My home

Spring cleaning…urgh

Spring is here and it’s my favourite time of year! The days are getting lighter, gardens are coming back to life and little ducklings are swimming in the local ponds. Spring fills me with the feeling of hope and excitement for new beginnings. Plus time for a new wardrobe! yesss

However….. as the light filters through my flat it shamefully highlights all the cobwebs, cat hair, dust and dirt that I’ve not quite got round to cleaning up. I find it quite stressful and hard to concentrate when I’m surrounded by clutter and dirt so it seems to be the perfect time for a good old sort out and spring clean!

Spring cleaning can be a bit of a pain and I’m not one to preach about living in a spotless home as I’m quite the mucky pup. After reading the amazing book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying‘ I’m inspired to organise and spruce up my home and weirdly excited about it too! Here’s how I got started.

Draw back the curtains and open your windows

Letting fresh air into the home will help encourage you to clean and sort out any mess. Making sure lots of light comes into the home will make you fully aware of what you’ve been neglecting.

Bring the outdoors in

Greenery, flowers and plants are all pretty and they’re a great way to bring a room to life. I prefer not to have cute dainty flowers as they get drowned out by my furniture, making them look out of place and not have any impact. Choose plants with boldness and attitude. For flowers, go big, get loads, they will make a room bloom.

Wipe around THEN vacuum

Always wipe the dust and dirt away before you get the vacuum cleaner out. This gives a much more effective way of get rid of dust and grime. Plus PLEASE don’t call a vacuum cleaner a Hoover unless it’s made by Hoover! It’s sooooo annoying! I like to say that I Dyson with my Dyson because I have a Dyson, hahaha I’m so sad!

Sort out your duvet sets

Try folding your duvet and pillow sets into one of the matching pillowcases. This compact storage method makes your linen cupboard more organised and will look pretty nice too. Neat!

Refresh your mattress!

Strip the bedding off your bed, leaving only the naked mattress. Sprinkle baking powder/baking soda all over the mattress and leave for a few hours. This will soak up any nasty smells and make it much fresher. After a few hours, vacuum the baking powder away, it can take a while as the powder is so fine. You can use Bicarbonate of soda or baking powder, I don’t really see much difference between the two, some people also use baking soda too. If you wish to have a scented fresh bed, try spritzing linen spray on the mattress once you’ve vacuumed the powder away. This made my bed feel so fresh, I will do this every year!

Lemon and white vinegar

Stock up on these items, they come in very useful. Making lemon and white vinegar solutions are very effective, natural and cheap cleaners. Adding a little bicarb of soda or baking powder can make a strong cleaner. I’m not too great on quantities but it’s roughly 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 Tablespoons baking soda, 1 litre (4 cups) of water, 1/2 a lemon. Have a look on Pinterest for more tips.

Keep or get rid

Don’t hoard items that no longer mean anything to you. You should only have things that you have a connection with, you love or you use. How great would it be to have a home surrounded by items that you loved?! Pretty nice eh. Get those unwanted christmas presents up on ebay or out to the charity shops. You’d be surprised how much crap you’ve got. I’m still clearing mine out but I’m noticing the amount of space I’m gaining already! It’s so worth it.

Utility shopping

This is the best bit! A new addiction of mine alongside buying fancy looking stationary, is buying beautiful utility products. Adding to my collection I’ve bought a new dust pan set from Nook, it’s a classic and simple Swedish design by Iris Hantverk, this makes me want to sweep, so pretty!! I’ve also got a fab new laundry bag by Ferm living which has become my must have item for the bedroom, not to have anymore clothes on the floor again!

Having items like these are encouraging me to clean and tidy, plus they look fab in my home, win win.

I’ve also got the challenge to clean the cat, I do try to do it occasionally but he’s a wild thing that I think I get more of a shower than he does. So I’m chasing Hansel around the flat with my Aesop Animal wash, wish me luck!