By Madeline King
Every year, sometime around March or April, I start to feel the spring cleaning itch. As I wake up from winter and the world feels clean and new, I want my house to feel clean too. I like to open all the windows to let in the fresh air, go for long walks outside, and bring the mindset of the new season into my life.
This year, with the unusual circumstances of lockdown at home, my spring cleaning itch was multiplied times 100. The combination of having a lot of free time on my hands and being in the same environment the whole day led to wanting to clean and declutter everything in my home.
Now like a lot of you, I’m in school and I live with my parents so I can’t start throwing things away willy nilly. However, my room is fair game and that was the first area of the house I attacked. My advice to anyone spring cleaning is to start with your room. You probably have the most control over it and you probably spend a lot of time in it too. To get a good spring clean, I suggest going deeper than the usual change of sheets and vacuum. Wipe down the baseboards, wash your duvet cover, fish out whatever’s fallen behind your dresser. Go through all your clothes KonMari style.
After you’ve finished your room, go after closets: the coat closet, the pantry, the closet that holds every random thing you forgot you owned. Bring a trash bag and a bag for donations, a sponge or a rag, and play some music or a good audio book (check out the app “libby” by overdrive for free audiobooks). Clean that closet like there’s no tomorrow.
At this point, you may be satisfied with your spring cleaning. All the nooks and cranny of your house are newly organized and clean, your room feels fresh, and you can hear birds singing outside (okay maybe no birds but you can imagine them). I know I felt pretty good when I had gotten this far, but if you want to keep going there’s always more to do. Deep clean your kitchen, your living room, maybe even your attic, pull out weeds in the garden or hose off your garbage cans. Most of us have a lot of time on our hands and spring is springing, so get out there (or in there) and start cleaning!
