It’s spring, and you’re all ready to feel rejuvenated. Change your environment to change your mood. Follow these suggestions for low-cost ways to freshen up both your house and your mood this spring.
Give it a quick cleaning
You don’t have to scrub the house from top to bottom to make it feel cleaner. Who has the time for that? Instead of focusing on deep cleaning this spring and getting through only a quarter of your to-do list, try to give the whole house a quick once-over. Get the big-ticket cleaning items: Tidy, dust, vacuum, wipe down the bathrooms, give the kitchen floor a quick scrub. By cleaning a little of everything all at once, you can ensure every room that you will go into will feel a little bit cleaner and will cheer you up.
Then, focus on trying to maintain a bit of that surface clean. If you tidy a little bit every day, the next time you do want to perform some deep-cleaning like a carpet shampoo or vacuuming the cobwebs out of the corners, you won’t have to wear yourself out tidying first.
Clean out your refrigerator
Spring is the perfect time to reassess your menus and cooking style. Go through your refrigerator and throw out any expired items. Wash down the produce and meat drawers and the egg and butter shelves. If you’re feeling energetic, empty and defrost the freezer part as well.
Make a note of items you need to replace. After cleaning out the refrigerator, browse some recipes online and learn a few new ways for preparing vegetables and fruit. As you shop through the coming weeks, buy one or two new types of vegetables. In your newly clean fridge, you’ll be able to see what you have to work with, and spring can be a great time to implement some healthy changes to your diet.
Pick a room or two and find several bags of items to donate
Even more important than spring cleaning is spring cleaning out. Pick one room to start with and go over it from top to bottom. Be honest… If you find items that don’t fit, that you don’t use, or that people in your household plain just don’t want anymore, put it on a pile to be donated to charity or given away free on Facebook. Really question whether you need certain items; are there things you hang onto just because you feel you should or because somebody gave them to you? Try not to be bound by this conventional thinking. A gift is a gift, and once it’s yours, it’s yours to do with as you please.
You don’t have to be ruthless; if you’re not sure whether you’re done with something or you still feel sentimental ties to it, by all means, keep it. As a medium step, you could also gather up such items in a special corner in a pantry, utility room, or basement. After putting them away, if you revisit them in a year and really feel like it’s time to move on, that’s a time when you can donate or recycle them.
This step helps you realize that you own your stuff; your stuff does not own you. It can be very liberating to make your house more roomy and spacious simply by removing things that you don’t need, use, or want.
Bring something new into your home
It’s very easy to fall into habits or one particular way of being or living. If you want to shake up your mindset ever so gently, shake up the items with which you surround yourself.
Such items do not have to be expensive. Watch for an item of decor or a decorative touch for which you might not ordinarily purchase. Buy a new book you’ve been wanting to read and keep it handy on the sofa table to encourage yourself to read it. Buy a small mirror and hang it in a room to make it feel roomier or more light.
Although you don’t want to get into the habit of buying things to make yourself feel better, spring is great time to treat yourself to one or two new organizational items to help you run your home more smoothly. It can also be a good time to add one new item to your kitchen or cooking supplies, or even a small accent pillow or two to add a pop of color where there wasn’t one before. The possibilities are endless and many of them are inexpensive.
Buy some flowers or a new plant
Spring comes slowly in some parts of the country, and even though the calendar may turn technically to spring, it might still be weeks before you can garden or work on your landscaping. In the meantime, bring some fresh-cut flowers into your newly cleaned and revitalized house. Invest in a new house plant and find a new spot for it. That touch of new life or freshness will make the other steps you’ve taken come together.
Spring is a wonderful season of life and rejuvenation. Help yourself feel ready for spring by getting your house ready for spring!