You may still need a warm outer layer in spring but the heavy boots and winter coats can be safely stored away now that the first shoots of the season are visible. For the hallway, this is a welcome update and a chance to give it a fresh new look. The first impressions in the hallway do matter, so here’s how to spring clean your hallway…
STEP 1 – Thin out coats, bags, hats, shoes and boots
The hallway bench and other shoe storage ideas have seen you through the winter but now is the time to minimise all the winter clutter so that the brightness of spring can filter into your home. Wash and thoroughly dry coats, hats and scarves or have them dry-cleaned and then pack away in the spare bedroom wardrobe or blanket chest until they are needed again.
STEP 2 – Declutter the hidden stuff too!
The storage bench seat has offered immeasurable storage solutions over the winter months but there will be stuff gathered in the bottom of the hallway storage bench that really don’t need to be there.
Odd gloves, hats and dried pieces of mud from boots make their way into the corners, so give it a good clear to make room for spring and summer atire. The same can be said for the console table drawer or the sideboard cupboard that has offered so much. Recycle or repurpose items that you will no longer use rather than throwing them away.
STEP 3 – The hallway lighting
Dust and grime gather in the most awkward of places and although it may be a place through which people pass and not loiter, you’ll be amazed at just how dirty some hallway accoutrements become. The hallway pendant light, for example, should be taken down and washed, if possible, or carefully cleaned until sparkling again.
STEP 4 – Clean the hallway mirrors
A hallway mirror is somewhat essential. In a smaller space, it allows for light to be reflected, giving the hallway a larger, more spacious appeal to it. The layer of dust that has accumulated on its surface will not have been noticed in the gloom of winter but with the arrival of spring, the sunshine has a habit of naming and shaming the errors of our housekeeping… with cloth in hand and a quality streak-free cleaning solution, clean the round wall mirror and any other reflective surfaces you have in the hallway.
STEP 5 – Deep clean the floor and staircase
The one aspect of the hallway that takes a real battering over winter is the floor. You’ll have vacuumed and mopped several times over the winter months but again, spring sunshine has a habit of showing us the layers of dust that we haven’t seen. Start by vacuuming behind hallway furniture, as well as the staircase and other areas in the hallway. Go chemical free and use a homemade cleaning solution – bicarbonate of soda in warm water with a generous splash of lemon juice for scent – mop the floor, wipe down skirting boards, surfaces and door handles so that every part of the hallway is sparkling clean.
STEP 6 – Switching up the accessories
During winter, a scented candle in a storm jar in the hallway was perfect for giving it a welcoming and pleasant scent but you can switch up the scent by adding fresh, blooming flowers to the narrow console table from springtime onwards. Just as you do this, swap your accessories too, to give you something new to look on your reclaimed wood table at as you leave and enter your home.
