Winter is finally over, and spring is making its way back into our hearts—we’ve survived another brutal winter. Give yourself a pat on the back, and use the reviving energy of spring’s bright sunshine to start decluttering your home.
The early stage of empty nester life is the best time to get cracking on deep cleaning your house, especially if you plan on eventually downsizing and moving out. Take it easy on yourself, and start with these simple spring cleaning projects that you should take on before moving onto the more challenging tasks.
Wash Pillows, Blankets, and Furniture Covers
Spring is infamous for being the first of two major allergy seasons. Since you’ve been cooped up in your home all winter, allergens within your home may have settled within any fabrics—especially on throw pillow covers, blankets, and any fabric furniture covers you own.
If you know allergy season hits you like a ton of bricks, do yourself a favor and cut out any in-home allergens by washing those elements of your living room along with anything you may have that’s similar. Check the pillows’ tags to see how to properly wash them before just throwing what you own in the washing machine.
Tackle Clutter One Chunk at a Time
Defeating a cluttered home may not sound like a simple task at first, but if you take on clutter in smaller parts, you’ll save yourself from a lot of unnecessary stress and simplify your cleaning strategy. Give yourself easily achievable goals at the beginning of your clutter cleanup and slowly progress into larger stretch goals.
Reward successful stretch goals with a smaller goal right after. Most importantly, take it easy on yourself if you fail to meet a goal while cleaning clutter—give yourself ample breaks to refocus when you’re burned out.
Revisit Old Memories
Do you have a large collection of family memories on different forms of media? If your home’s closets and storage areas contain a large number of family photos and videos, it might be time to do something with them. Sort through photos and take a trip down memory lane as you reorganize them and find new methods to protect these time-honored treasures from deterioration.
With home videos, it may be tricky to know what to do with them, especially now that VCR players are more difficult to find. They aren’t doing you any favors by taking up space in boxes, closets, and basements, so consider converting them to a more modern digital media format.
Dust and Sweep
Much like washing your throw pillows and blankets, starting your spring cleaning with dusting or sweeping can help to reduce your allergies. Though these are essential and simple spring cleaning projects that you should take on, doing them wrong can worsen your allergies if you aren’t careful.
When dusting, use a dust cloth rather than a duster that scatters the particles into the air. Vacuum piles of dirt you leave behind while sweeping to minimize the risk of leftover debris. Don’t forget to dust off your ceiling fan, so you can run it without scattering dust when the temperatures warm up this spring!
