Well folks, it’s that time of year again: Spring cleaning! Part of me wants to groan and roll my eyes and the other, more OCD part of me is super excited. The work itself isn’t very enjoyable, but the result is definitely worth it. And my Spring cleaning to-do list always consists of a few different forms of cleaning: 1.) actual soap and sponge cleaning, 2.) cleaning out everything like my closet, dresser drawers, junk drawers, pantry, fridge, etc., 3.) detailing my car, and 4.) organizing everything from the pantry to my laptop files.
The scrubbing the house from top to bottom aspect of Spring cleaning is always necessary. Little, hard-to-notice areas of the house always get dirty and dusty, but since those areas are harder to notice, they don’t get cleaned regularly. I’m talking about the baseboards, on top of the kitchen cabinets, inside of the kitchen and bathroom drawers, light switches, ceiling fans, scuffs on the wall, etc. Here is my Spring Cleaning To-Do List Template that you can download. It covers all of the hard-to-notice areas all over the house. That cleaning to-do list took me and my boyfriend only two days over the weekend to complete!
Now for the cleaning-out Spring cleaning, go through every “hidden” area in your house or apartment and sort through everything. Look through the closets, guest closets, coat closets, linen closets, under the sinks, every drawer, every cabinet, night stands, end tables, dressers, under the beds, the garage, laundry room, bathrooms, etc. and clean out everything you haven’t used in at least a year. You can donate some of these items or even sell them if they are valuable. You should also clean out your pantry and fridge of all of the expired condiments, expired spices and seasonings, food that you have acquired but never intend on eating (you can donate boxed and canned food to local shelters!). For instance, I found a can of “Dr.Pepper Beans” in my pantry….? I’m never going to eat those and they’re just taking up space.
You can clean out your car too! Look through your glove box, center console, etc. and throw away anything that doesn’t belong. And you can also throw away any trash, empty water bottles, drive-thru receipts, etc. that you find. And anything that you’ve left in your car but keep forgetting to take inside, now would be a great time! I’ll leave stuff in the trunk of my car and forget about it for a few months or just throw a scarf or something into the backseat and it’ll stay there forever. I also like to get my car completely detailed every Spring. Just getting it fully vacuumed and scrubbed inside and out makes it seem like a brand new car! Plus getting out all of the gunk from inside of the cupholders pretty much pays for itself. There are always a ton of Groupons for car detailing for under $100.
And finally, organizing your house… your documents… your life… is always a great way to finish off your Spring cleaning to-do list and feel like a brand new person, ready to take on the world! Organize your closet, dresser drawers, bathroom cabinets and drawers, linen closets, coat closets, under the kitchen sink, the pantry, the fridge, the spice rack, everywhere. Then get out your electronic devices and organize your Dropbox folders, your “downloads”, your music library, your photos, email inbox, what’s saved to your desktop, your apps, your text messages and calls from the beginning of time, everything. And finally you can go over to your physical file cabinet or box where you keep mail and important papers and organize that.
Here’s everything you might need:
- Clorox wipes
- Mr. Clean Magic Erasers
- Bleach
- Cleaning spray
- Sponges
- Paper towels
- Bathroom cleaner
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Duster
- Swiffer Wet pads
- Swiffer Dry pads
- Windex
- File cabinet ($24)
- Hanging file folders
Happy Spring cleaning everyone! I hope it is very rewarding and you feel like a brand new, organized, got-yo-sh*t-together person!
