As the kids take a break from school, parents can use this opportunity as they take a break too from their busy schedule, to do a major spring-cleaning. Most consider this as a very daunting task, but Spring Cleaning can be broken down to smaller tasks to make it simpler and easier.

As spring sets it, households starts to open up their houses and windows to let the sunshine in and end their hibernation that they have been doing all winter. Spring signifies new life in full color as the flowers start to bloom, butterflies flutter their wings again and more so wouldn’t it be nice to reflect the nature’s beauty into our homes by doing some cleaning and organization?

Here are a few tips to make Spring Cleaning a breeze:

1. Make a Plan. Before you start with the tasks at hand, it would be nice to have a game plan first. Make a list of all the things that you want to accomplish, starting with the most important down to the least priority, to make sure that you will not forget anything. Then based on the list, make a schedule and put it on your calendar so you will stick to it. You don’t have to clean the whole house in just one day so spread the tasks in different days to give yourself a break too.

2. Prepare all the cleaning tools. Make sure that you have all the cleaning tools needed to do the job. Put them together in one area so you don’t have to stop to look for them as you are in the middle of your cleaning. This will eliminate distractions and will allow you to work continuously if you have all the equipments and tools you need to finish the task.

3. Start from the top rooms and work your way to the bottom and tackle one room at a time. Concentrating in one area at a time lets you concentrate and clean the room more effectively. This will also let you finish the chores faster instead of multitasking. Start also with areas that are difficult to clean like the bathrooms so you still have the full energy as you do the difficult tasks. And make sure that you don’t leave the room and move to another one until you are done. Otherwise, you will just be left with a lot of unclean rooms at the end of the day.

4. Do a major cleaning. Big tasks that can be done includes carpet and upholstery cleaning; cleaning of air conditioner, electric fan, lamps, light fixtures, etc; cleaning of kitchen cabinets and other furniture and more. Once you are done doing a deep cleaning then you can just maintain the cleanliness by doing daily or weekly tasks of vacuuming and dusting.

5. Purge. If you haven’t used some items for a long time now, then it means that it is time to let go of it. Who knows, someone might find a good use for it as what they always say, One person’s trash can be another one’s treasure. Start again with one room at a time. Make two piles: Donate / Garage Sale pile and the Trash pile. This exercise will free up some space in your house and gives you an opportunity to share your things to others or earn a little from the proceeds that you are going to get from your garage sale.

6. Organize. Once you are done cleaning and getting rid of things, then it is time to organize the ones that are left. You can sort items by function, by color or whatever will be an easier criterion for you to categorize stuff. Grab some storage boxes from thrift stores to put your things. Label them for easier identification when you need them.

Organizing closets can be included as one of the major tasks in your to-do list. It is time to put those winter clothes and outfits in storage area to make room for the new season outfits. Sort things and group similar items together like socks, blouses, accessories, etc. Try to use color-coding as you arrange your clothes. This will make it look cleaner and nicer and will make it easier also to look for items in your closet.

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a clean home? With a little planning, patience and organization, you will surely have a home that is soothing to the eyes and conducive to healthy living as well. Spring is here so let us all start with our Spring Cleaning.

Author’s Bio: Abie is a working mother of two kids. She has a day job but works as a part time content writer for Tshirtprinting.org, a site where you can get personalised t shirts .