053. Where to Start with Spring Organizing: The Busy Mom’s Menu for the Most Impactful Results

April is the 'turnaround' month, turning us fully into Spring! You’re ready to feel more organized, but with a busy schedule, work deadlines, and family life in full swing, you might be wondering:
Where should I even start with spring organizing?

In this episode I share a realistic, judgment-free "Spring Organizing Menu"—a list of high-impact areas in your home that will make the biggest difference right now, in real life.

You don’t have to organize everything. Just pick one space from this menu that excites you, relieves stress, or simply makes your day easier. I walk you through each category with practical advice, mindset shifts, and sustainable organizing tips that save you time, energy, and money.

🧭 What You'll Learn:

• Where to start organizing for the most impact this spring
• How to choose a project based on your energy and time
• The value of organizing in “zones” in garages, the pantry, and seasonal decor
• Simple sustainability tips woven into every area

🗂 Spring Organizing Menu Includes:

1. Garage – prioritize access to bikes, tools, and outdoor gear
2. Seasonal Decor Storage – reduce clutter & prep for future holidays
3. Travel Gear Closet – get ready for spring break or summer trips
4. Pantry and Spice Drawer – maximize impact in your daily routine
5. Medications – improve safety and refresh your inventory
6. Skincare & Cosmetics – lighten your daily load and toss expired items
7. Clothing – swap winter for spring and assess what truly serves you

🔄 Mentioned Episodes & Links:

• 🎧 Ep. 40 – CLEAR5 Framework: 5 Steps to Declutter & Organize
• 🎧 Ep. 13 – Speed Decluttering Your Clothes With No Risk
• 🚲 Swiveling Bike Rack Zee Recommends (Amazon)
• 💊 FDA Drug Flush List

Connect with me:

You can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fireflybridgeorganizing
Here's my website: https://fireflybridge.com

Call or text me: 305-563-2292

Email me: zeenat@fireflybridge.com

Transcript

Today, we’re going to talk about WHAT you should organize in your home for beautiful living this month. In the last episode, we talked about HOW to do Spring decluttering? But WHERE should you start? What room or area would a professional organizer recommend you start with Spring Organizing to have the biggest impact on your home and your life right now in April? Well, stick around to find out.
Hey, welcome to Organizing for Beautiful Living, the podcast for working moms and entrepreneur moms that provides sustainable organizing tips for your home, work and life.

I’m Zee Siman, Professional Organizer and Productivity Consultant, and I’m here to share simple ideas that don’t take a lot of time so you can love your home, excel at work, and have the time to enjoy both without stress or overwhelm. 

Ready to get beautifully organized? Let’s make it happen!

