t have time!
A positive post…it’s springtime! 🙂 While I like my manly house areas organized (basement, garage, pole barn), my wife enjoys cleaning the rest of the house and…wait for it…she enjoys ironing. I am convinced it’s just a soothing, mindless, task.
Really? I hate ironing! Oh well, to each their own. You’re lucky that your wife will iron your shirts. I’ll cook, clean, do all of the laundry, but Greg is on his own when it comes to ironing!!!
It’s still super cold in Vermont, so spring fever hasn’t hit yet…any day now!!
We’re planning a vegetable garden too!
Nice! I cannot wait. I also want to start composting this year…I need to look into that.
We’ve done composting two ways: 1. worm bucket in kitchen… we weren’t good about microwaving or freezing scraps before putting them in, so we got flies and opted out, but it’s amazing how quickly they turn scraps into dirt. Freecycle got rid of the worm bucket in almost 0 time. 2. The ultra lazy compost pile in the backyard. This is super easy. Someday we might upgrade to something fancier, but for now this works for us.
Do you think I can do a worm composting can in my back yard? Like a big trash can? What kind of worms do I buy?
We used a modified empty cat litter container (the kind that looks like a big square bucket), but a trash can might work. There’s lots of instructions online and places to mail order worms from. We used some kind of red wiggler. If you want to look it up, the keyword is vermicompost.
I love this time of year because you know the warmer weather is around the corner. I can’t say that I love to spring clean but it is a very good feeling to organize stuff around the house
Yep, it sure is!
Nice job Holly! I think it gets addictive with the organizing. Once you start it’s hard to stop! I’m not that in that mode quiet yet, and everything is pretty much the same around here, but I’m sure the urge will kick in soon. I’m ready to sell some more stuff.
I’m always selling stuff it seems!
You sound like a real dynamo, Holly. Actually, I love autumn and like winter. I love the hibernation aspect of those seasons. A few years ago, when we lived on acreage in the country, all spring and summer meant to me was extra work. Lots and lots of hard work. So while I loved the smell of newly mowed grass, I didn’t look forward to mowing it. However, now we are in town and the work is almost non-existent, so I can look forward to spring more than in the past. And I have to admit after this winter, I’m looking forward to sitting on the deck soaking up some warmth.
Ohhhh…..me too. With a giant iced tea in hand! Our new back yard is much nicer than our old one and I can’t wait to enjoy it!
I love your energy, Holly! I’ve had spring fever since January and where I live, the weather is currently teasing us. One day it’s in the upper 50s/low 60s and the next day it’s 28 and snowing. Despite that, I’ve attacked my home with gusto and actually cleaned the baseboards of my bathroom for the first time since we moved in nearly 9 years ago. I received similar “you’re insane” comments from my husband. We just installed new hardwood floors so everything is a mess right now, but I love the openness of our empty house and I have a feeling I won’t move in everything we moved out. I need to sell stuff pronto! Happy SPRING! 🙂
Time for a garage sale!!!
Spring Fever takes on a different light for me, I want to get out and work out more often. Yes cleaning is on my mind as well, but working out in the park is my priority during spring.
Sweet!
I don’t have spring fever, but I sure miss spring break.
Everyone I know is on spring break according to Facebook. Haha!
I’ve had spring fever for a while now just because this winter has been a soul-crusher. My outdoor projects are at a standstill until the weather decides to cooperate. Your house is looking great! I totally would have scrubbed down the playhouse, too 🙂
Nice! Glad I’m not alone!
Nice work on cleaning and organizing everything! If we ever get a house with a garage, I want it to look that neat. It’s hard to get in the mood for Spring when the weather can’t make up its mind, though. I am looking forward to decluttering soon.
I know, right? It snowed here a little bit this morning. What in the hell is going on?
Organizing and getting rid of stuff being fun…I gotta tell my wife that! We definitely need to do both…our small apartment is getting cramped…the baby is taking over our space! We both really need to take some time and clean up…I’m sure it’ll feel much nice to have the room. As for Spring…what Spring? Supposed to snow again tonight!
I am so glad that my kids don’t have the giant babystuff anymore- swings, pack-n-plays, bouncers. That shit drove me crazy.
Yay for Spring! I own a few properties out in the Midwest and have been reluctant to go out there to visit for said reasons above.
Now that the weather is heating up, I might need to book my next flight out there…
Enjoy!
Ugh, have fun in the Midwest. Haha! There’s plenty of corn to see.
I need to clean out our Shed and Garage. Basically do some organizing like you did but it’s still cold here in NJ. Probably will be able to do this next month. I hope!
I hope if warms up for you!!!
Definitely ready for spring. This past weekend, my wife and I went through our closets and grabbed about 100 pieces of clothing to donate (I kid you not, my MIL is always sending my wife clothes, so she amasses quite a collection). We picked out the pieces that might sell on ebay, and took the other (still nice) pieces to goodwill. It was great to get our closets cleaned out, and actually pretty fun!
I cleaned out our closets when we moved in. I had so many clothes that I don’t wear anymore!
Looks great, Holly! It always feel good when everything has it’s place … even if it doesn’t last for long! LOL! I bet your daughters were thrilled with the playhouse the previous owners left behind. I love fire pits too. It’s just so nice to hangout by one with a glass of wine. Or two. 🙂 Glad the weather is starting to warm up because I honestly don’t know how you handled it!
Me neither. I think I had Seasonal Affective Disorder for a while.
I believe you might be the Monica Gellar of this decade. We have a yard sale planned in May. Lots of work but worth it.
I can’t wait for mine. I’ve got some big-ticket items to sell!!!
Summer/fall/winter/spring, I hate cleaning out the garage! I am looking forward to Spring Break in mid April though. Some of my seniors are starting to get senioritis too. This is the time when the college bound kids find out where they are going and they start to ease up. Spring is such a nice time of the year, but we (California) had a warm (dry) winter and skipped spring and went straight to summer.
Who ever said that before? 🙂
Yes, I do have to admit that I have the case of spring fever, and also when I start cleaning I can never stop.
Great post!
Organizing stuff is not fun, but when it is organized, it’s way cool and I am glad I did it.
Getting rid of stuff, especially stuff you don’t use, and are able to sell, is WAY WAY cool.
I live in a tropical place and it is quite warming up already here. Instead, I get all exhausted with too much sun and heat, but excited anyway for the summer.
Oh man, I’m with you on the spring fever front! Our winter wasn’t bad at all, but it was still a winter and we’ve jumped back into action. We’ve had to do quite a bit of yard work over the past few years, so that’s continued, and I have big plans with respect to organizing and deep cleaning this weekend.
Started cleaning out my garage finally. It needs a good cleaning after all the snow covered shovels and brushes were thrown around everywhere. Also, plan to put some shelves up. But the cold weather is still here so I’ll just do it later 🙂
While I have spring fever, it is more a fever to sell our current home and move on to a new home. We already cleaned up everything, so now we wait. I am excited to see the grass green again though.
I hate cleaning, but I love getting rid of stuff! We do that pretty regularly, so I don’t really have to worry about spring cleaning at all. Score for living in an itty bitty apartment 🙂
I want to buy a desk and chair so badly, but the ones I want are pricey. I’d rather have nothing than something that I don’t love 🙁