When Winter starts to fade and every now and then a day pops up with sunshine and slightly warmer weather I start getting the itch to throw open the windows and knock down the cobwebs! Is there anything more satisfying then kicking the doom and gloom of winter out of your house with a good scrub and purge? No? Just me? Well… You are missing out my friend!
I love Spring Cleaning! It really helps energize me and helps to shake off the laziness of Winter. Now in my house, Spring cleaning is not a one day event… This is a marathon not a sprint!
- Step one is to make a plan! I like the free version of Smart Draw to create a realistic floorplan of my house but you can even just draw a basic floorplan on paper if you want. The important thing is to have a view of the rooms in your house that you can use to create zones. Here is an example if what you are looking for!
- The easiest way to organize and clean at the same time is to remove everything from the space, clean the surfaces, then item by item clean and return to the proper place. At the end of this process you will be left with the things that don’t belong there or that you no longer want. This really takes a lot of time but I only do this once a year and it is absolutely worth it!
- Schedule one zone a day. Keep in mind that a big or really messy room may need to be split into multiple zones. You can decide if your zones are by sections of your house and/or by tasks. So for example, one day you might clean and organize your bedroom and the next day the kitchen or you might start with windows and the next day wipe down walls. You get the idea! Break it up into manageable bite size pieces so you don’t get overwhelmed
- Move everything! Clean under all of your furniture and while you are moving everything experiment with different arraignments. You would be surprised how much a change in your environment can improve your mood. Paint the walls a new color! Rip out the carpet and put down new flooring! (these suggestions are of course only if you own the house). try something new and fresh!
- Get those spots you don’t think about! Sanitize your garbage disposal and run your washer on the sanitize cycle. Wipe down those ceiling fans and scrub those walls and ceilings. Get your furnace serviced and your vents cleaned. Find all the parts of your living space that never gets cleaned and give it a good scrub!
- Stop holding on to those things that don’t serve you anymore! Clothes that don’t fit, old toys your kids don’t play with anymore, VHS tapes you can’t even play because you haven’t owned a VCR in 10 years… You get the picture. If you don’t use it and it provides no value, give it away or throw it out.
- Refresh the batteries in your devices. clocks, remotes, smoke detectors. Get all of your devices in tip top shape so you don’t have to worry about it later. Check all of the lightbulbs in the house while you’re at it. You may be surprised how many rooms have been operating on reduced light and you didn’t even notice.
- Make sure you have fun during this process! Crank up the music! Dance around while you clean! make a game of it and let loose!
- After all of this Physical cleaning don’t forget to do a little spiritual cleaning as well. This is a time to let go of the things in your life that are no longer serving you and make space in your life for new and better things. This might be toxic people, negative thoughts or beliefs, a job you hate or anything else holding you back. Open the windows on your life and let that fresh air in!
Fortner Thoughts 
Leave a Reply