April is the month when I imagine everything turning over. Like we’ve finally turned from Winter to Spring. I think very visually, so I literally see the word April doing a 360 flip in my mind!
When we were living up North, we lived in a really wooded neighborhood, and we had a huge oak tree in the, basically, the ditch that ran on one side of our driveway. It was for stormwater to drain away. This ditch ran almost the entire length of the driveway, getting deeper the closer to the street that you got, probably about 2 feet deep at that point. For the kids, it was sort of this amazing space to explore. There were stones along the bottom, the huge oak tree, a couple of big boulders. And in the Fall, it was covered with oak leaves that fell from the tree. But in April? Daffodils that one of the previous owners had planted would poke up willy-nilly in there, through all the leftover leaves. And with all the moisture, these huge mushrooms would sprout at the base of the oak tree! I was always freaked out by those mushrooms! They were huge!
This complete turnaround from a sort-of messy forest-y floor to a delight of daffodils and mushrooms is what I think of April!
Down here in Miami, April is the month where we can really start enjoying the pool - the non-heated pools, at least. The water’s still kind of cold through March. And the rainy season doesn’t officially start until May, so April is the turnaround month for me down here, too! The pool, the beach, that becomes a bit more frequent.
I imagine everything flipping over in April. It’s like, if you had the traditional mattresses on your beds, then you’d flip them over in April.
So it feels right that April is the month when we do a lot of Spring organizing - officially saying goodbye to Winter, and getting ready for the warmer months.
So I’m going to share a list of spaces in your home that I consider really worthwhile to organize in the Spring. Now, these aren’t “musts.” They’re more like high-impact opportunities. You don’t need to do all of them. In fact, please don’t try to do all of them.
Think of this as a menu at a restaurant, not a to-do list. 
This is what we call adjusting your mindset, ok? I want you to pick one space from the menu that I’m going to read off to you to focus on. Just one. Pick the one that, when you think about it being organized, you feel a little excited, or you think it’ll be satisfying to have it done. Or just the one that’s been bugging you every time you walk past it, and you want some relief.
Or think about what turns over for you in April. Do you feel like over the next few months you’ll be spending more time in the garden? The pool? Biking? Traveling? Going out to eat? Entertaining at home? Those are the cues that are going to tell you which area you might want to pick first.
Then, be honest about your time, energy and the amount of support you’ll have to do this. We talked in the last episode about being realistic. So, if this month is really busy for you and your family, somebody’s traveling or there are lots of school events happening, or you have a big work deliverable, then maybe the garage is not the spot you want to start, right?
We’re going to be practical, and totally judgment-free.
Okay. So these are some areas that I find bring big relief in the Spring when they’re organized. Either because they affect your daily routine, they reduce visual clutter, or free up mental energy.
As I go through the list, I want you to mentally bookmark the one that gives you that little spark, whether it’s excitement or just a sigh of relief.
All right. Number 1 is The Garage
Like I said, for us, the pool and the beach are more frequent activities in the warmer months, so I like to pull those things forward. 
Think about what you want to pull forward. What do you want to have totally easy access to? Do you want all your bikes available, so it’s not a production of squeezing 2 other bikes past the car in the garage, and trying not to scratch the car door, just to grab a couple of bikes after school for an unplanned ride?
Or do you want your gardening tools front-and-center so that you can have a spot to drop them back in quickly after planting some annuals or snipping some herbs to use for dinner?
Now, think about how much time and energy investment you want to make here, and the results you want. Where do they intersect? What compromises are you willing to make?
This is the essence of Organizing for Beautiful Living.
We organize for social living. We organize not just so our garages and our homes are neat and tidy, but so that we reduce the daily mental load that might get in the way of what we really want to do, and that gets in the way of being connected to the people and the environment around us.
And the way I recommend for you to easily do that organizing is using my CLEAR5 Framework.
You can go back and take a quick listen to Episode 40 where I talk about the 5 steps of the CLEAR5 Framework to declutter and organize.
In the case of your garage right now in the Spring, the first thing you’re going to do is the first step of the CLEAR5 Framework: Clarify.
This is where you think about how much time and energy you have, and the results that you want, and where those 2 things intersect, and what compromises you’re willing to make to reach your end goal - not a tidy garage, but a garage that allows beautiful living to happen easily for you.
Now, it’s a space where you’re not tripping over boxes to get to your child’s bike, where the thought of getting your helmet from that shelf over there in the corner isn’t a chore, but an easy almost non-thought.
OK, so, if you only have an hour to invest in organizing, you’re not going to be able to declutter, clean and organize everything in your garage! So, your plan, then, would be to rearrange only the things you need to so that your bikes are easy to grab. Or your gardening tools. Or your beach toys.
Like, literally, it’s ok to just swap spots. Push the Christmas decoration bins, the snow shovels, the winter car-care stuff to the back of the garage, and replace them with your bikes.
Or buy some wall-hanging bike racks. I like the kinds that swivel to the side. I’ll add a link to one I like in the show notes.
So you’re clear with yourself that you haven’t decluttered anything. But to remove that mental load that builds up when you own Stuff, especially when we’re not sure what Stuff exactly is in each of these bins and boxes that you have in the garage, or in the dark corners of the garage, you will, at some point, want to declutter completely.
But right now, you’re consciously dedicating the time you have available to just make the changes that you need to.
Now if you DO have more time, like a whole weekend, then follow the CLEAR5 Framework, and declutter away! Organize beautifully! Get your garage to be a place that supports how you live, not just a storage space for your junk, right?
