Contrary to popular opinion, spring cleaning doesn’t need to be a lot of work. Follow these simple tips to enjoy strong sense of seasonal change without
1. Make your spring cleaning into a celebration of your home.
This is not about how much you have accumulated or how little cleaning you did over the winter. It’s about bringing out the beauty of your home. Before you start, think about your favorite features of your home and how you can highlight them. Work on the things that will bring you the most satisfaction and ditch the rest.
2. Wash your windows.
It sounds like a pain, but you’ll be amazed how much more light they let in after a simple scrub! Amount and quality of light is key to the mood of a room. After a long winter of lamplight and little help from outside, some unobstructed sunshine will bring new life into your rooms.
3. Then the minute it’s warm enough–open those windows up!
Along with watery light, stuffy, stale air is one of the hallmarks of winter interiors. Fresh air will bring life and energy back into your home, even if you only keep the windows open a few minutes. If it’s still too cold for open window action, try making a natural air freshener by simmering orange peels or lemon slices in a little water or soaking a cotton ball in an essential oil.
4. Swap out your winter linens.
This means both color and material. Go for bright colors and lighter materials to show off the bright light and fresh air coming through those windows. It’s still chilly outside, so consider wool or heavy cotton as a lighter alternative to comforters. Don’t forget to wash winter blankets before putting them away.
5. Bring in some flowers.
In this day and age we can get hothouse flowers any time, but focus instead on the charm of seasonal blooms. There is something particularly rejuvenating about early springtime flowers like daffodils, pansies, and crocuses. We still have a few weeks before they show their faces outside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start a little earlier.
6. Rotate your decorations.
If you feel like you need a change in decor to go with the change in season, you don’t have to splurge to get the same eye-catching change in style. Do you have art on the walls? Pictures on your side tables? Just move them around. These details and splashes of color draw the eye around the room, so rearranging them also rearranges the way you’ll take in the room when you enter.
