Spring Cleaning: How to Clear Your Home of Clutter
It’s that time of year already: spring. The trees are starting to come into leaf, falling blossom has replaced snow and everything feels green and fresh again. It’s also the perfect time to spring clean your home — clearing out the clutter and cleaning your living spaces to make way for brighter, sunnier days when you won’t want to be inside tidying up.
Whether you just need to refresh your existing space or are planning to put your home on the market (spring cleaning is definitely something you need to do before selling your home, no matter the season!), our blog on decluttering and cleaning will have you feeling inspired to grab the bin bags and mop and get down to business.
1. Opt for a ‘room by room’ approach
2. Sort into three piles
3. Deep Clean
4. Don’t forget the soft stuff
5. Ensure everything has a place
6. Call in the professionals
1. Opt for a ‘room by room’ approach
What happens if you start several tasks at once? They never get properly finished. Treat spring cleaning the same way and start room by room. Take everything out of the room you are clearing and put it in another room so you can see what space you’re working with — it’s also a good idea to take photos of the empty space and you can even take photos before you begin, so you can see how far you’ve come. Remember: it will look worse before it looks better.
2. Sort into three piles
It’s best to declutter before organising. Go through your possessions and sort into three piles: keep, donate, bin. While it’s not ideal or good for the environment, sometimes things genuinely need throwing away, from old clothes that aren’t of a suitable quality to be donated to the detritus of receipts and broken pens that clutter drawers. Get rid of the piles to donate and throw away before you put everything back, so you’re not tempted to retrieve things that you’ve already decided to get rid of.
Clothes are ideal to start with first; take every single item of clothing (including shoes, bags, belts, etc) and put everything into one big pile. This will help you to evaluate what you want to keep, and what you need to chuck.
3. Deep clean
Before you put everything back, take advantage of the empty space for a thorough clean. Deep clean all the surfaces: wipe all the walls, windows and skirting boards, hoover and dust everything (including picture or dado rails) and make sure that the room is in good decorative order. You could also take the opportunity to give everything a lick of paint — change the colour if you want, or just touch up any scuffs. You’ll be amazed at what a difference it makes.
4. Don’t forget the soft stuff
While you’re cleaning, don’t forget the soft furnishings! Put cushion covers, sofa covers and throws in the washing machine, and use a carpet cleaner to get your rugs and carpets looking fresh. You’d be surprised by how much dirt becomes ingrained in deep pile carpets. A steam cleaner will help you to clean curtains and can help creases to drop out too.
5. Ensure everything has a place
Only replace everything once you’ve fully decluttered and cleaned. Use this as a chance to rearrange any furniture, and then make sure everything you are putting back has a place. Finish with sentimental items last so you don’t get distracted by memories: think photo frames and albums, mementoes from childhood or special ornaments.
6. Call in the professionals
You can of course call in a professional service to help you declutter your home, but this can be expensive. Instead, look to notable organisers like Marie Kondo, who perfected the art of tidying up. If you’ve got Netflix (and are particular keen on decluttering) you can watch her series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, or you can find many of her tips on YouTube, including this frankly life-changing method for folding clothes. We’ve tried it, and trust us, it works.
Feeling inspired to create change for the better? Read our blog on the best ways to make your home more energy efficient — some longer term projects and quick wins in this one.
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