Think about zones in your garage: sports gear in one section, gardening in another, you might have zones for tools, seasonal decorations, and for collecting donations for the week, for example.
For your garage, the Sustainability Tip I have for you is to use what you have: buckets, cardboard boxes, old bins. Label each of these things clearly, if you can’t see what’s inside them. Don’t buy new until you know what you truly need.
All right Number 2 is Seasonal Décor Storage
It’s time to put away winter and prep for spring. This is a great moment to toss broken or unloved decorations and streamline your setup for next year.
In our culture here in the West, here’s what often happens:
When the kids are young, we accumulate. I wanted for my kids’ childhoods to feel magical, so I decorated for every season, every holiday, every birthday, and every occasion.
We quickly had multiple bins of decorations for each major holiday, like 5 Christmas bins, 4 Halloween bins, things like that.
And without really recognizing it, we had collected enough stuff to decorate every room in the house, and we had to make room to keep all of those bins.
And every holiday, there was the excitement of taking out all those decorations, but then afterwards, we had to put them all away again. Over and over again.
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, as long as it brings you all joy to do that.
And as long as you have the space to keep all those seasonal decorations in your house.
But often, over the years, you lose track of everything that you have in those bins. You get new things and get rid of older things. And then, when you put stuff away, it doesn’t always fit where it was before, and it gets a little out of hand.
So during this Spring turnover month of April, getting control over your seasonal decor collection is a great idea.
Take stock of where you are in your life right now. If you’re like I was, and you want magic for your kids, does it have to be in every room? Do you need the volume of decorations that you’ve accumulated for each holiday or occasion?
Could you maybe complement the bought decorations with things that you and the kids make for the holidays? Or can you use natural decorations from your own garden instead of buying fake greenery?
Well, if so, then you can really take a look at reducing the number of bins you keep. 
Again, it’s not really about the number of bins, is it? It’s about making your life easier, taking pleasure in both decorating and putting the decorations away so that you can live a beautiful life in your home.
And to make that possible, you really want it easy to take out the decorations you want quickly, and then be able to put them away easily afterwards. That’s the goal.
So if seasonal decorations is the area you want to organize, follow the CLEAR5 Framework to create some structure around the process. There’s definitely the chance that seasonal decorations might trip you up a bit here, so make sure you allow time for those decisions.
And the Sustainability Tip I have for you here is to reuse packaging materials from decorations you buy, and to make sure that you donate what you no longer love instead of tossing it all in the trash. You can post on your buy nothing group, check with local organizations if they would like fresh seasonal decorations, even your kids’ preschool might like some new stuff.
Number 3 is your Travel Gear, suitcases and accessories closet.
This area is really often forgotten, but it’s so satisfying to organize. And honestly, this area just typically doesn’t take too long to go through. You’re also less likely to run into sentimental stuff in this category. With spring break or summer travel coming up, it’s the perfect time to look into this.
Now a lot of moms who travel often for work tend to have a toiletry bag always packed and they keep it specifically for work travel. Check and refresh your travel-sized toiletries in that bag. 
Take a good look at your suitcases. Can they handle one more trip? Are the wheels still rolling smoothly? What about the backpacks that your kids will take on the plane with them? Are the zippers in good condition? 
How about travel accessories, like neck pillows and headphones? Are they still working?
Other travel accessories that you might want to pull together here is sunscreen - make sure you toss old sunscreen and replace it - and make sure your chargers, travel documents, and motion sickness medication is in one place.
My Sustainability Tip here is to fill any gently used bags that you’re considering getting rid of with some basic toiletries and give them to shelters.
Number 4 is the Pantry and Spice Drawer
This is one of my favorite projects. It’s impactful, and it gets used every single day.
And as I already mentioned, you really want to make sure you define what you can do with the time you have available before you just dive into emptying out your pantry.
So if you have a full day to spend on this, then you can think about decanting, labeling and all of that.
If you have more limited time available, then just consider this a refresh rather than a full-blown reorganization.
At minimum, you want to get rid of any expired food, or anything you just know you’re not going to eat.
It would also help to create some groupings or zones, depending on how big your pantry is.
Think of groupings like breakfast foods, grains, baking goods, pastas, and condiments, those are just examples.
Also think about which foods you want to place so your kids can reach them by themselves.
Breakfast cereals? Crackers? This might be a zone of its own - the kids’ zone, right?
So group like with like, and you can use baskets or bins that you already have to start this process, wipe down the shelves, toss anything that’s expired. 
All right. The Sustainability Tip here is to repurpose jars or old containers if you’re decanting something you haven’t decanted before. There is no need to buy fancy containers on day one. Once you live with it for a few weeks, you’ll know whether the decanting is something that you really want to keep up with or not. If so, then you might want to buy matching containers for those items, or you might stick with the old jars. But if you don’t want to keep decanting, then at least you haven’t spent a bunch of money up front on containers that you’re not going to use again.
Number 5 is Medications
This is a really good small organizing project. It’s also a safety and sanity win for me. 
You’ll start by checking expiration dates, and making sure you properly dispose of what is no longer safe to keep.
Then, you might think about organizing by type, like gastro medications in one section, and cold and flu in another, pain relievers in another, that kind of thing.
You could also organize by user, if one or more people in your family regularly take specific medications or supplements.
Children’s medications can be in a separate bin from the adult medications to avoid any confusion.
