Content creator Lucy Kalice is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on cleaning, home decor and making the most of small spaces. See the rest of her articles here.
Unpopular opinion but I love Spring Cleaning. I genuinely look forward to it every year because it feels like the beginning of the New Year for your home. The New Year in January is always filled with personal goals and expectations to achieve such big things in the year ahead. But Spring Cleaning is all about the home and it doesn’t come with all the pressure of the New Year. It’s a real opportunity to reset your home, declutter and get organised.
Over the years I have mastered my spring cleaning routine so that it’s broken down into simple tasks, which aren’t overwhelming and can be done fairly quickly. So let’s get into it…
1. I declutter room by room, little and often
I always find that decluttering can be very overwhelming but if you break it up room by room, cupboard by cupboard, it becomes an extremely manageable task. I usually start with my kitchen as that has the most cupboards and can be the most time consuming. I check the dates of all perishable items and throw out anything that’s out of date.
Then I’ll move onto the bedrooms and declutter books, ornaments and any make up that I don’t want anymore. If there’s ever a time to be savage it’s now! If you haven’t used it in over a year, get rid of it…you and I both know it’s not getting used anytime soon…
Then finally I do the bathrooms which doesn’t usually take very much time at all.
By breaking it up into little jobs, it means I don’t have to keep 3 hours free on a Saturday to declutter a space. Pick one room and every time you have 5-10 minutes free, start decluttering a cupboard. Slowly work around the room and before you know it you’ll have decluttered the whole room and won’t have had to miss out on any weekend plans…win win!
Top tip: I always start with the difficult room first, then the kitchen, then end with the easiest so it doesn’t feel so draining.
2. I change over my wardrobe for the new season
Spring is when I get all my summer clothes out but before I hang them up, I make a pile of any that I don’t want anymore. It saves me time doing it this way round because then I don’t have to find space for them in the wardrobe in the first place.
Anything that’s in good condition I will sell or donate. This makes me feel better than throwing them away as it’s sustainable. I also find it motivating because I can earn some extra money!
3. I clean the hard to reach areas and places I’ve been ignoring
Let’s be honest, none of us are moving our bed to clean the skirting board and walls behind it every single time we clean the bedroom. Neither are we moving our sofas to clean underneath them every time. Actually, I do know someone that does this and it’s my mum, the Cleaning Queen Christine. Don’t let that make you feel bad though, she’s an anomaly and as you can tell she’s very thorough when it comes to cleaning her home…
But I find spring cleaning the perfect time to do those things. I make a list of places that need a deep clean, pick one task to complete a week and it’s a lot quicker and a lot less overwhelming than trying to do all the big jobs in one day. One week I’ll deep clean my fridge, the next I’ll deep clean all the windows in the house, then I’ll do the outside doors etc etc.
And there we have it, my manageable spring cleaning routine that will help leave your mind and you’re home feeling refreshed, clear and calm!
