TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — Lisa Calico may be the Dr. Phil of spring home improvement.

It’s not that she has a TV show, but she believes in addressing the past, and – well, letting go of it.

Especially that dadgummed 27th pair of shoes dating back to the disco days. Admit it – you have at least one pair.

Calico knows clutter management, and as owner of A Cleaning Hand, she also knows how difficult it can be to toss the old to make room for the new.

“The hardest thing is getting people to let go of their stuff, to let go of their clutter,” said Calico. “We call it ‘clutter cleanup.’”

While the idea may seem simple, she admits it’s easier said than done.

“You have to get down to what you need,” said Calico. “So many women say, ‘Oh, I might need that some day’ – purses, shoes. I say if you don’t use it in a year, throw it out.”

And doing that throughout the year – getting rid of an old pair of shoes in place of a new one, or for guys, passing along that old hammer for a new, shiny claw – eliminates the need to take a weekend in the spring and work so hard.

Calico believes just about everyone has some form of unneeded clutter. As a mother of four, she herself has other employees of her cleaning service work on her home.

“As a mom, we sometimes want to keep those poster or whatever our children made at school,” said Calico. “But we need to keep maybe the best one from the year. That’s a way to get rid of so much stuff. Take pictures of the others and store them on a computer.”

Local resident Linda House found useful ways to rid her home of unnecessary items by helping others.

“Neat and tidy I’m not,” said House, “but I do get that spring cleaning bee in my bonnet every year. I do find it hard to throw things away, but we pass along our best ‘junk’ to others who want or need it.”

She and her husband, Harry, volunteer at the Hands of Grace warehouse once a month, and take clothing and household items there for single moms, those who may have lost a home to fire, and others. They also save items through the year for the annual Republican Women rummage sale fundraiser.

“I think it’s sad when people hang onto so much stuff they’ll never use, cluttering up their homes and even renting extra storage units for it, when others are doing without,” said House.

When it comes to individual projects, she admits her method may involve as much mess as she started with.

“My husband is great with home improvement projects, so we normally do most of those ourselves,” she said. “I tend to make a bigger mess than I started with, because I pull everything out from the back of those closets and deep-clean, rather than just straighten things on the surface. I tend to move furniture also, and go after dust that’s been very comfortable all winter.”

Roy Hamilton, president of Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council Inc., is always surprised by how much he accumulates. “There’s still boxes from a move three years ago that haven’t been opened or gone through,” said Hamilton. “And art is still stored in the garage and not hung or put into storage. I think a big, spring yard sale is a good idea.”

Though it was once hard to toss the old, Hamilton now gets bored with things like shoes and suits: “I get bored with them and want new ones. I don’t keep old shoes. Same way with suits – a new one every year.”

Jolie Person can’t wait for spring after cold days of winter. She finds it difficult to get motivated before, but once spring hits, she’s ready to do yard work and inside organization.

“It is so hard to throw things away!” said Person. “When I find myself trying to save every little piece of paper or article of clothing, I usually can snap out of it by focusing on some advice that organizer Peter Walsh [of TLC’s ‘Clean Sweep’] gives the homeowners on his show.”

His advice: “If you don’t love it or need it, get rid of it.”

Person doesn’t like the idea of adding to landfills, so she stockpiles items in the corner of garage for a yard sale on a warm day. “I usually always set aside items to donate or recycle in crafty projects as well,” said Person. “Tahlequah has a Freecycle group [www.freecycle.org /group/US/Oklahoma/Tahlequah] as well that I’ve used several times.”

David and Cathy Cummings, owners of Secret Agent Cleaning Services LLC, have a motto that comes to live this time of year: “We will arrest your dirt!”

“People tend to target their storage areas such as extra bedrooms, garages, basements, etc.,” said David,” along with tasks that aren’t done every day, like windows and baseboards.”

The majority of spring cleaning doesn’t necessarily involve trash, but items that have been stored for various reasons. “Maybe we planned on using it, fixing it,” said Cathy, “but our interests and time limits change, and we just never get back to those things. The best tip of all – once an area is clean – [is] to do a little every day or so to keep it that way.”



Remodeling works

Dust, dirt and clutter are a great place to start, but some may need extended efforts – remodeling some areas, perhaps – to get a home in order. Local appliance and home improvement stores like Tahlequah Lumber Co. and Lowe’s maintain expert staff to escort you through that next big project.

Painting is a common springtime target, and deciding which color to use can play an important role in the mood of a household’s occupants, according to psychologists. A spring home improvement guide offered through media source MetroCreativeConnection says color impression can account for 60 percent of the acceptance or rejection of a product or service. It’s the first thing noticed and the last thing forgotten, according to the guide; similarly, the colors people wear or use in their homes affect mood.

“Largely, it’s not important to follow trends – they will come and go,” suggests Metro. “Rather, choose colors that reflect your likes and personality and blend these colors together into a scheme that works.”

Shades of blue typically reflect warm, calming effects as a room’s main color, and is especially useful in bathrooms and bedrooms. Reds, meanwhile, have been shown to raise blood pressure and heart rate, according to Metro, making the color popular for living rooms and dining rooms to encourage conversation. Yellow tends to be an uplifting, happy color; green is versatile, one of the most restful colors for the eye; hues of orange elicit excitement and energy, similar to red; and purple can be as restful as blues, but run less risk of seeming cold or sterile.

Metro also suggests considering work on basements, as excessive moisture in the basement and foundation walls can result in structural rot and decay, as well as high humidity levels throughout the home. In a nutshell: Prepare the surface by cleaning it, and apply two coats of waterproofing paint. Local home improvement stores can point you in the right direction for waterproofing techniques.

Flowerbeds and gardens are quite important – if not for beauty, then stress relief.

“I’ll do most [of the work] myself,” said local resident Roy Hamilton. “The hardest thing for me is preparing the front plant beds, and keeping the crabgrass from intruding. I like doing it myself because it is a type of therapy for me. It’s a stress reliever.”



Learn more

For lots more information and suggestions on spring home improvement projects, see pages 4B-7B of today’s Daily Press.