A Guide to Stress-Free Spring Cleaning

Spring is here! The snow has melted and the warm weather has finally arrived as we all have months of fun in the sun awaiting us. But before you can go enjoy the great outdoors, you’ve got to make sure you spruce up your own home after a long winter of hibernation.

Spring cleaning is particularly important this year as many of us haven’t left our homes in over a year and the clutter is starting to pile up. So whether you’re just trying to reorganize or completely renovate here are some tips for making the most of your Spring.

Tips For Easy Spring Cleaning

This room-by-room cleaning guide outlines a set of tips and tricks to ensure you declutter and clean every part of your home. Cleaning any space is actually pretty easy, the hard part is getting started.

There are a few more general tips that work no matter the room you’re in and are always a great place to start as you tidy up.

• Open windows to get fresh air circulating
• Wipe down the walls and molding
• Dust any fans or light fixtures
• Clean and mop floors

Room №1: The Kitchen

When a kitchen is clean, it runs smoothly! It also helps make the cooking experience more joyous. We guarantee that once you tackle this room, the others will feel like nothing.

• Empty out all your cabinets and clean all the surfaces. Throw out expired food and create a donation pile for canned and non-perishable goods you don’t plan on eating.
• Give drawer organizers and food storage containers to maximize your cabinet space.
• Pull out all food from your fridge, trash food that is expired or old
• Remove all the shelves and racks from your fridge and wash them in your bathtub.
• Disinfect all appliances including their plugs. Don’t forget to replace your kitchen sponges as well.

Room №2: The Bedroom

It’s the room you spend the most time in at home, so it’s important to make sure you’re sleeping both comfortably and cleanly. While you should be periodically cleaning your room throughout the year, there are some big moves you can make during spring to freshen up your space.

• Air out, flip and vacuum your mattress.
• Sort through your shoes, clean your shoe rack or the floor under your shoes and potentially put a pair or two aside to donate if you don’t wear them anymore.
• Take down and wash any curtains in the room. While they’re great for privacy, they’re also an unexpected source of dust and hair, especially if you have a cat.
• Replace your bedding and pillow cases.
• Store your winter clothing and take out any warm weather clothing you may have put away in the Fall.

Room №3: The Bathroom

Often the scariest room in the house for spring cleaners, if you’re regularly cleaning your bathroom throughout the year then you shouldn’t have too much to worry about. However, if spring is your exclusive bathroom deep clean, then be prepared for a whole lot of hard work.

• Clean and scrub: the toilet, bathtub/shower, mirror, sink and floors. This includes often neglected places like behind the toilet.
• Organize all the items in your cabinets and under the sink. Don’t just haphazardly throw things in a drawer, have a system so you can find anything from toothpaste to a band-aid when needed.
• Clean out and refresh your drains and plumbing. This can be done any number of ways from the simple white vinegar, baking soda, and hot water combo to Drano or any other number of products on the market.

Room №4: The Family Room/Living Room/TV Room

The living room or family room tends to be the heart of many homes — it’s where everyone gathers, entertains, and relaxes. We know how challenging it is to keep this space tidy. We hope these tips come in handy during your spring cleaning.

• Move furniture to reveal hidden spaces that don’t get cleaned often
• Dust furniture and the vacuum floors
• Remove sofa cushions and deep clean every part of the seat.
• Polish and clean all decorative pieces to bring out the vibrant colors of the room
• Wash curtains, throw pillows and blankets. Just be sure to check the manufacturers’ label for washing instructions
• It’s natural for things to pile up in the living room, consider adding a cute clutter basket so you can easily pick up and collect random clutter.

Room №5: The Home Office

A new addition for some this past year, nonetheless, a place you spend lots of time in. Spring cleaning your office can help increase your productivity and boost your overall mood. Get to it so you can continue to show up as your best self every day.

• Use your desk to hold the items that you use daily: computer, phone, notepad, pens. Everything else should be placed in drawers or small organizers.
• Protect your back from any pain with an office chair upgrade.
• Organizing and decluttering may be done every so often. However, dusting and disinfecting should be part of your weekly routine.
• Keep up with the mess and you’ll always have tidy office space.

Room №6: Laundry Area

For those of us lucky enough to have a place to do laundry at home, the space we clean our clothes in can sometimes not be the cleanest itself. This is especially true if your washer and dryer are set up in your unfinished basement. Luckily though, most laundry areas aren’t too big and shouldn’t take too long to spruce up.

• Clean and vacuum both behind and under your washer and dryer. Move your units out of the way a bit if possible. A bonus here is you may just find that lost sock you’ve been missing.
• Reorganize and restock cleaning supplies and detergent.
• Clean out your lint trap with a good vacuuming
• Wash your washing machine by running it empty on the hottest setting with either some vinegar/baking soda or other cleaning solution. Don’t forget to scrub it down beforehand as well and you’ll need to run it once more on it’s own to get rid of the vinegar smell if that’s the path you choose.

Room №7: The Porch or the Patio

You probably haven’t been using your outdoors spaces much over the winter which also means they probably haven’t been cleaned in a few months. To make matters worse your patio is probably still recovering from being covered in snow for three months. It might seem like a hassle given the constantly spring rain, but get your outdoor areas cleaned now and you’ll have more time to enjoy them this summer

• Sweep leaves, debris and general dust.
• Air out any furniture and thoroughly wipe down and clean.
• Power wash (if possible) to get rid of all that winter grime.
• Bring out any chairs or decor that you keep stored inside during winter months.
• Clean doormats, rugs and the base of any sliding or screen door leading to the outside.

Room №8: Pets

Last but certainly not least are our furry (or not so furry) friends. Pets are wonderful to have around the house but they’re certainly responsible for quite a few of our bigger messes.

• Wash or replace bedding or blankets.
• Clean out and clean cages, crates, aquariums.
• Brush your dogs regularly to help control winter coat shedding around the house.
• Organize their feeding area and wherever you keep their food, make sure it’s easy access for you but not so much for them.
• Soak and wash any plush toys and clean any hard toys. Organize where the toys are kept and throw away any old or broken toys.
• Lint roll all around the house, from couches to curtains, to try and pick up as much pet hair as possible. Even if you think there’s somewhere that wouldn’t have pet hair stuck to it, chances are it does.

Hopefully all this helps you tackle your spring cleaning full force and lets you bask in the gleam of a clean home in just a few days. Remember that while the cleaning might not be fun while you’re doing it, you’ll never regret it later. Oh, almost forgot that you can always save on all of your cleaning supplies by using coupons or promo codes from all of your favorite brands!

If you’re more of a visual person feel free to print this for more guidance. Tackle one room at a time using this handy dandy spring cleaning checklist.