It may not be fun but it does have to be done!

It’s that time of year again and as everyone prepares to shuffle off the winter coat, so should your apartment. But fear not, Spring Cleaning from top to bottom doesn’t have to be as daunting as it sounds. Here are simple spring cleaning tips for each room.

Photo: www.sxc.hu

Spring Cleaning Tips for the Kitchen:  Now’s the time to get your food storage areas in order. Wipe down the refrigerator shelves, organize kitchen cabinets, and defrost your freezer. Discard any expired packaged food or condiments you’ve got laying around. Even Ramen has a shelf life.

Spring Cleaning Tips for the Bathroom: De-clutter your bathroom drawer and wipe down the medicine cabinet. Discard any expired medicines and beauty products that have stockpiled. If you’ve got moldy grout and no superintendant in sight, try this step by step replacement guide by HGTV.

Spring Cleaning Tips for the Bedroom: It’s all about the bed. Flip the mattress, sweep the dust bunnies out from under the bed, and discard any pillows that more lump than plump. Organize your jewelry collection, your nightstand table drawer, and any other small space that needs de-cluttering.

Spring Cleaning Tips for the Closets: Swap out heavy winter wear for your Spring things (you have seasonal wardrobe storage don’t you?), making sure to check that everything is clean before you pack it away. Find some of your warm weather outfits don’t feel as fabulous anymore? Donate them to a local charity or homeless shelter. One organization we recommend is NYC’s Coalition for the Homeless. (Do we know that they accept clothing donations?)

Spring Cleaning Tips for the Living Room: Give couch cushions a good scrub with fabric cleaner and take curtains or drapes down to be washed. Dust bookshelves, lamps, and plants top to bottom, then sweep or vacuum the room, making sure to reach underneath any furniture.

If you need more ideas for how to master your Spring Check out our earlier posts on the subject including spring cleaning tips from the pros, a spring cleaning checklist, and our spring bathroom cleaning guide.

First Step to Getting in Shape? Clean Your Apartment!

Ok, so it’s not a major scientific study from Cornell or anything, but really, when you think about it; it makes sense!

Apartment Clutter is a Lot like Fat!

Glamour staffer Karina Arrueis writes on her blog that part of her weight loss goal is to clean her studio apartment! Nope, she’s not planning on getting all aerobic and furiously cleaning in spandex to “Sweating to the Oldies”.   It’s more of a “my body and home are my temple” thing, see:

I believe in the theory that most people who take excellent care of their bodies (by making healthy food choices, sleeping well, working out) take care of their homes, too. Since gaining back those damn 11 pounds, I’ve started to feel like my apartment is more cluttered than usual—and I don’t think this is a coincidence. When my home feels like a sanctuary, I treat myself differently.

Tie that in with ancient Chinese Secrets of Feng Shui and sure, open up that Ch’i and watch those extra pounds just fall away!  So that first step to shedding those extra winter pounds might be helped by getting your extra stuff into a secure mini storage facilities. Plus, as Karina points out:

It’s supposed to snow all weekend here, so I can’t think of a better way to spend my time.

You can read the all of the blog post here if you need more inspiration to get your home on a diet! And if it helps motivate you, get out that spandex!