My sustainability and safety tip for you here is if you have expired or unused medications that you need to get rid of, the best way to do that is through drug take-back or mail-back programs, where the medications are collected and they’re safely incinerated. You can check with your local pharmacy, because some pharmacies have local drug drop-off bins right in the pharmacy, or they could have mail-in envelopes for you. 
And if you don’t have a take back or mail back option near you, then check the FDA Flush List for medications that are considered so dangerous that you shouldn’t throw them in the trash. Those are certain opioids and a couple of other non-opioids that are considered extremely dangerous either because they can be misused, abused, or just one dose could be fatal. And I’ll link that list FDA Flush List for you in the show notes.
Otherwise, if there’s no drug take-back or mail-back program for you, and the drug is not on the FDA flush list, then put the expired or unused medications in a zip-top baggie, mix them in with dirt, coffee grounds or cat litter to make them uninteresting to kids, pets, or anyone digging through the trash, seal the baggie and throw it out it in the trash.
Number 6 is your Skincare and Cosmetics.
This is a great “feel-good” organizing project, but the amount of time this could take will depend on how much you own! 
Spring is a good time to revisit what you’re using on your skin. Think about lightening up on the layers of stuff you put on your face, and using products that work with the climate in your area. You might want to switch up the type or brand of sunscreen you’re using - I sometimes do when it gets really humid here in Miami - and always make sure your sunscreen hasn’t expired.
Of course you’re going to toss your expired makeup (yes, that lipstick from 2015. It’s got to go).
Another good idea is to group items by daily use vs occasional use. Just doing this - separating your daily use stuff from the stuff you that only use once in a while, will save you time later on when you refresh this area again. The stuff that you use only occasionally tends to stay in your make-up drawers for a much longer amount of time, right? So when it comes to checking what’s expired, you can check those first, since you’re likely to go through your daily use stuff faster, and it’ll have less of a chance to expire before you use up the container.
If you don’t have the time or energy to check each and every container for expiration right now, then at least separate your daily use stuff from your occasional-use stuff.
Then check the expirations on your daily use skincare, and replace what you need.
As you start using the other stuff later on, you can check their expiration dates then. 
And as you’re separating your skincare, just go ahead and toss the stuff that you’ve already opened, but you know for sure you’re not going to use again. There’s no need to keep it, having it take up valuable space for nothing.
And if you’ve got something that you’ve never opened, and it’s not expired yet, but you know you won’t use it - things like samples that you picked up - then ask a friend or a family member if maybe they might like them. Just doing that could clear up some of the clutter that tends to creep into our skincare items.
A simple Sustainability Tip for skincare and cosmetics is to use food storage containers from the kitchen, minus their lids, to group products if you don’t have enough trays or drawer dividers right now.
And the last category in the Spring organizing menu today is your Clothing.
I think this one is one you would think of anyway as the seasons change. But doing it right now is a great opportunity to take inventory of what’s in your closet.
You might simply do a seasonal swap-out - like move your winter stuff to the least accessible areas of your closet, and move the warmer-weather stuff front-and-center.
Maybe swap out the drawers where your sweaters are, move them to lower drawers or to bins on the top shelf of your closet, and put your swim gear, or light-weight workout gear in those drawers that are easier to get to.
Just a simple trade of location might be all you need to do.
But if you haven’t taken stock of your wardrobe in a while, as you’re moving your winter stuff, just think about each piece. Is it something you’ll wear again next year? What kind of shape is it in? Did you wear it at all during the winter? Why not? 
What doesn’t really fit anymore or what doesn’t feel good to wear anymore?
And ask yourself the same questions as you pull forward your warm-weather clothes, right? Because you might have great memories of a swimsuit or a sundress that you loved wearing last year, but a year later, the pieces may have lost some of their elasticity, so the stretchiness may be different, or your body may have changed. So it’s worth it to choose what’s staying in your closet and what isn’t. 
You can listen to Episode 13, Speed Decluttering your Clothes With No Risk, if you’d like to know how to go through your clothes quickly without regretting a decision you make about letting something go, or choosing to keep it. I’ll link that episode right in the show notes, too.
So now that you’ve heard the list, let’s figure out where to begin.
So a sk yourself:
• Which of these spaces would make my day-to-day life easier?
• Which one do I walk by and sigh at… every single day?
• What do I have the time and energy for this week?
Even if all you manage is the spice drawer, that’s amazing.
Don’t underestimate the power of momentum. Progress beats perfection every time!
Remember that this doesn’t have to be a 6-hour project.
You can try just one drawer per day, or 15-minute organizing bursts, or one small “reset” each week.
And here’s a reminder to use what you have before you shop. A lot of organizing systems fail because we buy containers before we’ve sorted and decided what to get rid of. So, work with what’s already in your home first.
Okay, let’s review.
Today we talked about where to start with spring organizing.
I listed a menu of 7 worthwhile areas to consider, and we reminded ourselves that we don’t have to do it all. In fact, you should choose just one to start with.
Focus on choosing what fits your energy and your life right now, ok?
You don’t need a brand-new organizing system. You don’t need matching bins. You just need to start somewhere and I think you’ll find that getting one area organized will make this turnover month feel fresh, like you’re ready for warmer weather, and ready to enjoy it with your family and your friends.
So hey, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a 5-star review and maybe a quick written review. My goal is to share what I know about organizing with other working moms so they’re not stressed about their clutter anymore, but they can organize for beautiful living in their homes, and when you leave a review, they’re more likely to find the podcast. 
So I thank you so much for listening, and for leaving a review. I really appreciate it.
I hope you enjoy your week, and I’ll see you on the next episode.