Spring cleaning tips for freshening up your home

With the days starting to get longer ( “a grand stretch”, as us Irish would say), you might be motivated to Spring clean, declutter and refresh your space. With the extra light, you may notice some cobwebs in your corners and dirty windows. Not to worry, as I will share some Spring cleaning tips and hacks to help you on your way. 

Spring cleaning the kitchen 

With lots of cleaning hack videos shared on Instagram and Tik Tok, I decided to give one a go. 

DIY oven cleaner: 

I gave the oven a good deep clean using baking soda and white vinegar. 

• Sprinkle baking soda inside the oven and on the glass, then drizzle white vinegar, and the baking soda will start to fizzle. 
• Allow this to fizz for a few moments before scrubbing away the grease and grime. 
• For an extra decrease, slice a lemon in half and use that to scrub away the grime ( I haven’t tried the lemon, but I’ve seen someone else using it in a video)

Pro’s – This mixture is cheap to make, less toxic compared with chemical oven cleaners and won’t damage surfaces (i.e strip hand-painted cabinets)

Con’s – you need a little more elbow grease compared with shop-bought oven cleaners. I recommend using a scraper to remove excess grime before wiping the surface. 

Also! Did you know you can remove your oven door to make it easier to clean? Most oven doors will have two latches on the bottom corners that you can flick to release the door. (Be careful not to drop)

You can also remove the glass from the door and clean the inside. 

White vinegar, the unsung hero in the kitchen!

White vinegar is not only is it good at making chips tasty, but it makes an amazing home cleaner. 

Mix a spray bottle with half white vinegar, half distilled water and a few drops of essential oil to make a spray cleaner. 

Perfect for: 

• Cleaning windows and mirrors.
• Use for dusting surfaces with a microfiber cloth. 
• Great for cleaning grime and dust from wooden blinds. 
• Use vinegar and baking soda together to make a paste for cleaning hobs, sinks etc. 

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Declutter and refresh

Clutter can be overwhelming and affect our moods. If you are feeling like the walls are closing in on you, then have a look at your space. Do you need to declutter, clean, paint or organise your space? 

Do you need more storage, or do you need less stuff? 

Second-hand clothing sites have become popular in the past few years. If you are doing a wardrobe cleanout, why not sell on your good stuff and make an extra few pennies. 

The same goes for old items of furniture and home decor, clear out and get cash for it. 

Selling and buying second hand encourages a circular economy and keeps clothes and furniture away from landfills. 

If you are cleaning out the hot press, I have a DIY for old towels. 

In this post, I have DIY makeup pads from cotton and towels, also a DIY dish sponge made from cotton, an old towel and using some recycled plastic. 

Kids and teenagers rooms

Back in the day, my bedroom walls were full of boyband posters. However, kids are more trendy nowadays, and Tik Tok room makeovers are increasing in popularity. 

If your little one wants to refresh their space and put their personal stamp on it, you don’t have to break the bank. 

Here are some tips for Spring cleaning kids and teenagers bedrooms: 

• Use peel and stick removable wallpaper to make a feature wall. 
• Reuse existing furniture and paint or stain to change the colour. ( Furniture upcycling is a great hobby for teenagers, and most paints nowadays are safe for use by older teenagers. Also, completing projects gives them a sense of achievement when they create. I have loads of furniture makeovers on YouTube/Website for tips. Click here for more.  
• Reduce clutter by clearing out old clothes and items they no longer need to free up space. 
• Rearrange, remember when you were younger, and you rearranged your room, and it felt new again? Well, reposition items in the room to give it that new feeling. 

Heading back to school with a calm, fresh, tidy room is the best feeling. 

Starting the garden clean up

Seeing the Spring bulbs shooting up might be giving you some motivation to get out and start tidying up the garden after the long Winter. Here are some tips for getting started with the garden clean up: 

• When clearing a corner full of leaves, check for sleeping hedgehogs and any hibernating wildlife. 
• Sweeping leaves onto the grass and then mowing them makes them easier to compost.
• Use your leaves to create leaf mould. 

To make leaf mould, bag up your leaves. You can use a plastic bag or a hessian sack. Fill the bag with wet leaves, add some holes if using a plastic bag. Tie a knot in the bag, and store it in a shady area ( behind a shed is perfect). Your leaf mould will rot down and be ready to use in 6month-1 year, depending on the leaves. 

Freshening up the walls, fences and outdoor furniture

A sunny Spring day is my favourite time to get outside and powerwash the patio furniture and freshen up the dirty walls. Just be mindful that the weather can still be unpredictable in March/April, so keep a cover handy if we get bad weather. 

Tips for outdoor paint jobs: 

Prep: Before painting, deep clean your wooden garden furniture with a degreaser. I power washed down my pieces before cleaning and used a wire sponge to scrub away any mould, moss and algae. Rinse off any residue from the cleaning products.

Wait for a warm day to allow your garden furniture to dry before painting. Avoid painting over damp wood, as it can cause mould. 

Use a scraper to remove any old flaking paint. If you paint over the flaky paint, the paint will still flake off.

Many paint brands offer specialist garden paints, and you will find them on the outdoor paint aisle in most hardware shops. Use a sprayer, fence brush or roller to paint outdoor furniture, fences and walls. 

Create a fun feature in your garden

A few years ago I used old car tyres to make a planter in my garden. I stacked two tyres on top of each other, added hessian for the base, filled it with compost and planted wildflower seeds. 

You can pick up old tyres on second-hand sites for free if you want to have a go yourself. Click here to read more.

Do you have an old chair knocking about? I cut this chair in half and created a quirky shelf for my garden wall, and used the base as a planter. Read more here.

Want some Spring cleaning motivation?

I have a playlist of satisfying home declutter and cleaning videos on my YouTube channel. Click here to check them out. 

Getting the home organised, cleaned and refreshed can be overwhelming. Why not do a little each day instead of burning yourself out trying to get it all cleaned and decluttered in a weekend. 

Let me know your Spring cleaning tips in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading, Chat soon, Catherine.