Why ‘Spring Cleaning’
Even though it might seem cliche, there is just something about a good deep cleaning in the spring. Getting old clothes out of the closet, cleaning the oven, scrubbing the garage floor. You know, all the fun stuff that nobody wants to do! But for some reason, there’s a satisfaction that comes out of it that just fires us up here at the Osegard house.
Why Spring?
Honestly, I couldn’t give you a great reason. You could really do this any time of year, as far as we’re concerned. Thanks to Marie Kondo, it would seem this year everyone is doing Winter Cleaning. Spring just seems to work well in our house, partly just because it’s easy to remember! For us northerners with our short days and wimpy sunlight, the spring seems to bring a new life to more than just nature. We start to venture out more, and time at home feels a bit less sad and a bit more productive. So why not harness the extra Vitamin-D-induced energy and get some work done?
Many of our spring cleaning tasks also have to be done at least one other time during the year. The difference is that with everything ramping up in the fall, it may not happen all at once like it often does in the spring.
What do we clean?
This is completely up to you of course, but some of our “big ticket” items are:
- Clean the oven.
- Deep-clean the fridge and freezer. Like, REALLY clean. Everything out, toss the old, scrub the shelves, and organize it on the way back in!)
- Clothing and closets. Try on things you haven’t worn to decide if they’re worth keeping or not. Pare down and organize all closets too, not just the ones with clothes!
- Garage. Cleaning out extra junk, and sweeping and scrubbing out all the grime from the winter makes it feel shiny and new each year!
We also like to deep clean the normal things as well, like the kitchen and bathrooms. These get cleaned much more frequently than once a year, don’t you worry. But this is still a great chance to really get into the cracks and crevices, take out the heavy-duty cleaners, and get them all super shiny! In the kitchen, we might soak and scrub drip pans (we have a glasstop now though). In the bathroom, this could mean pulling out the cabinet drawers and scrubbing them clean. These will be different for everyone, but take it as an opportunity to find the things you don’t typically clean, and clean those!
Make spring cleaning fun!
Spring cleaning definitely sounds like a chore, but we do our best to make it more than that. It’s a perfect time to jam out to some good music, goof off a bit with your spouse, and spend time together! It might not seem like a fun date, but spending hours together getting stuff done can we very enjoyable. We also like to plan purposeful relaxing time afterwards as well. Work all day, grab a pizza in the late afternoon, and spend the evening cuddling in the beanbag and watching a good movie in our CLEAN house. Now that sounds a bit more fun!
Are you a spring cleaner? What did we miss on our list, and how do you like to tackle your spring cleaning? We’d love to hear from you!