Spring cleaning therapy
Everything is blooming and buzzing. If you have not started your spring cleaning, this could be the week you feel motivated to do it. My spring cleaning starts with decluttering my physical space. I start upstairs in my bedroom. I want the bedroom to have the least distractions and clutter because that is my sacred sleeping space. Bedrooms with clutter can drain you and overwhelm you. Anxiety about clutter is not going to help you sleep. I made my bed, checked the nightstands for clutter (including the drawers). Then I did the bedroom closet and anything that was of a questionable nature in terms of clean goes to the laundry or dry cleaners. I want everything fresh and ready for use. No secrets here, if a blouse is dry clean only, I am going to air that sucker out a few times before it goes to the cleaners. Stretching out trips to the dry cleaners gives me fancy coffee and tea money. We need to pick our battles people.
After I did the bedroom, I went into our master bathroom. We currently have seven types of lotion/moisturizer on the shelves. (Sigh.) We only need two so the other ones went into the area where future yard sale items go. Do people buy unused lotions at yard sales…yes, yes they do. I price things to sell. I also reorganized and restocked our dental items, shampoos, shaving items, and all the goodies you keep on hand to look and smell good. Check your makeup also when you spring clean because if you cannot remember if your mascara is three months old then it is probably time to replace it.
After the master bathroom, I actually move on to the other bathrooms to see if there is anything to clean or declutter. I sort of get in bathroom mode doing the master so I keep going. Plus if we have extra items (think about the toothbrushes you get from your dentist you may not use) I put them in the guest bathroom for company. Our guest bathroom is fully stocked with shower and grooming stuff in case anyone forgets something. I also either fold or roll towels for that spa look.
I do the kitchen next because I’ve been cleaning sinks and countertops so I have those supplies out. Everything gets evaluated because sometimes we put things like a blender out or cutting board out and it needs to go back to its home in the cabinets. The less stuff you have on your countertops, the easier it is to wipe down the kitchen. For me that was the biggest takeaway when I read Marie Kondo’s book about organizing. The author went to restaurants to help get ideas on the best kitchen organization. A clean kitchen starts with clean surfaces. If you have so many gadgets, plants, photos, boxes on the counter, then you need to move all of that to really clean the entire surface. Water and grease has a tendency to splash and splatter so you want to get that up. Water and grease can stain your other kitchen surfaces and cause odor. I also check the pantry and refridgerator. I do not want expired items around. I take everything out in order to clean the shelves. I also tend to hide small appliances and gadgets in the pantry too.
Your probably a little tired reading this so let’s take a break. Tell me what your cleaning routine or spring cleaning method is in the comments below. I am always looking for more tips. Anyone think I am doing overkill? I enjoy it because one really good spring clean and I do not think about a deep clean until people are coming over for the holidays in December. The next few blogs will cover organizing and cleaning a home office, cleaning up your diet for energy, and clearing out mental clutter. Enjoy.
