Spring is in the air; the clocks go forward at the end of this month, and we are all dreaming of long sunny days and hoping that the winter we never had doesn’t suddenly appear with a vengeance.
When the sun comes out; our thoughts normally turn to start to tidy up the garden, planting bulbs and cutting the grass for the first time since Autumn. But what about the house?
Having an untidy house is very distracting and the constant need to tidy can get in the way of you being productive – therefore, a great big declutter and spring clean could be the answer! This is your chance to prepare you're home ready for those long lazy summer days; when you don’t want to be wasting time on cleaning but instead be enjoying quality time with family and friends.
It’s also a great opportunity to learn to love your house again, to get it looking its best and make the most of your space to decide if it still works for you or if you need to improve it in some way. This could be from adding additional space in the form of a conservatory, extension or loft conversion. You could also re-jig your existing space to make it work more efficiently for you or even make the decision to move to a new house. Spring and Summer are prime moving times and this is when the housing market springs into action. Therefore, now is the time to get your home looking great should you decide to put it on the market (and it also means less clutter to move).
But where do you even start? This is often the hardest part as you look at your house in despair and have absolutely no idea where to even begin tackling it…
Tackle it room-by-room To stop you from getting overwhelmed, try approaching your house room-by-room as this is the most effective way to clean your home. Draw up room checklists; so, you can focus on the parts of your home that have been neglected all winter.
Organise and clear the clutter Now is a great opportunity to organise your belongings and get rid of clutter you don’t need; to make the cleaning process a lot easier. Start by sorting your belongings into three categories -rubbish, give it away/sell it or put it away. But don’t throw it all away as many of your old belongings will still have a good sale value; so you could either use a selling site like Shpock, Facebook or eBay or have a garage or car boot sale.
Don’t throw away old bed linen and towels; as you can either donate them to homeless shelters or refuges or to animal homes to help those in need. Alternatively, keep items like old sheets for protecting furniture and carpets/floors when you need to redecorate.
Get cleaning! Once you have worked through all your clutter you can begin cleaning; so ensure you have all the products and tools you need like bin bags, dusters, sponges, hoover, mop and bucket and multi-purpose cleaning products. Avoid buying countless different cleaning products as you are better off with one good all-purpose cleaner and microfiber cloths – otherwise, you will have yet more clutter. Remember to work in well-ventilated rooms when using any cleaning chemicals and wear protective clothing if needed; especially when it comes to the dreaded oven!
Get the whole family involved If the state of your house is freaking you out; get the whole family involved as that will make it quicker and even the most unwilling helper can make a big difference to the task at hand. Put on some music or offer a family reward as an incentive to get the work done.
Tackle the seasonal jobs There are some jobs that only need doing seasonally but don’t always get done at the end of the summer e.g. outdoor chores like cleaning BBQs, patios, and even windows; but if you tackle them now you will be ready when the summer comes.
Try to establish new cleaning habits To make spring cleaning easier the next time around; it helps to establish new ongoing cleaning habits; as simple 15-minute clean-up routines and decluttering every few days can make it a lot easier to keep your home clean and tidy all year long.
We hope this has helped you get ready to attack the decluttering and spring cleaning and learn to love your home again. Happy Spring-cleaning!