Spring Cleaning Tips & Tricks

I love a freshly cleaned home, who doesn't?  It's just super hard to keep a house looking pristine when you have two furry dogs, a baby, and two active people! The outside is already like a mud pit, and leaving towels by every door to dry off muddy paws helps, but certainly doesn't eliminate.  I must say however, since using my steam mop, I feel like the floors are much more manageable to keep up with. I love it!
Last year I wrote this post to help me.  I didn't stick with it 100%, by any means, but if I can do the following, I feel like I can stay on top of things.

Daily:

Run the dishwasher

Wipe counters/clean after every meal

Make bed

Do at least one load of laundry (wash, dry, fold, put away!)

Tidy up living room

 Check floors--vacuum as needed

Get mail & sort (throw away junk asap!)

So keeping up with the daily cleaning is one thing, but how about a nice deep clean around the house that isn't always taken care of?

Spring Cleaning List:

Clean and organize office 

Windows in/out

Guest room: organize clothes w/ bins

Organize shoes better

Donate clothes

Tidy up basement storage

Clean oven

 Clean refrigerator and freezers

Organize kitchen--cabinets, cupboards

Begin outdoor work-pick up sticks

I have already begun de-cluttering, which I believe is the biggest help around my house.  Three people can accumulate a lot of junk over the years (months-for baby!)  I started with our 'office' which was really just a catch-all for all of the stuff I never knew what to do with.  Extra books, papers, nick-knacks, craft supplies...the list goes on and on!

My best advice is to just start some place. 

Then make three piles.

1.) Keep--stuff you use on a daily/weekly and find a home for it.
2.) Throw away (or give away, like books)--stuff you don't use.  If it's in good condition, donate it. If it's broken, why are you still holding onto it anyway?!
3.)  Store--Grab a box, bin, bags, whatever, and place items in here that you just can't let go of, but don't need to look at taking up space in your new area.  (You can then throw/give away next spring when you realize you didn't use them for an entire year!)

Of course, since I am no expert...I'm going to resort to these.  Thank you Pinterest!  There are some really useful tips here that I hope to implement. 

Source: embracinghomemaking.net via Koren on Pinterest

Source: livingwellspendingless.com via Eric Delcroix on Pinterest

Source: blog.homes.com via Randi on Pinterest

TIPS:

Be sure to generate your own list of areas in your home you want to deep clean.

With that, make sure your dinners are planned ahead, ideally with little to no effort. (Think freezer meals or crockpot meals) because you'll be tired!

Be proud of yourself after you've cleaned an area.  Make it pretty! Get rid of things you are not in love with. If there are things you're staring at on a daily basis that are not appealing to your eyes, why is it there?  Now, I understand when living with other people, tastes can be different (husband's desire to collect odds and ends from our trips) so you must compromise. Husband now has a man cave where all these 'special things' rest and I have my office back.

Now I have a clean space to write, make notes, plan menus, do bills, and stay motivated! This way I won't mess up our kitchen table on a daily basis.

Happy Cleaning!!