When the birds are singing and the flowers are awakening from their long winter’s sleep, why do you still feel like you’ve got the winter blues?
The truth is, there’s nothing as gratifying as living in a sparkling-clean home. You probably just need to do some good spring cleaning to shake off those winter blues.
While you might feel like deep-cleaning your home is an overwhelming and grueling task, it’s easy if you know where to start. So, no matter if you have a few minutes here and there or a whole weekend to spare, you can’t go wrong with these four spring-cleaning tips.
1. Prioritize Seasonal Chores
There are many household chores that you should tackle once a season to prepare for the warm weather ahead. Incorporating your seasonal tasks into your spring-cleaning checklist will help you finish them early.
Seasonal chores include cleaning the outsides of your windows, giving the grill a good scrub, and wiping down your patio and furniture. Washing all your soft furnishings – such as cushions and upholstery – will ensure you have a clean sofa for summer entertaining. If you can’t tackle your soft furnishings and upholstery yourself, take a shortcut and get them cleaned professionally.
You should also wash and pack away all your winter clothing and bedding – getting your spring and summer attire and linen out will leave your home feeling refreshed.
2. Go Room by Room
The most effective way to clean your home is to clean each room one by one. Write a spring cleaning checklist for each room to stay organized, and pay special attention to any areas that have been neglected during winter.
Over time, mildew, dust, mold, grime, and dirt build-up in the less-cleansed corners of rooms. Always clean rooms from the top and work your way down – this prevents dust and dirt from falling onto everything you’ve just cleaned and undoing all your hard work. For instance, you’d dust before vacuuming, wipe surfaces before sweeping, and clean high shelves and cupboards before tackling lower ones.
3. Get Organized and Clear the Clutter
One of the most effective and refreshing aspects of a thorough spring clean is getting rid of all the clutter that’s accumulated over winter. To get organized, use the four-step approach of identifying, analyzing, determining, and implementing.
Begin by identifying problematic, cluttered areas, and then analyze the clutter. Once you’ve determined what needs to go, implement the solution. You can also sort your clutter into five categories by whether it needs to be thrown away, donated, sold, put in storage, or packed away.
When you spot areas filled with clutter, move the items – whether that means throwing them away, packing a box for charity, holding a yard sale, or storing them somewhere out of the way.
4. Form New Cleaning Habits
Starting the season with a deep spring clean of your entire home is an excellent incentive to keep it that way. Establish new daily cleaning habits to maintain your home’s cleanliness so you won’t have to put in so much work next time.
Forming new, ongoing cleaning habits means you won’t have to do all your cleaning again in one day or weekend. By tackling the daily items on your checklist, you can get into the habit of tidying up for 15 minutes daily and keep your home sparkling clean.
