Those beautiful old Victorian and Craftsman homes along Division Street West weren't built with modern HVAC systems in mind, which means Minnesota's humid summers can leave Faribault houses feeling stuffy and dust-heavy. Add in the cottonwood fluff that blankets everything in late spring and the tracked-in farmland soil that's just part of life this close to agricultural country, and you've got homes that accumulate grime faster than you'd expect. The problem gets worse when clutter piles up on surfaces, trapping that dust and making it nearly impossible to actually clean thoroughly. Before you can tackle the deep clean your century-old hardwood floors and original woodwork deserve, you need a clear field to work with.

Here's why decluttering first isn't just helpful—it's essential. When you try to clean around stacks of mail, countertop appliances, and miscellaneous items, you're really just moving dirt from one spot to another. Professional cleaners know that surfaces need to be completely clear to sanitize properly, and baseboards can't be scrubbed if they're blocked by storage bins. The decluttering process itself also reveals problem areas you might have missed: water stains hiding behind bathroom toiletries, dust buildup under that pile of magazines, or the actual condition of your floors once everything's removed.

Declutter First: The 40% Rule

Professional cleaners consistently report that homes with clear surfaces take 35–45% less time to clean thoroughly. That means a better result — or the same time spent going deeper on what matters.

Where to Start in a Faribault Home

The Kitchen Counter Problem

Faribault kitchens accumulate countertop appliances quickly: air fryers, Instant Pots, coffee systems, smoothie makers. The rule: if you don't use it at least weekly, it goes in a cabinet or out of the house. Goal: one clear strip of counter behind the sink and at least half of all counter space unoccupied.

The Bathroom Surface Audit

The average American bathroom has 17 items on the counter. Ideal is 3–5. Everything else goes in a drawer, medicine cabinet, or under-sink storage. This transforms a 15-minute bathroom clean into a 7-minute one.

Bedroom Floor Rules

Anything on a bedroom floor that isn't furniture is clutter. Under-bed storage with a flat lid surface is the best Faribault solution for extra storage without floor clutter.

The Flat Surface Principle

Every flat surface — dressers, nightstands, coffee tables, bookshelves — should have at most 3 objects on it. Everything else creates visual noise and collects dust.

Room-by-Room Declutter Plan

Kitchen (2–4 Hours)

  1. Pull everything out of one cabinet at a time
  2. Group: keep, donate, toss, relocate
  3. Apply the "last used" test: if unused in 12 months, it goes
  4. Tackle the junk drawer last
  5. Clear all countertops; return only daily-use items

Closets (1–2 Hours Each)

  1. Remove everything entirely
  2. Clean the empty closet
  3. Evaluate each item: does it fit, do you love it, have you used it in the last year?
  4. Return only what passes; bag the rest for donation

Living Areas (1–2 Hours)

  1. Remove all items not permanently belonging to that room
  2. Reduce decorative items to "gallery-worthy" only
  3. Cable management — loose cords are clutter and dust magnets

The Donation Schedule

In Faribault, these organizations accept household goods and furniture:

Maintaining It

The one-in-one-out rule: every time something new enters your home, something equivalent leaves. Applied consistently, this maintains your decluttered space without periodic purges.

Once you've decluttered, TotalCare Cleaning can give your Faribault home the deep clean it deserves. Call (888) 378-7451 to schedule.