Winter is now a distant memory. The clouds have broken, birdsong is in the air, and gardens are showing new signs of life. Spring is clearly in the air. But the inside of your home tells a different story!
Spring cleaning may seem like an old-world tradition, but the reality is, it’s the perfect time to dust away the cobwebs, have a declutter and re-organise some of the pivotal spaces in your home.
Grab your cleaning materials and a bucket of enthusiasm! Here are 5 tips to get you started on your next spring cleaning adventure:
Don’t do it all in one go!
The best way to spring clean your home effectively is to do it room by room. Create a cleaning checklist before you start to keep you on task and remind you of the areas that require extra attention! It might look something like this:
Living Room
- Dust ceilings, shelving and cabinet tops
- Clean windows, sills
- Vaccum (or wash according to fabric instructions) curtains and window blinds
- Wipe down baseboards and clean away any cobwebs
- Disinfect touchable surfaces, such as doorknobs, light switches and handles
- Check batteries in smoke detectors and replace them if they no longer work
Kitchen
- Check dates on all perishable and non-perishable foods – throw away if out of date or give them away to a local food bank if you won’t eat them!
- Clean fridge and freezer (defrost if necessary). You might be able to wash shelves in your dishwasher if they fit!
- Wipe down all surfaces, handles, switches
- Clean all appliances, including microwaves, coffee machines, kettles etc.
- Clean and dust behind all larger appliances
- Empty your toaster’s crumb tray
- Deep clean your oven and hob top
Bedroom
- Wash and freshen up all bedding and pillows
- Go through your wardrobe – donate anything you no longer wear
- Flip and rotate your mattresses
- Address your children’s toys – donate anything that is no longer appropriate or give them a wash
As you work your way around your home, from the living room to the kitchen, bathroom to bedrooms, work through your checklist to ensure you don’t miss anything!
Focus on the clutter
Clutter builds up before you know it, and leaving it unattended makes it the perfect magnet for more clutter! Instead, systematically go through each of the following:
- Identify your problem areas (the kitchen side or bedroom corners are big culprits)
- Analyse why there is clutter there in the first place
- Determine what you can do to resolve the clutter issues
- Implement any solutions to clear the mess!
After that, it is simply a case of following your room by room checklist and sorting through your belongings.
What do you no longer need? Can you give it away, or does it need to go in the bin? If you keep it, can you store it or put it away? With so many charities crying out for donations, there is always someone in need of your used goods. Keep in mind that there are some things you cannot donate, and broken items shouldn’t be put in storage, they should be thrown away. If this is the case, hiring a dumpster, which you can learn more about over on site such as Waste Removal USA, will be beneficial during your clutter clear out.
Dive into your wardrobe
How often have you opened your wardrobe and spotted an outfit that you have either completely forgotten about has gone out of style or you simply just wouldn’t wear?
Wardrobes or closet spaces are the perfect places for clothes and accessories to be swallowed up and forgotten. But don’t worry, this is a problem that most people face!
The easiest way to tackle expanding wardrobes is to go through its contents. Turfing out the whole lot is a good method for the most efficient clean, but if sifting through one item at a time is your bag, then that’s ok too.
While going through your items, you need to decide:
- What to keep
- What to donate
- If it’s worth selling
- If it needs to be thrown away
If you honestly have no good reason to keep that old pair of jeans, other than, “I might fit into them one day,” then they need to go – particularly if you haven’t worn them for the past 3 to 6 months.
Recruit extra help
Spring cleaning can be a monumental task for some people, no matter what kind of home you live in. But getting the whole household involved can quickly transform the way everyone interacts with each room. Throw on some adrenaline-pumping tunes, establish a household reward system and designate age-appropriate tasks to each household member.
If you’d rather fly solo, asking a close family member or friend can help keep you motivated and increase your efficiency.
Failing that, hire in the professionals. Whether you live in Aberdeen or London, your local rainbow removals service is only a phone call away.
Your local experts will take all the stress out of removing your clutter while making sure it is disposed of in the most environmentally friendly ways possible. Plus, they bear the brunt of waiting around in traffic while you curl up with a cuppa after a hard day’s work cleaning!
Rearrange your space
Dealing with clutter and removing the grime is one thing, but rearranging your furniture can instantly transform any room.
Play around with different layouts in your living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you gain better access and space when you move a table or even put up some shelving on the walls.
It will also highlight any bits of furniture or upholstery that don’t work with the room anymore. Either see if they can help enhance another room, or consider placing an advert on local selling pages to earn some extra cash.
Whether the room needs a fresh coat of paint, you need to consider extra storage, or it’s time to upgrade your furniture, rearranging the room’s layout will quickly highlight your needs.
Having a spring clean is the perfect time to adopt good cleaning habits that can last a lifetime. You can breathe new life into each of your rooms by simply rearranging furniture, removing clutter and dusting away all the cobwebs! Are you ready to get started?