A Spring Fling? Nah, Just a Spring Clean

Weather must be getting beautiful everywhere, right?  So that coupled with forced down time inspired me to get a little spring cleaning in.  I’m going to share some of my tips and tricks here.  Disclaimer:  I am no expert.  I am just a bit of a neat freak (OCD?) with bad fingernails and arthritis, looking for shortcuts to getting my house clean.

Another thing with this glorious weather is that my allergies are going NUTS and it’s a good time to get the extra dust out of my house.  With my love of opening windows and doors, it’s probably just a matter of hours before I let dust and pollen back in, but it’s all moderation as I always say.

Start in One Room

I use quite a few supplies when I do a deep spring clean and I don’t want to carry them all over the house, so I choose one room, finish it, and then move along.  I cannot get the entire house done in one day, so that way I don’t have the whole place trashed with cleaning supplies.

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Work from the Top to the Bottom

I started with my home office for the spring clean, working my way from the top to the bottom.  The door frames were filthy; they probably only get done once a year.  The ceiling fans were surprisingly clean.  Our normal house cleaners do those every other week.  I spent some time on the vertical surfaces that don’t really accumulate that much dust.  Pictures, gee gaws, woven wood blinds. I use a Swiffer for many of the vertical surfaces.

Move the Furniture

This is pretty hard to do alone, but you don’t need to move it far.  Just enough to get the floor underneath clean and do the baseboards.  Ugh, the baseboards.

Prepare Yourself to Clean the Baseboards

This is the worse job I have in the house.  I just hate it, but I feel like it’s so noticeable when it’s not done.  Here’s how I cope – Knee pads!  The essentials to make this job less painful:

• Knee pads
• Plenty of clean rags
• Small bucket of water with a bit of dish washing soap or mild cleaner – I love Mrs. Meyers
• Old toothbrush for buildup in the corners

While I’m down on my hands and knees, I wipe down electrical plates, all the electrical cords (don’t worry, I don’t get the water near them!) and window sills.

Hose What You Can

Again, I am not an expert and am not saying this is the recommended way to clean, but my faux plants are not expensive and most of them are pretty old.  I take them outside and I hose them down.  Yep, give them a shower.

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I let them get good and dry in the sunshine and fluff and puff them to bring them back in.

We have a few of these indoor/outdoor rugs that I have fallen in love with from Orion.  This is a similar one and you gotta love the price – under $40! To look at them, you cannot tell they are indoor/outdoor, but it really makes the difference in being able to have light colored rugs in my house.  If you’ve seen me cook (or just drink tea) you know what a mess I am.

This kitchen runner goes outside and gets hosed down, dries in a couple of hours in our warm Arizona sun, and then goes right back down in the kitchen.

Take a Few Minutes to Reorganize Drawers and Closets

While I was cleaning baseboards, I realized how bad I let this closet get.  Yikes!  I took everything out, wiped off the shelves, cleaned the floors and baseboards, and neatened things up.  We use this closet for our exercise equipment, cat toys, work files, manicure supplies, a wrapping station and other mishmash.  But this room doubles as a guest room when we need it, so it needs to have usable space at the ready. I don’t like to jam pack it.

This doesn’t need to be a big reorg project, just a tidy up of what’s gotten out of hand since you last organized it.

Launder the Bedding

Good time to wash my cozy throws and guest bedding.

Other Essentials

Wear indoor shoes. In Arizona most people have hard tile floors laid directly on top of a cement foundation.  While we have wood floors, they are still very unfriendly to unsupported feet.  We have shoes we wear strictly in and around the house.  I go for comfort shoes which don’t have the best support for a lot of walking but are great for house shoes. See my shoes in the rug picture above. Give your feet some love.

Use a sturdy and short ladder.  I am death against anyone over 40 using a ladder – even a small one, but never get tempted to stand on a chair or another piece of furniture to reach something.  Use the shortest ladder you can to get the job done, RESPECT that ladder and get off it as quickly as possible.  This is not the time for any multitasking.  I have step stools in most rooms of my house – 12’ ceilings and a 5’1” frame are a problem.

A cup of tea and an audio book or a motivating play list is a must.

Here’s wishing you a productive and sane week ahead and a picture of Roxy helping me compose this post.