How many times have you thought about how to begin the daunting task of spring cleaning? The truth is, spring cleaning isn’t really that hard. It just takes a little planning, motivation, and energy. If you spend an hour or two per room, you’ll be surprised at how much of a difference it makes in your home! From your kitchen to your bedroom, here are some useful tips on how to get started with spring cleaning today!

Why Should You Clean?

Spring cleaning is a yearly event that everyone should take part in. The idea behind spring cleaning is to rid your home of unwanted clutter and make room for new, fresh items. This can be done in several ways, but usually, it means deciding which items you want to keep and which ones you don’t—and then either donating or getting rid of them. As simple as it sounds, spring cleaning can help reduce stress and create space for new things in your life. Let’s get started!

Getting Started

As much as we wish it, spring cleaning doesn’t happen overnight. Take some time at the end of each season to evaluate which areas of your home and life could use a little freshening up. Make note of any space that might need decluttering or upgrading before you start working in earnest. Start by taking on tasks that are either fun or quick; these small wins will give you momentum for tackling larger projects when they come along. Then get started! Remember: if you don’t feel like spring cleaning right now, no worries—just do what you can when you can (you may even find yourself looking forward to it after a few sessions).

Focusing On What Matters Most

When your spring cleaning checklist is more than a mile long, it’s easy to lose sight of what matters most. Don’t get caught up in all of those little details; instead, focus on what truly matters during spring cleaning. Spend a few minutes making mental notes of each room and its purpose; whether you realize it or not, much of your day takes place within these spaces. Make sure they reflect how you want to feel when relaxing at home. 

For example, if you have a small nook of your kitchen that used to be an old study space, consider turning it into something beautiful that inspires your inner artist—maybe even turn one of those dreaded chores (dusting) into something fun by buying cute painting supplies and spending some time setting up an art room!

Living Room

Your living room is probably the most used room out of your home. It's where you spend family time and have guests over. If your living room is starting to feel stale, consider these tips for spring cleaning the space. 

Sweep out the dust and the cobwebs, freshen up your decor, and rearrange the furniture. Rearranging the furniture can refresh the entire feel of the room and give your living room the boost it needs for the spring season.

Treat yourself once a month with a beautiful new pillow or throw blanket that brings joy back into your living room. You deserve it! By making small changes each month, you’ll see bigger results as they build up over time.

Home Office / Workspace

Our home office and workspace can often be a cluttered, muddled mess. As the months go by, the clutter piles up and makes us feel stressed out when we have to work in that environment. When you’re looking at spring cleaning your home office or workspace, it’s important to think about why you’re cleaning—and what kind of an effect you want cleaning to have on your life. In most cases, it isn’t necessary to do all-out decluttering. 

Rather, take time to take stock of which things are actually important for you. If there are things that aren’t important for your happiness or productivity levels (e.g., stacks of paper from 2013), give yourself permission to let them go. 

Spring cleaning is a great time to declutter papers you have and upload them to a cloud-based file system like Google Drive. You can get rid of the physical form of the paper and save so much space in your office. 

Next, you can go about decluttering your digital space. If you have thousands of images that aren't of value to you, delete what you no longer need and upload what you want to a platform like Google Photos. By decluttering your digital life, you can become more productive!

Bedrooms

Your bedroom is the place you retreat to at the end of the day, so it's important that you make it comfortable and free from clutter. Take some time over this spring to clear out your drawers and closets. 

If you're feeling ambitious, get rid of anything that doesn't fit or looks old or worn. Doing a thorough cleaning will not only help your closet look better, but will also reduce excess dust buildup on your clothing and linens. 

Once you've cleared out your belongings, vacuum thoroughly and clean all surfaces with a multipurpose cleaning spray. After decluttering and cleaning, change out the window curtains, the comforter, the pillow covers, or the decor to refresh the bedroom space for the new season!

Bathrooms

Step one for keeping your bathroom clean? Declutter and discard. Take a look at all your bottles, jars, boxes, tools, brushes, and anything else you’ve collected, and ask yourself whether you truly need it. If so, make a note of where it should go—you can add storage bins or containers to organize your products. Also, be sure to check the expiration dates on your products, once they are expired they can be damaging!

After going through everything in the bathroom, follow up by doing the regular bathroom deep clean. Clean the sink, mirror, floors, toilet, and showers. Then, you can refresh the look of the bathroom by changing the wall accents or even changing out the shower curtain!

Laundry Room

Start by getting done with all of your laundries. This may take some time to get through all of the laundries, but once it is done you will have a weight off of your shoulders.

Then, go through your laundry room storage and get rid of empty detergents and products. If they are not being used and are empty you have no use for them so throw them out! De-clutter in here by getting rid of anything that you do not need or has no use to you. 

Do a full sweep on under shelves in here, look for spills, or if there is just a lot of junk that does not belong toss it out or put it away where it belongs elsewhere in your home where it will be more useful! Between the soapy products and lint that the washing machine and dryer produce, you will probably need to wipe things down thoroughly to leave them clean and ready for use.

Kitchen & Pantry

One of the best ways to start a spring cleaning regimen is tackling those kitchen and pantry items that have been lurking in your cabinets all winter. These spaces are prime spots for foodborne bacteria and mold, so it’s important to be sure you’re not storing any of these perishable items in places they shouldn’t be. 

Take an inventory of your staples and make a plan for when—and how—you want to replace what you already have on hand depending on expiration dates. A good place to start is with your non-perishables; look at each item and evaluate if it’s worth keeping. When in doubt, toss it! Are any items damaged? Has their flavor faded? Are there ingredient or preservative issues that worry you? Most foods have decent shelf lives, but better safe than sorry if something looks questionable or smells odd.

If you've seen your collection of pots and pans, cups, or utensils getting out of hand, it may be time to donate what you don't use anymore. This will save you space and allow you to get organized!

Backyard / Lawn Area

In many neighborhoods, people spend a lot of time tending to their yards. For some people, it’s simply something they enjoy doing on weekends and after work; for others, it’s an extension of their outdoor living space. Regardless of how you feel about your yard, however, there are likely aspects that could use some TLC. 

If you want your grass to be thick and lush by summer, now is an excellent time to add fertilizer. If your plants need a refresh or replacement, now is also a good time to do so – in fact, Mother Nature may very well take care of that step for you over spring break! 

Don’t forget other areas of your home like decks or patios. You can take this time to replace old, worn outdoor furniture and refresh your outdoor patio area.

Storage Areas

Removing items from your storage areas is one of the last steps you can take to spring clean your house. This can be overwhelming, so we suggest taking it slow and choosing section by section of storage to go through and declutter.

Use storage bins to organize items you want to keep and label them accordingly. Separating your storage by season, usage, or room, can help you to stay organized and find everything easily.

Hire A Professional Cleaning Service

Start your spring fresh with professional cleaning services! Call Sponge & Sparkle today to get started at (404) 633-9652 or visit https://spongeandsparkle.com/ to learn more.

Sponge & Sparkle serves the Chamblee, Georgia area, including Brookhaven, Buckhead, Virginia Highlands, North Druid Hills, Decatur, Doraville, and Tucker.