Category: Home Clean Out

It seems like there is never a spare moment to sit down and truly organize the stuff that comes into your life.  As a result, you probably have a stack of unread mail if you were even lucky enough to have found the time to pick up the mail. Since all of our time is spent on the go, whether it be dashing out the door for work or rushing to find a dining or entertainment spot, our houses slowly but surely become more and more littered with junk. Either your home is covered in unneeded things, or there is a chance that it is simply chock full of essential items scattered throughout the place. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of time and the lack of organization. Simple organization tips can take a small cramped space and make it look nice and cozy; not like a bomb went off in it. We are here to provide you with a few quick recommendations to improve your organization, starting with the bedroom.

Root Problem

The first and most crucial step when looking to clean up a bedroom is to address the friction points: the factors of why it is such a mess in the first place. Ask yourself, Is it a result of there not being enough storage space (i.e. lack of closets and hangers) or is it clothing not being put away correctly. And perhaps, you have too much stuff and need to rent a dumpster to haul it away. When looking for a dumpster there is no better way to start your search than with Dumpster Market. Identify the root cause of the messy room and then attempt to address the issue. 

Scale

Now that you have figured out the root problem, it is now time to consider the size of the project. Is it a straightforward fix of taking an extra minute at the end of the day to fold your clothes and put them away correctly? Do you need to invest in a small laundry hamper so that the dirty clothing can find a different place other than space under your bed?  Will a reorganization of the closet fulfill the problem? On the other hand, maybe it is not as simple of a solution, and a little bit of cash will be required to accomplish the cleanup goal. We recommend looking at some cost-effective shelving solutions before immediately jumping towards full-scale room makeovers. Perhaps a walk-in closet solves the problem.

Walk-in Closet

Building a walk-in closet is not the cheapest option, but it will probably provide the most additional space. So if you are willing to invest a little money into cleaning up the bedroom, this might be the perfect solution for you. If you decide to make your own walk-in closet, you will need to make sure that you have figured out the exact dimensions for space and how it will be organized. It is only after carefully measuring the area and figuring out the design that you should begin tearing down or building that wall. 

Solution

Like most things in life, there is no perfect solution that can solve each person’s individual problems. Every bedroom decluttering is slightly different.  As mentioned above some need a quick fix, taking some time to put things away correctly, while others might want to rearrange the room to gain more space. In some cases, there might not be enough space, and altering the bedroom to have additional closets and drawers might be the appropriate action. There is no shortage of ways to declutter a room. It ultimately comes down to how much time and effort you want to spend addressing the issue and whether or not you are willing to dig into your savings to help achieve the solution.

Nobody likes cleaning up and throwing out excess items that we have lying around the house. Instead, it is more common to chuck the unwanted thing into a nearby closet and shut the door on the mess. After all, out of mind out of sight.  Right? Wrong, just because it is not out in the open doesn’t mean that the issue has been resolved. This article will briefly touch on five key considerations to make when cleaning out an attic to ensure that the coast is really clear.

1) Scale

The first thing that must be considered is the size of the project. In theory, there are two types of cleanup projects; full-clean and semi-clean. A full cleaning involves both removing household junk from the attic as well as scrubbing down the empty room. The more common option is a ‘semi-clean’ which entails either scrubbing around the stuff or reorganizing items and seldom means more than a garbage bag full of junk is removed from the house. Before doing anything else, it is vital to understand the scale of the project. This allows you to know how best to allocate your time and plan for removals.

2) What to Keep

For those of you who are interested in cleaning up some extra junk lying around the attic, the next thing to consider is what items to keep. This can be a challenging or a straightforward task depending on whether or not you’re a minimalist or a hoarder. There is no definitive way to know what to keep and what to toss other than comparing the usage rate for each item. While this would be the most effective solution, it does not factor in sentimental value, i.e., that hand-me-down couch that grandma gave you.  As a rule of thumb, anything that is buried deep in the attic or completely covered in dust should be the first to get tossed. With that being said, make sure to at least keep a few odds and ends for your Christmas and Halloween dress-up parties that you host. If possible, put what you want to keep in piles outside the attic space so that you can proceed with cleaning.

3) Cleaning

The best way to tackle cleaning an attic is by taking everything off the floors. The reason that the floor needs to be empty is so that you can access the bare bones of the room; is there moisture or mold on the ground? Is that mound of ants an infestation or from leftover food not getting thrown out?  Start with a dust rag wiped across the windows sills and any trim work. The dust settles to the floor for the next step. The best way to get a spotless floor is to sweep and then damp mop the floor. Allow the floor to thoroughly dry by opening any windows and running fans to circulate some air. Only once all of that is done should you wipe down the shelves, tables, and furniture in the attic. Now that the place is clean and empty (remember all of the stuff was moved out of the room to do the cleaning), you can assess the layout of the room. The majority of you probably don’t want to alter the current design and just wanted to clean it up a little. However, with the place being empty, it enables you to have the ability to adjust the layout to maximize airflow and access.

