The Ideal Spring Cleaning Guide (FREE Checklist!)

This spring cleaning guide is ideal for getting your home in good shape for the warmer months!

Spring means a breath of fresh air for most people. This is absolutely the truth for me — as a New Englander, I mostly exist indoors from October through March. Spring is a time of bloom and rebirth in nature, and the same can be true for your home. All you need is a good spring cleaning guide to revive and refresh your space. It doesn’t have to be torturous, and you also don’t have to waste an entire weekend cleaning when you could finally be enjoying the outdoors.

I have a free spring cleaning guide to share with you, but before we go there, let’s talking a little about spring cleaning in general!

ALL ABOUT SPRING CLEANING

Spring cleaning can actually start in the winter.

Before you clean, you need to declutter. You probably spend most of your time at home during the winter anyway, so take a tour around to see what spaces need decluttering. Here’s a list of ideas of areas/things to be decluttered:

• Bedrooms
  • Closet/Wardrobe/Bureau (Tip: Sort through your clothes. Make a trash pile, a donate pile, and a maybe pile. Anything that is an absolute keeper obviously stays. Things to trash would be articles of clothing with holes, stains, or something like an uncomfortable seam that a different person would also find uncomfortable. Pack up your donate clothes and either take them to a Savers or resale store. For the maybe pile, replace the clothes back on a backwards hanger. If you decide to wear it, you’ll return it back to your closet properly. Whatever is still on a backwards hanger can be donated after 6 months – a year of being untouched.)
  • Under the bed
  • Nightstands
  • Vanity
• Bathrooms
  • Linen closet
  • Products
• Living Room
  • TV console
  • Bookshelves
• Kitchen
  • Items in the fridge and freezer
  • Cabinets
  • Pantry
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Junk drawer
• Laundry Room
  • Products
  • Clothes you don’t know what to do with
• Home office
  • Desk
  • Files
  • Storage
• Utility Closet
  • Items
• Formal Rooms
  • Hutch
  • Server
• Entryway/Basement
• Garage/Attic
• Outdoor living areas

Focus on one space/room at a time.

This is the best advice I have when it comes to decluttering AND cleaning. Even if your entire house needs a deep clean, there’s only so much you can do in one day. I suggest decluttering a particular space over a couple of days, and once you’re done, get immediately to cleaning it. This way, you will have one area of your house that is organized and freshly cleaned. This will definitely help get some momentum going for the rest of your home!

Clean left to right, top to bottom.

This is advice that I swear by when cleaning. I used to do things out of order and would be frustrated when dust would fall on my freshly cleaned surfaces. If you stick to this method, you won’t be cleaning things twice!

For deep cleaning, think beyond common tidying tasks.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Dust crown molding, ceiling fan blades, hard-to-reach places, knick-knacks.
• The inside and outside of kitchen appliances – microwave, fridge/freezer, oven, dishwasher, air fryer, etc.
• Vacuuming behind appliances, such as stoves and fridges
• Cleaning drains and/or garbage disposals
• Deep cleaning the coffee maker
• Wash the walls
• Shampoo carpets
• Wash the windows and windowsills
• Deep clean the shower head
• Vacuum under furniture
• Deep clean the couch (after taking off the cushions and vacuuming up crumbs, I love to lint roll my couch with this massive lint roller meant for larger surfaces. Besides an occasional deep clean from Stanley Steemer, this is what keeps my couch the cleanest!)
• Dust the top of picture frames, windows, TVs and mirrors
• Scrub the grout between tiles
• Power wash your patio or deck
• Repot and dust indoor plants

Make a master list of all the things you want to clean.

This will be especially helpful to you if you feel massively overwhelmed by the task. If making your own master list feels too daunting, I’ve already created one for you in my ideal spring cleaning guide. You can check off each task as you go, and skip whatever doesn’t fit your needs!

Dedicate a bit of time for cleaning each day.

Set a timer, and commit to finishing whatever task you’re doing when it goes off. Your spring cleaning schedule should be a marathon, not a race!

FREE DOWNLOADABLE SPRING CLEANING GUIDE HERE!

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

What does your spring cleaning look like each year? What is your most or least favorite cleaning task to do? Let me know in the comments below!

This blog post shared the ideal spring cleaning guide.

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Want to make your yearly spring cleaning a bit easier? My blog post Daily Routine At Home | 4 Ways To An Easier Life details ways to keep up with your home on a more frequent basis.