The Complete Guide to Spring Cleaning Your House and Backyard
The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and the snow has finally melted away! That can only mean one thing… Spring is upon us!
To help you make the most of the warm weather this spring, you may want to get a head start on your spring cleaning initiatives. Once the cleaning, maintenance and seasonal transitions are out of the way, you can spend your time enjoying the warm weather with family and friends!
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the importance of home maintenance, interior spring cleaning and exterior spring cleaning. Especially if you plan to list your home!
The Importance of Home Maintenance
With any significant investment, maintenance will be required to ensure a seamless operation. This goes for your house and everything in it!
Dedicating time to regular home maintenance can result in the following benefits:
Save money by addressing issues before they turn into a larger problem
Improve the value of your home with regular maintenance and upgrades
Create a better quality of life with a home that is running efficiently
Enjoy a home that you love when entertaining family and friends
Invest in the safety of your family with regular inspections and maintenance
With the right approach to home maintenance, you can create a safe, enjoyable and appealing home for you and your family.
Interior Spring Cleaning
Make a List
The best approach to spring cleaning your home begins with making a list. Using the information in this article and by identifying the unique needs of your home, create a comprehensive list and timeline to ensure that all tasks are completed.
Wash Your Windows and Doors
After the cold, harsh winter, your windows and doors deserve a little TLC!
Using warm soapy water and a rag, give the exterior of your doors a good wash. Rinse with water and dry with a microfibre cloth for the best results.
From the interior of your home, use a window cleaner and rag or paper towels to clean them of dust, debris and marks. Depending on the window, you may be able to maneuver it or take it out completely to clean the exterior as well.
For higher windows, you may need a power washer to give them a really good cleaning from the outside. If you have the budget for it, a window cleaning service may also be useful to you!
Overlooked Surfaces
While you do perform regular cleaning within your home for high-traffic areas, there are some surfaces that may go overlooked. Spring cleaning is a great opportunity to address these areas!
Overlooked surfaces within your home may include:
Door and window tracks
Light fixtures
Baseboards
Door frames
Walls
Upper cabinets
Take some time to inspect each of these areas and clean them accordingly. Depending on the surface, you may be able to clean using warm soapy water and a rag, or multi-purpose cleaner and paper towels.
With any approach to cleaning, we always recommend working top to bottom. If you plan to clean any higher surfaces in a space, address those areas first and work your way down to the floors.
This approach can help to ensure that your clean floors aren’t covered in dirt, dust and debris after you’ve just cleaned them!
Declutter
With the right approach, decluttering your home can become a part of your lifestyle. We often suggest using the following mantras to help create a minimal, organized and clean home that is free from unnecessary clutter:
If it can be stored, don’t display it
If it doesn’t have a place, create one or don’t keep it
If I haven’t used it in six months, don’t keep it
With this being said, spring cleaning provides a wonderful opportunity to really double down on the clutter in your home.
To get started, create four designated areas to sort your items into: keep, donate, sell, and toss. As you navigate from room to room addressing the clutter, either place each item in their forever space or place them into a donate, sell or toss pile.
Deep Clean Carpets
Do you have carpets in your home? Your carpets can act as a catch-all space for dirt, dust, crumbs, and other debris. To help freshen up your space, give your carpets a deep cleaning.
This should consist of a heavy vacuum and shampoo, which can be done with a DIY approach or by hiring a professional.
Once your carpets are clean, you will likely notice a refreshing scent within your home! Not to mention improved quality, revitalized colour and luxurious feel of each carpet.
Clean Under Furniture and Appliances
We all dread looking underneath the furniture and appliances. But… this is a necessary task that should absolutely be addressed during your spring cleaning!
Lift and move all furniture to give the underneath a good cleaning. This includes your tables, couches, beds, desks, and dressers.
Once the furniture has been addressed, it’s time to move into the kitchen and laundry room! The same approach applies, move each appliance and clean out the dirt, dust and debris from underneath.
You may want to use a vacuum, broom and mop to really leave these areas sparkling clean!
Get Organized
Once the clutter has been removed, it’s time to get organized!
This may look different from one home to the next. But it likely will include a combination of gathering all winter supplies and items, preparing them for storage until they are needed again later in the year.
Continue your organizing by ensuring that all items are in their correct place. Once in their place, ensure that all items are stored safely, the area is clean and any garbage has been removed. This generally applies to storage areas, such as drawers, cabinets and closets.
Transition Your Wardrobe
It’s time to start thinking about your spring wardrobe! Remove winter essentials from your closets and dressers, store them safely, and replace them with your spring must-haves!
Don’t forget about the coat closet, shoes and even accessories!
Safety Inspections
Spring cleaning really does provide the perfect opportunity to address the areas of your home that may go overlooked or unnoticed. An essential part of spring cleaning is to perform safety inspections!
This includes ensuring that your smoke detectors, C02 detectors and security features are all in working order. You may also want to hire a professional to perform a dryer vent inspection and service if needed, to help ensure proper operation and reduce the risk of a fire.
Exterior Spring Cleaning
Make a List
As mentioned above, the best approach to spring cleaning is with a detailed list!
With information in this article and an inspection of your property, you can create a detailed list of all spring cleaning initiatives for the exterior of your home.
Paint, Upgrades and Repairs
Begin your spring cleaning by taking a look at the physical exterior of your home and any outdoor structures, such as a garden shed, gazebo or pergola. Do they have chipped paint? Is there damage from the winter? Could something be replaced?
Now is the time to address these issues, either yourself or with help from a professional.
Power Washing
Never underestimate the power of a pressure washer! There are many areas that can be refreshed with help from a little power washing. From windows and the exterior of your home, to your deck, driveway, walkways and more!
Remove Clutter and Debris
Boosting your curb appeal is so important, especially if you’re looking to sell your home! The first step toward improving your curb appeal is removing clutter and debris.
With help from a garbage bag, landscape bags, work gloves, and possibly a trip to your local dump, you can give your property a full inspection and remove any debris along the way.
Gutters and Eavestrough
Start the season off on a fresh note by clearing your gutters and eavestroughs! Not only will this help to improve the functionality, but also the appearance of your home.
Not to mention the reduced risk of water pooling around the foundation of your home, a major flooding and damage risk!
Seasonal Transition
Do you have a winter planter on your front porch? Do you have an excess of winter essentials and supplies?
It’s time to finalize the transition from winter to spring by tucking away cold weather supplies and taking out what you need for warmer weather.
This means storing shovels, leftover rock salt, winter planters, front door wreaths, winter lights, and more, and taking out your lawn mower, garden hose, spring planters, patio furniture, and all landscape essentials!
Refresh Outdoor Furniture
Once you have taken your outdoor furniture out of storage, it’s time to give each piece a little refresh! Depending on the materials, how you wash each piece of furniture may differ from one to the next.
Generally, water from your garden hose, soap and a rag should do the trick. Give each piece a wash, rinse with water from the hose and dry with a microfibre cloth.
Once all pieces are clean, you can place them in their places for the season and enjoy!
Preparing Your Home to List With Ghent Homes
Do you plan to list your home? Spring cleaning can be essential to preparing your home to hit the market. Whether you’re planning to list earlier or later in the year, these tasks can truly help to create a cleaner and more minimal home - perfect for photography, videography and viewings!
For help navigating your local real estate market and successfully listing your home, contact our team of experts at Ghent Homes today! For more helpful information about everything real estate, take a look at the other informative resources in our blog.
With many combined years of experience in the Guelph real estate industry and surrounding communities, we are more than happy and qualified to help you!
