It’s a dirty job but at this time of year, the annual Spring clean is a “must” if you want your home and beautiful reclaimed wood furniture to look sparklingly fresh when the sun starts streaming through your (newly cleaned) windows. This guide is for those who hate cleaning and want to get their spring clean done and dusted FAST!
Tips to speed clean your spring clean
1. Declutter as you go along
We think this is one of the key elements to keep on top of all the housework and avoid an overwhelming clean-up as the seasons change. Our first and most important recommendation is to make decluttering a way of life. When we spoke with professional organiser, Vicky Silverthorn of You Need a Vicky, she said one the easiest changes you can make in your home and life to is to learn to live with less. This makes decluttering easy and quick work.
You don’t need to do this alone – get the kids helping with this! Set the timer for 15 minutes and clear and put away as much as you can in the time. Do this every evening or at least a few evenings during the week and you’ll really notice the difference.
2. Start in the most used rooms first
When friends pop over, most of the time you walk through the hallway and head straight into the kitchen or living room, possibly with a quick visit to the bathroom. So, we suggest you spend the majority of your cleaning time in the rooms that get the most use from you and your guests. In the living room, remove the cushions from your sofa and vacuum under the seats to clean away all those crumbs that seem to accumulate between the seats. Next, give cushions a good plumping and neatly fold any throws – this only takes a few minutes, yet will instantly freshen your living room. In addition, quickly dust the surfaces of your rustic coffee table or wooden side table, so they gleam when the sun shine on them.
In the kitchen or dining space, straighten any items standing on your rustic sideboard and clear away any clutter that has built up on the corner of your worktop or corner of your reclaimed wood dining table. Another trick is to polish the taps, kettle, toaster and any other metal accents and details to make the space instantly sparkle!
Top tip – always dust the highest pieces of furniture first so that any dust fall down to the floor. For wooden furniture, including reclaimed wood furniture, you should only use a damp cloth to dust with as this will actually pick up the dust rather than spread it around or waft it back into the air. You can also gently vacuum the surfaces with a soft brush attachment to remove dust and particles.
Finish with a quick vacuum to make the room look fresh and clean.
3. Make the beds
Making the bed in bedrooms is one of the oldest and quickest tricks to helping the room looking tidy! You can have the most gorgeous solid wood bed but it will always look a mess if the bed sheets and covers are a crumpled mess. Therefore, make this one of the first jobs every day. Not only is it a positive way to start the day, it’s also much nicer to get into a made bed at the end of the day rather than climb into a tangle of sheets, helping you get the best night’s sleep.
4. Clean windows
Clean windows will do wonders for your space. Nothing looks worse than a tidy room with the sun trying to pour through dirty windows. According to Caroline Forte, Director of Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab, you only need to clean your windows once or twice a year. Tackle the job room by room and start with those you use more regularly.
Top tip: Forte suggests wiping one side the window horizontally and the other vertically so if any streaks form, you can easily see if they’re on the inside or outside.
5. Reduce the number of ornaments
Check your reclaimed wood shelving, tabletops and surfaces and keep only those ornaments you need, love or use on a daily basis. Ornaments really are dust collectors and often come with irregular shapes that are tricky to wipe down. Keep a few select items you love or need – this really will help keep your cleaning time down. Another option is to keep your decorative pieces in a wooden display cabinet with glass doors to make it harder for the dust to get to things.
Looking for more spring cleaning tips? Take a look at our Inspiration & Ideas and make sure you visit Modish Living to discover all the storage furniture you need.