4) Purchasing Behavior

While cleaning up can be a tedious and sometimes downright annoying thing to do, it is directly correlated with how and what you purchase over time.  After all, the room doesn’t fill itself. In addition to removing that household junk or cleaning the attic, take some time to consider how you spend your money. Regardless of if you buy too many things or hold onto the stuff for too long, the result can be the same cramped attic. To combat this problem, we recommend that you make a mental note of (or write down) how much stuff is already laying around on the floor and shoved into the closets. 

5) What to Do With Unwanted & Unused Stuff

There are a few options to consider when wanting to haul away trash and unwanted items from the attic cleanup. The first is to order a dumpster and fill it up with the broken couches, nerf guns and any consistently unused items. Dumpsters are great for handling large items, i.e., tables and chairs, and they are convenient and can come at an affordable cost. The next option is to try and offload anything deemed undesirable or outgrown to neighbors or cousins. This allows you to clear up some free space while having the option to visit your memories stored in another person’s home. Lastly, there is always the option to host a yard sale in hopes that you can relieve yourself from the junk and make a buck or two along the way.

Every home is slightly different, and there is no one right way to declutter a room or cleanup an attic. Since each attic cleaning is up to the discretion of the homeowner, it is essential to assess the situation and your desired outcome before diving into it. It does not matter if you only dust a few bugs from under the table or thoroughly decluttered the whole attic; either way, your home is that much cleaner.

Determining when to rent a dumpster and when to haul your own trash is a difficult decision. This article will quickly highlight the benefits of both taking out the trash and using a roll-off dumpster. Scroll down to see a bullet point list of pros and cons in regards to ordering a dumpster compared to taking care of it yourself.

Using a Dumpster

Pros:

• Can handle a greater volume of junk or debris
• Can easily remove larger items i.e. coffee tables and worn-out couches
• Can handle a construction waste and debris that you probably don’t want in your car
• The hauling company disposes of the junk

Cons:

• It costs money for the service people to drop off and collect the container
• It can take up space in your driveway and may require a permit

Hauling Your Own Waste

Pros:

• Doing it yourself enables you to choose where to toss that unwanted stuff of yours
• You save yourself the money that a dumpster rental costs
• You don’t have a dumpster sitting on the curb or in your driveway

Cons:

• Cannot remove large amounts of stuff easily
• Some large items can’t be left out at the curb for residential trash pickup
• It is hard to fit larger items into a car

There is no right or wrong solution for how to handle your waste. Generally speaking, if there is construction waste involved or you are looking to offload a decent amount of items, then you should consider using a rental container. For merely wanting to get rid of a few pesky things around the house doing it yourself is probably the smarter option. It comes down to three primary considerations. First, consider the size and quantity of the objects that you need to remove. Second, factor in the material type that you are dealing with. Lastly, consider the proximity to the closest waste station and your hauling time. When looking for a cheap and affordable roll-off container, look no further than Dumpster Market! 

Have you ever looked around your place and thought “what a mess”? Not the random pizza boxes and last week’s laundry laying on the floor.  We are talking about the closet and garage chock-full of untouched stuff. It makes sense… after all, we are told by society that we must have the next best thing. Whether this stems from millennials regularly ordering stuff from Amazon or the occasional hoarder who can’t seem to throw things away, people come with baggage. That is well and good until you have to move. Moving is one of those rare opportunities where you get to make a decision on what you want to keep versus what you need to keep. Let’s consider the process and implications of moving from a college room or a home.

In college, there are traditionally two lifestyles; living on-campus or renting an apartment off-campus. Generally speaking, college students living on-campus tend to live in dorm rooms and have less space to grow their stuff. This leads them to have fewer large objects, i.e., couches, coffee tables, dressers. While there is nothing wrong with living in confined spaces, it usually does not require a rental dumpster to complete the move. With that being said, there are still some universities that provide year round communal dumpster rental services for the dorms to share. For example, at my college, every on-campus apartment complex had at least one, if not two, dumpsters where the apartment residents could throw away their unwanted items. These were very helpful in keeping the apartment clean when a refrigerator stopped working or a mattress was upgraded. However, more often they were used at the end of the year during move out day. The last month of school is always an interesting period of time. All of the classes are ramping up with last minute tests and presentations, and everyone is trying to figure out how to handle their extra stuff accumulated over the school year. In my experience, it is a tradition for upperclassmen to try and reduce the volume of things that they are taking home with them and instead resell most of their items. This usually is how college students can get some spare cash for that next calculus textbook or that couch to complete next year’s apartment.  The items that have had hard use, often do not make it into the barter system and land in the dumpster instead of the dorm.

