Spring Cleaning: Your Room-by-Room Checklist

Spring cleaning your home after a long winter is more than just tradition. It is a chance to breathe new life into your house. However, this can be big project and it is significantly easier if you have a strategy for tidying, cleaning and disinfecting your house. The following checklist will help you take on spring cleaning with confidence.

Helpful House Cleaning Strategies

The goal of cleaning your home in the spring is to give it an annual refresh just in time for the warmer weather in the late spring and summer. This means going beyond putting things away and cleaning surfaces. Ideally, you should get rid of things you don’t need anymore, clean beneath and behind furniture and generally get your home organized.

To help your house cleaning project go smoother, try to stay focused on cleaning. In other words, don’t stop cleaning a room because you need to donate, repair or put something somewhere else. Instead, get three boxes, one each for donations, repairs and items that you can tidy away. Place items in these boxes as you go so you can deal with them later. This will help you stay focused as you clean.

Also, be mindful of what items you are keeping in your home. Plan some time between cleaning rooms to go through your possessions and decide what is going to stay and what needs to go. Do you really need to keep that singing fish you won in the white elephant gift exchange three years ago?

While most people approach spring cleaning as a homeowner’s project, it may make sense to call in some professional help on bigger tasks. If you are going to treat yourself to hiring a helping hand at any time of the year, this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is often a good place to start spring cleaning. It is a high-traffic area that can be prone to messes. Refreshing your kitchen will require a thorough scrubbing of your cabinets, shelves, counters and appliances.

Oil and food stains tend to build up in the kitchen, so get a heavy-duty cleaner to get your kitchen fully clean. These are the tasks for this room:

• Get rid of any expired or unwanted food
• Take everything out of your pantry and clean the shelves
• Deep clean the inside and outside of your oven
• Move the fridge out and clean behind it (including the coils in the back)
• Deep clean the inside of the fridge
• Repair any damaged drawers, doors or hardware
• Disinfect countertops and other germ hotspots

The Bathroom

The bathroom is another major focal point for spring cleaning. Relaxing in the bath or taking a nice hot shower can be wonderful. It is less enjoyable, however, if your bathroom is musty or dirty.

Like the kitchen, the bathroom is a magnet for dirt build-up. It is also a key area to remember when disinfecting your house. These are some of the tasks you will need to remember for the bathroom:

• Clean and disinfect the toilet
• Thoroughly clean the sink
• Replace the shower liner and wash the shower curtain
• Clean decorative items
• Clean and disinfect the bathtub/shower
• Repair any damaged items

Living Spaces

Your living spaces are where you spend most of your time while at home. Although they are less prone to messes and germs than the kitchen or bathroom, they also see a lot of use.

One of the most important parts of cleaning your living spaces is to get organized. These areas of the home tend to accumulate a lot of mess. Make sure everything in your living areas has a home. Here are some other tasks for spring cleaning in living spaces:

• Vacuum all upholstery and clean any stains or spills. Don’t forget to clean under cushions.
• Dust all hard furniture and fixtures
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs
• Mop and wax hardwood floors
• Wash pillows and throws
• Vacuum light shades
• Polish wood furniture

Bedrooms

Getting into a bed with freshly laundered sheets is a great feeling. Of course, when you are spring cleaning, you don’t want to stop at the sheets. Remember to also wash your mattress pad.

Like living spaces, the bedroom can be prone to clutter. Make sure to spend some time organizing and arranging. These are some other checklist items for bedrooms:

• Thoroughly wash all bedding, including pillows and mattress pad
• Flip or rotate the mattress
• Carefully sort through items, especially those stored under the bed. Donate or throw out unwanted items.

The Dining Area

Your dining room or area can also benefit from a thorough cleaning. Like other areas with food, it can be susceptible to spills and germs. These are some major cleaning focus points for the dining room:

• Vacuum and spot clean upholstery
• Dust decorative items and/or the china cabinet
• Wash and press tablecloth and other linens
• Vacuum and shampoo rugs and carpets

Spring Cleaning the Rest of Your Home

The above tips cover the majority of the high-traffic areas of your home. However, no spring-cleaning project is complete without a little attention to the other spaces. Go through the house and thoroughly dust, wipe and clean all furniture, walls, baseboards and floors.

Again, be mindful of what you have in your home. This is the perfect opportunity to decide that you don’t need some possessions anymore. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t used something in a year, you probably don’t need it.

Get Professional House Cleaning Help

Spring cleaning is a worthwhile undertaking. Getting to enjoy a clean and organized home is a wonderful reward. Of course, cleaning every item in your home isn’t easy. Consider whether a professional housekeeping service would help you. Five Star Rated can help you find the best services in your area, such as house cleaning and repairs.