Ultimate Guide to Spring Cleaning + Printable Checklist

Spring has sprung and that means it’s time to get a little “Spring Cleaning” done around here. As a family of 6 we seem to need to do that “deep cleaning” a bit more often than just in the Spring. However, I thought it might be nice to share my little tips how to get those deep, yet tedious tasks done, as well as share a helpful little checklist for each rooms tasks.

Living Room

The living room is a major room in the house, so I am betting it is probably one of your “cleanest” rooms – well as far as the eye can see that is. But when tackling this Spring cleaning checklist you may be surprised by how dirty that room actually is. So first make sure you get to the nitty gritty. Clean the ceiling fan and light fixtures (yuck). Next, take a damp rag with a touch of cleaner (or use your homemade vinegar and baking soda mixture) and wipe down the walls, baseboards and window seals. Dust the appliances, furniture and decor. Lastly, get out that trusty vacuum and get every crevices of the room. Behind the furniture, under the rugs, in the crevices of the baseboards, inside the cushions, the works. Now get out that mop (or steam cleaner if you have carpet) and give the floors a good sanitizing finishing clean. For the finishing touch, don’t forget to update your decor with a little something cute (fresh flowers, new candle, a pretty picture…ect).

Bathrooms

Ok we all clean our bathrooms regularly (or at least I would hope so)! But how often do you do that really really deep clean? I can tell you I “think” I do it often enough, but whenever I do this big Spring Clean, it’s always way worse than I thought. So to start out, grab your favorite bathroom cleaner, a rag, a few paper towels, window cleaner and get your elbow grease ready! I like to begin with scrubbing the walls, from ceiling to floor boards. This is because there have been studies done that show that your toilet “sprays” or splashing up to 10 feet when flushing – ewe!!! Next, remove everything from the counter tops and inside the cabinets and drawers. Scrub it all up real good. Now to the porcelain – toilets, sinks and bath/shower. Make sure to use your paper towels and window cleaner to get those mirrors all sparkly clean. Finally, get that elbow grease ready and tackle the grout in the walls and/or flooring. Don’t forget to scrub all of the cocking around the tub, sink and behind the toilet! Finish the room off by hanging fresh decorative towels and lighting a nice smelling candle.

Bedrooms

First get all of those linens off the bed and curtains off the windows and throw them into the wash. Now do a quick tour through your closets, tossing any clothing you have not worn in the past year out! Now do the same with your drawers. While going through your closets and drawers make sure to give them a fresh fold and straighten out the hangers. Take your mattress off your bed and flip it if it can be flipped. Now clean under your bed while your mattress is out of the way. Throw away any trash, dust bunnies or randomness that may have collected under the abyss. Make sure to dust all the surfaces in your room, furniture, window seals, floor boards, ceiling fan, door frames and ect. Next, get that vacuum and steam cleaner ready to do some hard core cleaning, under, over and thru every inch of the bedroom. Finish the room off with a freshly made bed, clean window treatments, and a little something special for your loved one living in that room (for the kids maybe a special treat on the pillow or a new poster for the wall, for your spouse you could add a rose on the pillow or add a pretty picture to the wall or nightstand.)

Kitchen

Honestly the kitchen is my favorite room in the house to “Spring clean”. I love taking all of my dishes out of the cabinets, looking through what I have, getting rid of odd pieces or items that are not being used. Next, I usually wash EVERYTHING. This means I usually re-hand wash all of the dishes, bowls, pots/pans, Tupperware the whole works. Meanwhile while these are all drying, take a damp rag and wipe down the insides of all of the cabinets and drawers. Next, empty that fridge. Throw away the old/bad stuff and re-organize in a way that is more efficient for you. Don’t forget to take out all of the shelves and drawers to wash and dry them. Now to the general dusting, make sure to dust the walls ceiling to floor, on top of all of the appliances, ceiling fans and molding. Make sure to prepare your oven for a self cleaning mode and get that going as well. I love self clean as it literally does all of the work and makes your oven look brand new again. The last step to cleaning your kitchen is scrubbing those floors everywhere. This includes behind/under the appliances and along the baseboards. Finish this room with some pretty flowers, fresh hand towels and/or a fun little bowl of treats for the family!

General and Halls

Now for the general cleaning you are going to want to make sure you declutter your hall closets, drawers, coat racks and ect. Take down all of the curtains throughout the house, wash and press them. Dust walls (get those dust bunnies up high and low), photos, decor and anything else that is out. Wipe down all baseboards and walls with antibacterial cleaner. Sweep/vacuum and mop all floors. Finish the general areas of your home with a simple fresh clean look. You can always update the decor, however that is not a necessity.