CNY Spring Clean a Time to De-Clutter

TIME TO CLEANSE AND CLEAN THE FAMILY HOME : IT’S THE CHINESE NEW YEAR SPRING CLEAN

We all know that the Chinese New Year brings with it the tradition of the Spring Clean and, as we sweep away any ill-fortune and make way for the incoming good luck we begin to look at what we have around us that is, not only dusty but no longer useful. By putting some thought into how we attack this CNY Spring Clean and freeing up our time to de-clutter, we can be sure to maintain a clean home and keep the clean living going long after the CNY festivities have ended.

Cleanse and clean the family home by following some of our tips this Chinese New Year Spring Clean Season…

LONGEVITY – recycle pre-loved items that are still full of life

Wow, how bubba grows so fast! Are you still storing those pre-loved items like stroller, crib, playpen, car seat as well as baby toys and all that tiny clothing? If, like us, these and lots more, long grown out of baby items will be the cause of lots of space wastage. Why not put them up for sale and receive cash, as someone takes them off your hands and puts these gently used items to their good use. Time to hit the classifieds, why not head over to the BubbaMama Forum  – simply register with your username and email address. Any items you wish to sell and recycle can be added to the @BubbamamaMarketplace on Instagram***. Sign up now and take part in the Bubbamama lucky draw where you can walk away with attractive prizes.

GOOD FORTUNE free up premium price space

A *survey of over 1,000 people was recently conducted and, despite us living in a country where residential unit sizes are shrinking where costs of property is rising, a staggering 74% of these people surveyed admitted to having a ‘junk room’. This ‘junk room’ is often the size of a small bedroom and stores items that have not been used for months and months out of each year!

What kind of items are we storing? Anything from old photos and keepsakes to decorations which only surface once a year. We are not suggesting you dispose of your sentimental items, in this Nostalgic Nation we could not, but why not store them out of your home and free up some of your premium price space?

These five tips can help you decide what to store out of your home:-

• Dust test – if it’s dusty, chances are you aren’t really using your belongings as frequently as you think!
• Know it or throw it – if you can’t name the majority of items in your ‘junk / store room’, chances are you are wasting space!
• Track it – stick a post-it note on the items you use less frequently in your home and mark each use over three months. Consider self-storage options for the items you want to keep but clearly seldom use.
• OneADayGiveaway – everyday give something away that you no longer use.
• Picture that – after you’ve cleared a space, capture the happy moment by taking a photograph to keep yourself motivated and maintain a less cluttered home! Share your snap on social media, like Instagram, to motivate your family and friends.

Do read about our de-clutter experience ‘coming soon’ where we talk about how we set about to de-clutter our home, free up some valuable space and head towards a life less stressed. We hope you feel inspired to de-clutter, cleanse your home and keep your premium priced property to a functional size and, once and for all, rid your home of that useless ‘junk room’!

HAPPINESS is a clean, fun and functional workspace

Jazzing up your work space is sure to bring happiness, after this Chinese New Year head back to work with a fun and functional workspace that is a clean office to think clearly. A de-cluttered workspace that is a bright and fun environment is set to bid farewell to any boring and dull desks. Just three items your workspace and you need****:-

• Did you know your keyboard contains 70% more bacteria than a toilet seat!? Time to clean up using a mini vacuum, try the Valore mini vacuum cleaner that is exclusive to Challenger.
• Shred all unwanted documents instead of keeping them on your cluttered desk, plug in this Valore Portable Cross-Cut Paper Shredder is specially designed to be small enough to not add to your desk clutter.
• A tablet stand and speaker in one – yes, now you can stop straining your neck and listen to your creative inspiring tunes with this
• Valore vLight Bluetooth Speaker.

WEALTH is health – there is nothing more valuable than your health

Staying healthy and keeping medications, and home remedies to hand is super important. Spring Clean your medicine and first aid cabinet to be sure all contents are still within their ‘use-by’ date and remember to dispose responsibly of all bottles, packets and liquids which are past their ‘best’. **With the help of our friendly Pharmacist at Watsons, here are five tips to de-cluttering and keeping your medications safe:-

• Some medications will need to be stored in the refrigerator. This will be clearly stated on the packet/label, if in doubt check with your Pharmacist or GP and dispose of these where necessary.
• Once opened, some medications only remain active for a number of days or weeks. This will be clearly stated on the packet/label, again, if in doubt check with your Pharmacist or GP and dispose of these where necessary.
• Antibiotics, when prescribed, are to be completed as a full course. There should be no remaining medication after the full course is completed, if you find antibiotics in your medicine cabinet then do dispose of these responsibly.
• Medication given by your GP should only ever be used for the patient named. Considering such things as age and weight, the medication may not be safe to transfer to another family member. Store any such medications clearly labeled with the patients name on it.
• The best way to tell if a medicine is still active is to check the color and smell, if it looks bad and smells bad it more than likely is very bad! Dispose of all these such medications responsibly.

*Recent survey commissioned in October 2014 by Extra Space Self Storage. 1,000 representatives of the Singapore population aged 25-65 years old responded.  For information on locations and pricing, visit Extra Space.

**We would like to thank our Pharmacist expert at Watsons for help in de-cluttering and cleaning out our medicine/first aid cabinet.

***For more information about selling your pre-loved items on the BubbaMama Forum or BubbaMamaMarketplace, please email bmmarketplace@bubbamama.com

****Innovative lifestyle tech products by Valore are Challenger’s private brand and are available at all Challenger stores island wide.