The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing and the flowers are starting to bloom. You know what that means for us? It’s time to start organizing your spring clean-up – both inside and out!
Outside:
Start by booking all of the services that you don’t do yourself. These include chores such as:
- pool opening
- in ground sprinkler start-up
- window washing (including eaves troughs if you forgot in the fall)
- weekly lawn maintenance
- lawnmower tune-up
- barbeque cleaning
After you’ve made all of your service calls it’s time to get your pasty, sun-deprived self outside, sweep away winter and put away your snow shovels. Now is the time to reorganize your garage or shed – put the winter items out of the way and move your summer items forward. Hang up the skis and bring out the bikes (make sure to take your bike in for a tune-up). Pull off the furniture covers and give the furniture a good wash and while you’re at it wash your deck and porch. Dethatch your lawn, fertilize and seed if required. Consider aerating your lawn – depending on the size of your lawn you might want to aerate yourself. Check out these groovy aeration shoes!
In the spirit of living greener, why not consider installing a rain barrel and/or compost bin?
Inside:
Get those windows open! There is nothing like some fresh air to clear away the winter cobwebs and improve your indoor air quality. Now on to the most onerous of all the spring cleaning tasks -cleaning the inside of the house – ughhh! We suggest you break it down and spread it over a few weeks. Make a schedule for yourself – write it down and take pride in crossing things off as you complete them.
Wash all your winter outdoor wear and pack it away. Bring out your spring coats and rubber boots. Schedule an appointment to have your air conditioner serviced.
We recommend working inside out – so start with closets. Take everything out, vacuum and dust the inside, wipe out drawers, purge and then put away the items you are keeping. If required, pack away winter items and move in spring and summer items. Have the kids try things on so you don’t pack away winter items that are already too small. As you are doing this make a list of the spring and summer clothes you need to buy. When you are done book a used clothing pick-up for your purged items.
Next move to the room itself. Dust and wash the crown molding and baseboards. Dust light fixtures and vacuum the lamp shades. Vacuum your draperies. Remove all linens from beds and wash them – items that can’t be washed at home should be taken to the drycleaners. Vacuum and flip all your mattresses.
All your appliances should be cleaned too! Don’t forget about your kitchen exhaust fan – remove the screens and give them a good cleaning. Same thing for your bathroom fans – remove the covers and let them soak. And finally the fireplace – clean out the remnants of your last winter fire.
Feel good? Hopefully you will get the same satisfaction we do from having everything in order! Now to enjoy spring make sure you have a supply of antihistamines on hand for all the allergy suffers in your family! Oh yeah – one last thing – if you haven’t managed to get around to taking down your Christmas lights get them down now!