It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it!

Birds singing, flowers growing, backyard barbeques…all sure signs of spring. But, when the sunshine reveals smudges on the windows and dust dancing on the tabletops, you know it's time for Spring Cleaning!

So, roll up your sleeves, gather some supplies, make a checklist and bring that wonderful fresh feeling of spring indoors.

Make a list and check it off once

Start your spring cleaning by making a cleaning checklist. Checklists are great, if all the jobs are on a list you won’t forget them and when the each job is completed you can check it off the list and really get a feeling of accomplishment!

Make your list specific:

• Clean and organize the master bedroom closet
• Sort and organize the kids’ toys
• Wash the windows on the first floor
• Move out the furniture in the great room and vacuum behind each piece

Make it general:

• Dust all rooms from the top down
• Vacuum every room
• Clear off all counters

Or, create a checklist by assigning a different task for each day:

• Monday – Declutter
• Tuesday – Dust
• Wednesday – Vacuum
• Thursday – Sort out clothes for charity

Keep your checklist handy, don’t forget to mark off the things you’ve finished, and give yourself a big pat on the back after you make that checkmark!

Start with the basics

Basic cleaning supplies are all you need and they do the trick for most cleaning jobs.

• some paper towels
• a few rags
• furniture polish
• a degreasing cleaner
• one good all purpose glass cleaner

Gather your cleaning supplies, put them in a bucket and take the bucket with you from room to room. Take a couple of garbage bags with you to each room too. Use one for items you want to throw away and the other for items that are useful, but you no longer want. You can either sell these items at a garage sale or donate them to charity.

It’s all for one and one for all!

Get the family involved. Even the littlest family member can lend a hand putting away toys. Or, put a sock on their hand and let them dust. When the family works together it’s quality time and you get to share the good feeling of accomplishment. Be sure to reward everyone, including yourself, with a special pizza dinner or movie night.

Now for some cleaning tips!

These tips, gathered from reliable sources, are tried and true and may be just what you need to get started.

• The first step to cleaning any room is clearing everything off and putting it away. Clear off the kitchen counters, find a home for all the items, wipe off the counter and you’re finished! Tackle each room this way. Clear, put away, clean.
• Open the windows, let the fresh air in, it will help remove the musty winter odors.
• Give yourself plenty of light by opening up the drapes and blinds and letting the sun shine in. The sun will give you a great energy boost.
• Put on some of your favorite music or listen to a book on tape as you clean.
• Don’t zigzag through the house when you clean, stay in one room at a time and tackle that room from right to left or left to right. That way you won’t miss any part of it.
• Try the four box method as you clean.
  • Box one for the items that stay in the room and will be put away
  • Box two for items you want to remove from the room, but want to store
  • Box three for items you want to sell or donate to charity
  • Box four for items you are going to throw away
• Wear comfortable clothing
• Clean from the top down
• Give yourself a time limit to get a task done. Set a timer and see if you can beat the clock and finish before the timer goes off. Reward kids with a special treat if they “beat the clock”.
• Clean out the garage over more than one weekend. During the first weekend sort everything and create different piles around the garage. One pile to keep, one to sell and one to toss. The toss items can go immediately into trash bags. During the next weekend you can get organized. Make a trip to your local Home Depot or Lowe’s and check out all the great organizing merchandise they have for sale. Anything not stored or trashed can be sold at a garage sale.

Clutter, clutter everywhere!

Spring cleaning is a great time to get rid of clutter. Attack each room separately and look at everything with a critical eye. Here are some guidelines for ridding yourself of clutter:

• If you never use it – toss it out!
• If you haven’t used it in a year – out it goes. There’s one exception however, items you use for holidays or annual events can be kept.
• If you’ve used it within the last month – You may want to keep these items, but make a decision of where you want them to live.
• When in doubt, toss it out. Don’t keep useless things. Chances are by the time you get around to using them, they will have been upgraded and no longer useful.
• If you just can’t make a decision on an item, box it up and label the box with the name of the room it came from. Store the box and come back to it in six months to a year. Have you taken anything from the box and used it, have you missed anything you put in the box? If not, then take the entire box, still sealed (no sneaking a peek) to a thrift store, your garage sale or the garbage.
• Go through the books you have around the house that you have not read in a long time and will probably never read again. Either donate them to a school or shelter or sell them at a used book retailer.
• Use the “one in, one out” method, for each new item you buy, toss out an old one.
• Try the toss 10 rule. Find 10 things every day to trash or donate. It doesn’t have to be big items. Go through drawers, closets, under the bed, just get rid of stuff. You’ll be surprised how well this method works.
• Rotate accessories. Instead of adding new things all the time, remove all of the accessories in a room, dust all the furniture while it’s empty, then bring back only half of the items. Store the others. Wait six months and then switch out the accessories with the ones you stored, box up the other ones and you’ll always have “new” accessories to enjoy and will have rid yourself of some clutter in the process!
• Hold a family wardrobe check as you bring out the summer clothes. Donate items that no longer fit, are out of style, or that you’ll just never wear. This is also a good time to toss or donate your winter clothes as you get ready to store them for next season.

Don’t ignore the leftovers!
Even if you are down to “bare bones” you’ll still need a place for everything.

Today we are pretty lucky because several retail stores sell organizers, bins, drawer dividers, and specialized shelving that help keep us organized. Books by the dozens have been written about organizing our living spaces and there are even businesses that do nothing but organize our homes and lives. Television shows like “Clean House” show us how to shed our homes of clutter and free up our time for our family, friends and the things we like to do. We’ve no excuse for clutter with all this wonderful information at our fingertips.

Here are just a few ways you can organize the “leftovers”

• The “junk drawer” – use drawer dividers. This will keep all the items organized and they’ll be easy to grab when you need them. Drawer dividers are inexpensive and easily found at several retail outlets.
• Keep a basket in the kitchen for mail and car keys to help with clutter.
• Keep like items together.
• Gather up everything you use for gardening: hand tools, gloves, fertilizer, soil, flower pots and keep them together in bins in the garage.
• Create a “car washing stuff” bucket. Gather up everything you use for washing the car - soap, wax, sponges, window cleaner, rags and put in one bucket.
• Put all your gift wrapping supplies in one container. Bows, paper, scotch tape, tags, ribbon, gift bags all in one spot will make gift wrapping easier. Several retail outlets, like the Container Store, carry the extra long storage containers for rolled gift wrap.
• Keep paperwork contained in a filing cabinet. Things like school papers, bills and other stuff you need to have at hand. If you don’t have a filing cabinet you can use baskets, file folders and even shoe boxes to keep these things in order.
• Put your bathroom accessories like hair spray, makeup and lotions in a plastic tub with a handle. Keep it under the counter and take it out when you need it. When you’re finished just put it back under the counter until next time.
• Hang your clothes by categories….work, casual and formal. And, by color is a good idea too. Will be easier to find just what you need.
• Hang scarves, belts and ties on a hanger or scarf rack.
• Use a shoe rack to keep shoes organized and throw out shoe boxes that clutter the floor.
• Group food together for easy access and to help you see when items are running low. For example, group together canned goods, cereals, pasta, etc.

So make a list, call in the troops and get started. If you work with some of these ideas you’ll end up with a clean, less cluttered house and more time for your family and friends!