Spring Cleaning 101: Your Stress-Free Guide

For many, spring brings warmer weather, blooming flowers, patio dining, and outdoor activities. The changing of the seasons also brings a fresh start in many ways, and spring cleaning is the best way to refresh your home and welcome change. Whether you’re itching to start as soon as possible or are overwhelmed at the thought, we’ve got all the tips you need to help you make the most of your Nashville home this spring. 

1. Outline your priorities

A lot of spring cleaning overwhelm or anxiety comes from the need to do it all. While it would be nice to deep clean and organize your entire home, it’s not entirely realistic. The best way to approach spring cleaning is to choose your priority areas, make a list, and tackle them in small chunks one at a time. Get really specific about individual tasks you need to accomplish, rather than entire rooms or areas you need to clean. For example, choose “Organize the art supplies cabinet” versus tackling the entire family playroom. 

2. Address the clutter

Before you buy lots of new supplies for organization and cleaning, assess what you have. It’s more than likely you already have too many items for the space, which leads to frequent clutter and frustration. Begin by creating “keep,” “donate,” and “toss,” piles, you’ll get rid of excess and gain a better understanding of what you’re working with. 

3. Deep clean

Before you put the items you’ve decided to keep back in the area where they belong, take this time to deep clean the area. Especially following quarantine this year, your rooms will thank you for a little extra attention and care. Use your favorite cleaning products, blast your favorite music, get your family involved, and make it a fun process!

4. Put everything in its place

The key to maintaining your organization is to make sure everything has a place where it belongs. This is where you can label shelves, use storage boxes, and organize everything according to your preference—Alphabetically? Functionally? By color? The world is your oyster! 

5. Maintain

Once you have everything the way you want it, identify some small daily tasks you can complete to maintain order. For example, you could be intentional about putting back art supplies in the cabinet where it belongs before you go to bed. Experiment to find a system that helps you maintain sanity and cleanliness this spring and beyond. 

Need some inspiration to get started? Here are a few small projects you could tackle this weekend:

• Clean your refrigerator and freezer
• Dust off your ceiling fans 
• Sweep your outdoor patio
• Clean outdoor furniture 
• Clean every window in your house
• Vacuum your carpets
• Check your roof and gutters for any repairs that may be needed
• Clean up your front entrance and add spring plants 
• Organize your junk drawer
• Dust blinds and window sills
• Clean inside of microwave
• Clean all mirrors
• Wipe down baseboards
• Sanitize the sink
• Gather items for a garage sale
• Clean out your garbage cans
• Dust your computer keyboards