What’s The Point of Spring Cleaning?

I grew up in upstate New York, where the arrival of spring was a big deal. When the ice and snow had finally melted, the temperature had risen above freezing, and there was a hint of green on the trees, we were ready to welcome spring.
Storm window were traded for screens and the windows washed, all the warm winter clothes were cleaned and put away, heavy blankets and comforters went back in the linen closet, and many more such tasks were done.

Here on the central coast it’s a different story. With no drastic weather change, what’s the point of spring-cleaning?

I would like to suggest that this is the time to attend to the tasks that are not included in your routine household cleaning, like the practice of checking the batteries in smoke detectors when you reset the clocks at the change between standard and day light savings time. I think that establishing spring-cleaning as the time to take care of these necessary, but often overlooked, tasks is a sound practice.

Here is a list to consider:

• Dust all the hard to reach places like: ceiling fans, skylights, light fixtures, the tops of door and window frames, (also the tops of doors themselves), picture frames, and baseboards. Always start at the top and work down.
• Have the carpets shampooed after the rains have stopped for the season – that is if we have a rainy season. Wet shoes track in much more dirt than dry ones.
• Clean or dust window treatments; curtains, drapes, blinds.
• Wash the windows both inside and out if you can reach them. You’ll want the sunshine flowing into your home.
• Clean the inside of the refrigerator and throw out all past due date items also anything you cannot identify or that has green fuzz growing on it.
• Pull out the refrigerator and clean behind and underneath. Carefully remove the dust from the cooling coils because this can affect the efficiency of your refrigerator, which is one of the largest energy consuming appliances in your house.
• Clean your oven if it is not a self-cleaning model. And if it is, use the self-cleaning feature.
• Clean out any lint build-up in your clothes dryer duct and vent. This can be a fire hazard.
• Check the grout and caulk in the shower and bathtub stalls. Grout should have a sealant applied periodically to keep it clean and waterproof. Caulk can lose its seal if mildew starts to build up and that can lead to water seeping behind the tile. Not good!
• Rotate and/or flip mattress so that they wear evenly.
• Dust bookshelves. Remove all books or knick-knacks from a shelf, and then dust it and all the items that were on it before putting them back. This would be a good time to sort the books or items to determine if it is time to let some of them find a new owner.

You feel great! You’ve done all this work and your house is sparkling and looks wonderful. You’ve also taken care of a number of items that have been on your to do list for ages.

Now it’s time to have some fun. I like to suggest the idea changing the “look” of your home for the new season. You can create a lighter more summery look for you place with just a few key steps:

• Change the covering on your bed and use decorative pillows.
• Change the color of the towels and bath mat in your bathroom.
• Change the accent pillows on the sofa.
• Buy a new throw rug to brighten up a room.
• There are many ways to change the look of a place, and these are just quick start ideas.

Another idea I would like to suggest is to not display all of your art objects, knick-knacks, etc. all the time. Over time they will become part of the background and not noticed or appreciated the way that you would like them to be. If you have quite a few items, this can also lead to a cluttered look. Why not put some away and carefully select a smaller quantity of items to display on a revolving basis. A couple of times a year you can curate a new show from your treasured belongings.

So maybe there is a point to spring-cleaning, after all.

Pamela Sundell is the CEO of Calm, Cool and Collected, a home organizing Service. For more information about her please visit www.calmcoolandcollected.net