Off-campus college life can be an entirely different ball game. There is some financial independence, usually a kitchen facility, and tons of space to be filled.  Young adults also feel free from the strict dorm rules. These places tend to be more susceptible to incurring furniture damage. Unlike the on-campus living which might have dumpsters provided by the college, off-campus students are responsible for maintenance and upkeep of their properties. This can be a challenge at times and leads to landlords becoming disappointed in their tenants. There was a recent Wisconsin article that addressed this issue, claiming that students are doing a worse and worse job of cleaning up after themselves. They have no problem with students having fun or buying furniture for the rooms, however they draw the line when their tenants leave behind mountains of trash. For them, it shows no respect for the property that the student was fortunate to live in. Since living off-campus does not have a dumpster readily available for them, tenants will have to take ownership of the situation and order one themselves. This is where we can help you guys out. Our one of a kind online dumpster market ensures that you can order the rental dumpster that you can afford in minutes. Simply type your address into dumpstermarket.com and all of the available dumpster options and pricing will appear on your screen.

College is not the only place where people move in and out of spaces.  While college moving is stressful due to the lack of preparation and the general leave it behind attitude, it is nothing compared to the difficulties that come with consolidating a life’s worth of materials.  Moving from one house to another always provides its own challenges. There is a variety of reasons why a person might want to leave their current place of residence; a new job, new roommate, desire to have a change in scenery, or need to downsize. Regardless of what the reason might be, at the end of the day, it all comes down to two simple questions: how much stuff can my new place hold? And what do I need to take with me?  The questions are simple, and the process of sorting belongings can be broken into steps. Make piles of keep, give away, and dispose. Next, box and bag the items to be saved and moved to the new home. Then load up your car and arrange transport to a Goodwill, Salvation Army or Veteran’s donation site. The last pile contains the items for the landfill. This is where rental dumpsters come into play. Through renting a roll-off dumpster at the first home, you will be able to save yourself time and money of packing everything up and loading it into extra U-haul trucks only to have to throw it all away at the new home.  Our online dumpster marketplace can help you calculate the size of container that you need, when you need it, and for the price you are able to pay. At the end of the day regardless of if you are switching home locations or moving into a different college apartment, make sure that you know that dumpster companies are here to help you out when the time comes.

As the leaves begin to color the trees green and the plants begin to emerge from the ground, it means only one thing; spring is upon us. You can feel renewed energy in the air that comes with  the warm weather and sunny skies. While spring bestows many great features such as the NHL and NBA sport’s playoffs, it also forces us to do the dreaded spring cleaning. A deep cleaning is when you look at all of those “why not” purchasings and just ask yourself “why”.  Spring cleaning starts with a good idea and swiftly turns into a pain in the back. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The first step to putting your household in order is to come up with a game plan. Too often people have the urge to wipe down the house and throw everything away, but they don’t do it in a purposeful way. We recommend that you list out all of the household spring tidying chores that need to get done and prioritize them. This is a helpful step regardless of if you are a veteran of the cleaning season or a new homeowner. If you are still stuck on what to do for a deep cleaning then check out this handy spring cleaning checklist. It is important to remember that a single person shouldn’t be tasked with completing all of the chores.  Make it a game of roulette wen you divvy up the to-do’s among all of the members of the household. Another division of duties is to assign everyone a room to prim at their own schedule, or allot certain hours on the weekends to collective work on cleaning the house.

Often times people get caught up on the notion that spring cleaning is about decluttering and hauling junk away from your garage. While this is not wrong, it is only part of the orderly process. The other portion of the cleaning is in the name itself, “cleaning”, as in actually wiping down those kitchen counters and mopping the floors. We encourage you to take your time when cleaning and to not do a half-hearted job.  Try listening to the radio or a podcast to pass the time. When tidying up your kitchen make sure to sweep the floors and mop them to ensure that they look their best. Perhaps put down a fresh coat of protective varnish on hard surfaces once a year. Not only should you wipe the counters but also run a cloth over the cabinet surfaces while you check on the plates, silverware, and glasses. Plastic containers might need to be sorted and weeded out from overcrowded shelves. Get a sponge and put some elbow grease into cleaning up the stove top as you remove all of the gradoo that has accumulated from those delicious meals you made this year.

Similar to kitchens, make sure to evaluate each room based on the amount of junk in the room and the amount of dirt/dust that is spread throughout it. We recommend that you take everything out of the room and tackle the floors first, whether that means vacuuming the carpet or sweeping the hardwood. It is often times easier to push the furniture out of the way prior to the floor cleaning. This gives you a chance to decide whether or not you want everything in the room, ie toss out the junk, or if you want to have a different furniture arrangement for the room. With an empty or semi-empty room we recommend that you really do a good job wiping down all of those tough to reach sports or overlooked spot i.e., window trimming, legs of furniture, bookcase shelves and even fireplace mantles.

And the last room on your list is the garage or shed in which years worth of forgotten items might be stored.  The same idea of starting with a clean slate works here. Remove your car and as many boxes, old sport’s equipment, paint cans, and tools as possible from the space.  Sweep the cobwebs off the wall and then the floors. If you can, hose it down to get rid of any remaining cobwebs, spring pollen, and general dirt that might be laying around. Now is the time to discard home building materials that are no longer needed.  Before you pile the items back in the storage area, consider those shelving and organizational tools that you have seen at the DIY stores. Draw up a plan, then layer the items back into their defined and spruced-up place.