It’s finally that time of year — the days are a little longer, the temperatures are starting to rise, and signs are everywhere that spring is just around the corner. After months of being cooped up in your apartment all winter, now is the time to make a plan to get rid of the dust, dirt, and clutter so you’re ready to make the most of the next season. To make the most of your spring cleaning, we’ve put together a list of helpful tips that will allow you to get the most done in the least amount of time without missing anything. Keep reading, and if a move is going to be part of your spring plans, we invite you to come to take a look at our Brighton apartments. Contact The Elements at Prairie Center to learn more. 

Where To Start

Spring cleaning is one of those things that sound great, and you can’t wait to get done, but setting aside the time to do it and actually following through can be an entirely different story. To do a thorough job on your entire apartment, it’s important to set aside an entire day just for cleaning. Don’t try to get it done in the morning when you have plans to go out at night and don’t try to tackle it one room at a time over the course of a week. Just pick a day that you can dedicate to spring cleaning, write it on the calendar, and plan the rest of your life around it. 

 

As far as which day to pick, that depends on you and your schedule. Ideally, you want it to be sometime in the beginning of spring when the weather forecast is showing that it’s going to be warm and comfortable, but not too hot. If you’ve lived in Colorado for any amount of time, then you know that trying to pick a day based on what the weather is going to be even a few days away is no easy task. It could be sunny and hot or there could be a blizzard — you never know. Just do your best to pick a day and roll with it.

Next, it’s good to have a general idea of how you’re going to do your cleaning. Some people tend to start in one place and find themselves running from room to room to find their cleaning supplies, put away items, or stop and organize a random closet. Cleaning this way is inefficient and doesn’t allow you to see the progress you’re making as you clean one room at a time. Being able to see results is important when you’re in the eighth hour of cleaning and still have two rooms to go. So, do yourself a favor — make a plan and then stick to it. 

The following are our suggestions on what to tackle first.   

#1: Get Rid of the Clutter

Having too much “stuff” or having it lying about and completely unorganized can be a great source of stress. Take this time to put away, discard, recycle, or donate items to clean up your space and make room for cleaning. You can’t vacuum a floor or wipe down a countertop if there are things covering it up. 

#2: Do the Big Jobs First

Try to tackle some of the biggest and most undesirable jobs first while you have the most energy. These jobs can be different for everyone but may include scrubbing the shower and toilet, vacuuming or shampooing the carpet, or cleaning out the entire refrigerator and freezer. Getting tasks like these out of the way early in the day will keep you going knowing that you haven’t saved the worst for last. 

#3: Go Room By Room

No matter what size of apartment you live in, you’re likely to become tired and overwhelmed before your spring cleaning day is over. You might be tempted to just run from room to room as quickly as possible so you can just get it all done. This really isn’t the best strategy though, and it will likely take more time to do your cleaning, not less.

As we mentioned earlier in our blog, the best plan of attack is to go room by room so you don’t have to keep running back to places you’ve already cleaned. It’s much easier to know how far along you are in the cleaning process if you can cross rooms off of your list as you do them. Plus, you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment after completing each one.

#4: Don’t Forget To Dust

There’s always so much to clean and put away that there never seems to be enough time to dust. Unfortunately, homes in Colorado tend to gather more than their fair share of dust because of the dry climate. That’s why it’s especially important on your spring cleaning day to make time to dust. Bookshelves, appliances, electronics, blinds, ceiling fan blades, and the top of the refrigerator are some good places to start.

#5: Open Up the Windows (if possible)

If you happen to be doing your cleaning on a beautiful sunny day that’s not too cold, go ahead and open up your windows to get some fresh air circulating through the apartment. This helps to get rid of the old, stale air that has been hanging around for months and also allows some of the airborne chemicals left behind by the cleaning products you’re using to make their way outside. For added air circulation try turning on a fan or opening up multiple windows to get a cross-breeze.  

#6: Don’t Forget These Commonly Missed Areas

There are several areas that you never seem to get to with normal, everyday cleaning, so they really need to be addressed during your spring cleaning. Here is a list of some commonly overlooked tasks. Feel free to add to this list as you notice other things while you’re working around your apartment. 

• Do a deep-clean on your over
• Dust the blinds and baseboards
• Clean and sanitize door handles and light switches
• Flip your mattress
• Wash windows and wipe down mirrors
• Clean behind appliances
• Microwave, bleach, or replace your kitchen sponge

Final Steps

If you’ve conquered your entire apartment from top to bottom, great job! You’re no doubt tired, but also feel a great sense of satisfaction. The last thing to do is to make a note of anything you noticed that needs repair. If it is part of the apartment and something that would be taken care of by maintenance, make sure to send a note or make a call to let your landlord know. 

Upgrade Your Surroundings

Sometimes all of the cleaning in the world doesn’t help if you’re in a place that just doesn’t feel like home. If you’re in this situation, you might want to consider making a change and moving to a new apartment. At The Elements at Prairie Center, our Brighton apartments are located in a quaint and quiet town just 25 minutes from downtown Denver. We offer beautifully designed one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with a multitude of convenient features and amenities. And did we mention that we’re a pet-friendly community? You’ll love coming home (and perhaps even enjoy spring cleaning!) when you live at The Elements at Prairie Ridge. Contact us to inquire about availability or to schedule a tour.