By Holly Henbest, Realtor
In the spirit of spring cleaning, it’s a great time of year for cleaning house and simplifying your life.
Here are some stats gathered by Joshua Becker for “Becoming Minimalist” that confirm the suspicion that Americans simply own a lot of stuff, and that stuff needs to be organized.
• The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years, according to NPR.
• “The New York Times Magazine” cites that one out of every 10 Americans rent off site storage—the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades.
• Twenty-five percent of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
• The United States has upward of 50,000 storage facilities, more than five times the number of Starbucks, according to the Self Storage Association.
• Over the course of a lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours, or 153 days, searching for misplaced items. The research found we lose up to nine items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime. Phones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork top the list, according to “The Daily Mail.”
You can see the full list of statistics at becomingminimalist.com/clutter-stats.
So, join me this spring as I go through my closets, drawers, and garage and get more organized!
My best tips: If you don’t love it, don’t buy it! If you already bought it and don’t love it – get rid of it! Donate whatever you possibly can and get a refreshed feeling when your home is organized and clean.
This is also a good time of year to do some annual home maintenance/cleaning tasks:
• Replace all smoke detector batteries.
• Check your fire extinguisher to ensure that it’s charged.
• Check your hot water heater for rust marks or leaks. If there any issues, have it addressed immediately.
• Seal any natural stone products in your home.
• Wash windows.
• Clean carpets.
• Steam clean grout.
• Power wash the garage and driveway.
• Clean your ducts.
• Clean door and window tracks.
• Clean your range hood and filter.
• Clean your dryer vent.
• Check your chimney to ensure that it’s clean of debris.
While it takes some work, becoming clean and organized is the best way to enjoy your spring and prepare for summer fun.
Holly has been a Desert Ridge resident since 2000 and has been a Realtor since 2006. She is the leader of The Henbest Team with Realty One Group. Holly is ranked in the top ½ of 1 percent of Realtors in Arizona and is a certified luxury marketing expert. She has been ranked #24 in the Top 50 Realtors by the “Phoenix Business Journal” for the past several years and recognized by “So Scottsdale!” magazine as a Real Estate Superstar for 2019, 2020 and 2021. She’s also been the #1 ranked realtor at Realty One Group/North Scottsdale for the past several years. Learn more at henbest.com.
