Prepare for Summer: Deep Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Apartment Home

Spring is in the air, and now is the time to freshen up your apartment home. Open up the windows, let some fresh air in, and get ready to spring clean your space. Spring cleaning does not have to be as big of a chore as some believe it to be. You can easily divide up the tasks into separate days. Dividing up tasks allows you to focus your time and efforts on specific areas of your home. Before you know it, your apartment home will be sparkly clean and ready for you to enjoy summer. 

Make a Plan

Before you get started spring cleaning your apartment home, you must first sit down and make a detailed plan. Make a list of the rooms you need to clean and what needs to be cleaned in each one. Then determine which days and times you will dedicate to spring cleaning. A plan will help you create a schedule and know which room you will be working in on a specific day. (See below for details on cleaning room by room.) 

Now that you know when and what you will be cleaning, it is time to make your cleaning playlist. Put together a playlist with all of your favorite upbeat music and motivating songs. Additionally, find a cleaning buddy. It can be your family, a friend, or a roommate. Find someone who can join in and help with the cleaning projects. Both of these will make cleaning so much more enjoyable and not feel like a chore. 

Start with Decluttering

We tend to collect more things throughout the year than we realize, tucking items we no longer use in a drawer to save for later. Hiding items in the back of the closet because we don't need them today, but someday we might. All of these items can start an apartment home to feel a bit cramped. Decluttering apartments is key to freshening up the place, making it feel more spacious, and setting the stage for spring cleaning. 

Decluttering can be an overwhelming project. But it does not have to be. Make a list of all the rooms and pick one room per day to go through and declutter everything. Don't forget to check cabinets, drawers, and anywhere else items may have been tucked away in. The fastest way to do this is to pick up an item and categorize the items in one of the following categories: 

• Keep: Put away where it belongs.  
• Toss: Throw it away. 
• Donate or Giveaway: Put in a box to donate or give to someone you know who needs it.
• Storage: Properly pack the item and prepare it for storage. 
• Unsure: Put items that do not fit in any of the above categories in a separate box and save them to go through later. 

Each item should only take three seconds to determine which category it belongs in—once decided, put things in designated places right away. At the end of decluttering, throw away all trash bags, store boxes designated for storage, and drop off all donations and giveaways. For the unsure box, set it aside, somewhere out of the way. When you have more time to debate over the item's fate, you can start going through the box. 

Tip for sorting through medicine cabinets and pantries: Check expiration dates first and toss anything expired. Tossing expired items is a quick way to weed through a lot of items stashed in these areas. 

Stock Up On Supplies

Once you have decluttered your apartment, it is time to start gathering supplies and getting ready to spring clean. Make sure you have the following items available for when you start your spring cleaning project: 

• All-Purpose Cleaner
• Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach
• Furniture Cleaner
• Floor Cleaner
• Glass Cleaner
• Microfiber Cloths
• Vacuum with Attachments
• Rubber Gloves
• Mop and Bucket
• Brooms
• Lint Brush for Pet Hair on Furniture
• Air Freshener Room Sprays

Once you have all the cleaning supplies you need, please keep them in a central location easy to access. If there is room, temporarily keep them on the kitchen counter where you can grab and go when you start cleaning. Using a shower caddy is a great way to keep all of your cleaning supplies together and keep them easily transportable from room to room. 

Clean Room by Room

Even though some apartments are not very big, taking on a spring cleaning project can become overwhelming. The best way to spring clean your space is to go room by room. Start with the rooms you hate cleaning the most. For some, those are the bathrooms. Others may not enjoy cleaning the kitchen. Tackle one room a day, so the task does not feel so overwhelming. 

Make a list of everything you want to clean in each room. Spring cleaning should be a thorough cleaning of everything in the home. No corner left unclean. Spring cleaning tasks should include:  

• Dust Ceilings and Baseboards
• Dust Light Fixtures and Ceiling Fans
• Wipe Down and Disinfect Wall Fixtures
• Clean All Electronics and Appliances
• Sweep, Mop, and Vacuum
• Wipe Cabinets and Drawers Inside and Out
• Clean Out and Disinfect the Refrigerator, Stove, Dishwasher, and Microwave

Don't Forget the Closets

During your spring cleaning adventures, you mustn't forget your closets. Pull everything out of the closet and sort through it. Use the same method explained in the decluttering section above. Before putting everything back in, take time to wipe down all the surfaces and vacuum the floor. Check the corners of the closet and dust or wipe down those areas too. Once clean, put everything back in its place. 

Reward Yourself

Once you have completed everything on your cleaning list, it is time to reward yourself. Your reward can be a dinner out, order take out, or go on a quick day trip. Your bonus can be to buy yourself something. Just make sure you need it because you do not want to add clutter to your newly decluttered apartment.