Finally! Spring is here! This winter was unusually wet in California but we all know how much we needed it. After a nasty 5-year drought, the rain last season finally tipped us out of the danger zone and we can finally use water like normal people! Still, when we’re used to 90% of the year with clear skies and sunny days, the change of weather did take a toll on us. We are soooooo ready for days to warm up, flowers to bloom, and to get outside to play. Well, before that, it’s time for some serious spring cleaning with these cleaning and decluttering tips!
Spring Cleaning — Why the Bedroom
When I think about the room in our home that needs the most love, it has to be our bedroom. The high cost of living the San Francisco Bay Area has caused us to downsize quite a bit over the years. We went from a two-bedroom duplex with a garage and yard to a two-bedroom condo to a one-bedroom condo in the same complex. Things get a bit tight sometimes with three people sharing the space but we live simply and are able to make due.
But, having almost no storage, our bedroom has turned into our replacement garage. Using a combination of shelves, closets, and boxes, our bedroom is where we store most of our stuff. Plus, we toss all our piles of paper and other items in there when unexpected guests arrive and we need to clean up in a hurry. After a while, the clutter adds up quite a bit. So, this is the perfect time to give our bedroom a good deep cleaning.
Bedroom Cleaning & Decluttering Tips
- Dust everything. Dust accumulates so quickly in our place so I have to do it pretty regularly. Still, there are some spots that don’t get as much attention as they should. That includes on top of the closet, on the window sill, around the baseboards, boxes under the bed, and the curtain rod. Clorox® Triple Action Dust Wipes are dry, non-abrasive wipes, making them safe to use for household surfaces, so we can wipe everything down in one go. I liked the fact that these wipes trap the dust instead of just spreading it all around. For our nightstands, I used Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes to clean them. After being sick so much this past season, we need to help kill any leftover cold and flu germies from stray snot rags that might have landed on them.
- Sort and purge. I have a hard time throwing things away. I feel like there might come a time in the distant future in which we might need them. In some cases that’s true but, usually, most things end up sitting in boxes for years as we forget about them. Our wardrobes are long overdue for an overhaul. About one-third of our clothing are items we don’t wear anymore due to being too small, out of style, or wearing out. We also have several piles of paper that need to be sorted out and either tossed or filed. It’s just a matter of sitting down and committing the effort to doing it.
- Dirt buildup. No matter how often I try to wipe down our vertical blinds, dirt builds up and gets caked on. We decided to take the blinds down and give them a good scrubbing in the bathtub.
- Remove unwanted mold. Though we have double-paned windows in our bedroom, condensation still appears sometimes. That also means we get a slight buildup of mold around the frame. One time we called our building maintenance team to tackle this problem. They simply used a bleach solution to disinfect it. So, we decided to do it ourselves by using Clorox® Clean-Up® Cleaner + Bleach. It is super quick and easy to use.
- Finish with the floor. After picking up everything from the floor, I plan to do a good, thorough vacuuming. We usually only go in our bedroom to sleep but Speckles does come in each day to take naps in there with us. That means we need to suck up any dirt and pet fur on the carpet. A deep steam cleaning of our floor is long overdue. We’ll probably make an appointment for that once our other spring cleaning is done.
Even after we finish cleaning up our bedroom, we need to go through the rest of our home. It’s amazing how dirty and cluttered things can get during the course of just one year. If you have some serious spring cleaning to do but can’t quite get yourself pumped up to do it, Clorox is encouraging a “Season of Clean.” Clorox will be featuring 30 days of cleaning and decluttering tips, hacks, and even recipes to get things going. I LOVE the tips to take breaks with snacks and catching up on e-mail and social posts. You can find that Springvent calendar here.
Do you have any cleaning or decluttering tips to share?
This post is being compensated by The Clorox Company as a part of the Clorox Influencer program and as part of my participation of being a Clorox CLXChampion.
