7 Spring Cleaning Tricks to Steal From Tidy People
Clearing out is good for the soul, so why delay? It’s time to get your place sorted with these easy cleaning jobs
If your home’s looking a little lacklustre, it might just need a good old tidy. Set aside a weekend and approach each room as if on a reconnaissance mission, making a mental inventory of what you need, what you don’t, and what can be stored elsewhere out of sight. It’s not astrophysics – it’s simple – but it can make you very happy indeed.
Clear surfaces
Kitchens are the biggest accumulators of stuff in the house. Assess any item that occupies space on your worktop and see if you can find room in a cupboard for it. Your kettle is best left in situ (unless, of course, you’ve replaced it with a boiling water tap), but a knife block, bread bin and even a toaster if you don’t use it daily might be doable. You could do the same for anything on top of wall units, too.
Be inspired by this clean and serene kitchen designed by XAMI: wipe down your surfaces and admire how beautiful they are. Then instigate a strict don’t-leave-it-for-someone-else-to-clean-up policy for the whole family and stick to it – ferociously.
Kitchens are the biggest accumulators of stuff in the house. Assess any item that occupies space on your worktop and see if you can find room in a cupboard for it. Your kettle is best left in situ (unless, of course, you’ve replaced it with a boiling water tap), but a knife block, bread bin and even a toaster if you don’t use it daily might be doable. You could do the same for anything on top of wall units, too.
Be inspired by this clean and serene kitchen designed by XAMI: wipe down your surfaces and admire how beautiful they are. Then instigate a strict don’t-leave-it-for-someone-else-to-clean-up policy for the whole family and stick to it – ferociously.
Organise your storage
Bathrooms can be battlegrounds for families – especially if you only have one to service a busy household. Keep the peace and create an orderly feel by allocating a little bit of dedicated storage to each person, as in this compact but cleverly organised bathroom designed by Katie Monkhouse Interior Design.
Allocate shelves in a cupboard or, if you don’t have one, consider individual storage boxes in different designs. Hang them on a wall to keep surface space clear, or line them up along a windowsill.
Search for a bathroom designer in your area in the Houzz Directory.
Bathrooms can be battlegrounds for families – especially if you only have one to service a busy household. Keep the peace and create an orderly feel by allocating a little bit of dedicated storage to each person, as in this compact but cleverly organised bathroom designed by Katie Monkhouse Interior Design.
Allocate shelves in a cupboard or, if you don’t have one, consider individual storage boxes in different designs. Hang them on a wall to keep surface space clear, or line them up along a windowsill.
Search for a bathroom designer in your area in the Houzz Directory.
Source spring-fresh bedding
Some new bed linen works wonders. It doesn’t have to be expensive – even a simple set will have a rejuvenating effect on a room, and it can look as if you’ve not only had a (proper) spring clean, but redecorated, too.
If you don’t want full-on pattern, go for plains with pleasing textures and accessorise the colours to tie in with floral or botanical motif prints as seen here, in a Georgie Rose Interior Design project.
Some new bed linen works wonders. It doesn’t have to be expensive – even a simple set will have a rejuvenating effect on a room, and it can look as if you’ve not only had a (proper) spring clean, but redecorated, too.
If you don’t want full-on pattern, go for plains with pleasing textures and accessorise the colours to tie in with floral or botanical motif prints as seen here, in a Georgie Rose Interior Design project.
Spruce up the patio
Learn to love your outside space again. Check that patio for ingrained dirt and mould and use a good-quality cleaner, or jet spray if you need to.
Uncover and brush down garden furniture and set up a little seating area (you could make it different to last year for a fresh perspective), so that whenever the sun pops out, you won’t miss a chance to make the most of it.
Remove old leaves and detritus from pots and planters so you can enjoy new growth to the full.
More: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Planning a Small Garden
Learn to love your outside space again. Check that patio for ingrained dirt and mould and use a good-quality cleaner, or jet spray if you need to.
Uncover and brush down garden furniture and set up a little seating area (you could make it different to last year for a fresh perspective), so that whenever the sun pops out, you won’t miss a chance to make the most of it.
Remove old leaves and detritus from pots and planters so you can enjoy new growth to the full.
More: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Planning a Small Garden
Make your hallway decorative
Entrance halls are supposed to be eminently practical, with hooks for coats, baskets for shoes, tabletops for keys and dog leads, umbrella stands for, well, umbrellas.
Have a think about yours and what’s in it now. Could you stow away any of that stuff elsewhere in the house and still have practical access to it? If so, do it. Then turn your hallway into something pretty that might need a bit of cleaning now and again, but that you won’t have to tidy all the time. Imagine coming home to this – designed by NW3 Interiors – every evening.
Entrance halls are supposed to be eminently practical, with hooks for coats, baskets for shoes, tabletops for keys and dog leads, umbrella stands for, well, umbrellas.
Have a think about yours and what’s in it now. Could you stow away any of that stuff elsewhere in the house and still have practical access to it? If so, do it. Then turn your hallway into something pretty that might need a bit of cleaning now and again, but that you won’t have to tidy all the time. Imagine coming home to this – designed by NW3 Interiors – every evening.
Edit children’s toys for display
Styling a child’s room can be the equivalent of herding cats, but it’s a beautiful thing when it works. Your child may have accumulations of horrifying plastic toys, but there’ll be some good stuff buried in there, too.
Make a collection of picture frames, wooden toys, fairylights and trinket boxes and turn them into a display. With any luck and a fair wind, your child will appreciate your efforts as much as you do and join in with keeping it tidy.
Tell us…
What are your favourite spring cleaning cheats? Share you secrets in the Comments.
Styling a child’s room can be the equivalent of herding cats, but it’s a beautiful thing when it works. Your child may have accumulations of horrifying plastic toys, but there’ll be some good stuff buried in there, too.
Make a collection of picture frames, wooden toys, fairylights and trinket boxes and turn them into a display. With any luck and a fair wind, your child will appreciate your efforts as much as you do and join in with keeping it tidy.
Tell us…
What are your favourite spring cleaning cheats? Share you secrets in the Comments.
You see how nice this room – designed by Legacy Squares – looks? Make a space look good and it becomes a pleasure to keep it that way. A living room has an innate pairing of items going on – curtains, sofas, chairs and lamps. Place them so they’re pleasing to the eye, with all the single items centrally in line with your pendant light (coffee table, rug if you have one) for a calm feel.