Some people look forward to spring cleaning like it’s a holiday. Purging and deep cleaning can be a surprising way to de-stress. However, as much as you’d love to have your space clean and clutter-free, you don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to days or weeks of organizing.
Here are some quick and easy spring cleaning tips for busy people.
1. Swap out your wardrobe now to save time later
Getting dressed every day will be much easier if you don’t have to dig through winter coats, sweaters, and other heavy clothes to find your spring attire. An easy solution is to swap out your warm winter wardrobe for your spring wardrobe.
Collect all of your cold-weather staples and gently pack them away in boxes, totes, and plastic bins. Make sure you label everything for easy retrieval once fall creeps up again.
If you don’t have space in your home to store your unused wardrobe, consider getting a self-storage unit. Their climate-controlled units will ensure that your clothes are in perfect condition when you come back to get them.
2. Declutter your home to destress
You’d be amazed by how much easier it is to clean when you don’t have extra stuff lying around. Walk through every room and look for things you can donate to people in need. If you realize something could be more useful for someone else, toss it in a box and drop if off at a local shelter or thrift store.
Make sure everything you’re keeping has a place. You can make a plan for this before you even start touching the clutter. After just a few hours, you may find that your space already looks better. Plus, looking at a clean space can help your mind relax!
3. Clean one room at a time
After decluttering, it’s time to start deep cleaning. While some people prefer to tackle one category at a time (for example, cleaning all of the windows first, then sweeping all of the floors), we recommend focusing on one room at a time.
Once you’ve accomplished the cleaning in one area, you can move on to the next, whether it’s the same day or the following week (depending on your schedule). Doing it this way will make you feel more productive.
4. Clean from top to bottom
Remember the scene in Cinderella where she was cleaning the floors with nothing more than soapy water, a rag, and her hands? As soon as she had the entire floor sparkling clean, Lucifer (the aptly-named cat) came bouncing through, leaving muddy pawprints everywhere. We can accidentally sabotage our own cleaning efforts in a more subtle way.
Rather than sweeping and mopping the floors first, do that last. Clean each room from top to bottom, treating windows, walls, and ceilings first. Move on to surfaces next. Once everything looks perfect, sweep and mop the floors. Then, make your grand exit until they dry fully.
5. Get help
Who says you have to do your spring cleaning alone? With enough support, you can cut the time spent spring cleaning in half (or more). Enlist the help of your family or a professional (ask us about the trusted organizers, packers, and movers in our referral network) to help you breeze through your to-do list. Assign tasks (or rooms) to everyone and get to work.
Implement these 5 simple tips to make spring cleaning something you look forward to checking off your list each year.
Guest blog post by Maple Leaf Storage.
Hollyburn residents are eligible to receive exclusive discounts on storage solutions through our Value-Added Partner program.