Spring is here and along with the warmth and the growth outside, you’ll want to spruce up and clean your home after the long winter. But it might feel extremely daunting to pull off. Your home might feel cluttered, messy, packed, or just impossible to get organized and cleaned up.

But don’t worry, it is possible to clean and organize your home. With the right attitude and plan, you can spring clean and organize your home to keep you happy for the rest of the year.

Start with a Plan and a Schedule

Before you grab the duster and start tossing things out, you need to have a plan for your spring cleaning. A good plan can keep you focused, help avoid mistakes, and keep the project moving smoothly. Have you ever cleaned a room just to discover you moved a bunch of the clutter somewhere else, leading to another cleaning? A plan can help prevent that.

First, go through your home and take stock of every room and what needs cleaning or organizing. Note what deep cleaning you want to do, what areas need organizing, and where you want to put your general clutter.

Once you know in detail what your house is like, start making your plan. Write down where the clutter and things you move will go and live for the future. Know exactly what type of stuff will be thrown out, donated, stored, or kept out for use. You can reference this when doing the cleaning to avoid just moving the mess around and cleaning it up first.

Finally, make a schedule for your spring cleaning. Don’t wait for the inspiration to strike to clean, block out time and days for cleaning. Don’t push yourself to get it all done in one day, spread it out with plenty of time to rest and recover during the work.

Clean Out Storage Areas First

In your home are dedicated areas for storage. The pantry, cupboards, closets, shed, garage, attic and other places in your home you store stuff needs to get cleaned out before you work on the rest of the home.

If your storage areas are cleaned and organized, designate and label the area for when you have items ready to be put away. Then, when it comes to putting away your items strewn across your home, you have spots ready to put them in your storage.

As for actually cleaning out these areas, a great rule to follow is “have you used it in the last year?” If you can’t recall using something in the last year, it’s quite likely you don’t actually need it and can get rid of it. This could include old coats, outdated kitchen tools, or out of style decorations.

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Once the clutter is gone, create an organization system for these areas. Get bins to hold similar items like spices or dedicated spaces for larger items. That way, you know exactly where to put items in your house you want to keep.

Put the Clutter In the Right Storage

Now that your storage is organized and ready, it’s time to put your household clutter away. For stuff you regularly use, place them in easy to access storage, like the pantry or a closet. For the rarely used stuff, like holiday decorations or boxes filled with childhood memories, put these up in your harder to access storage like the attic or crawlspace.

Keep to your organization plan with this storage so you know exactly where everything goes. Not only is this helpful in cleaning, but later when you need to find something, you’ll know exactly where it is.

The Deep Clean

With the clutter organized and put away, it’s time to do the deep cleaning, like washing floors, scrubbing countertops, polishing appliances, and dusting everything. Get your house looking like new and fill it with the smell of your favorite cleaner.

Don’t be afraid to invest in some heavy duty supplies and tools. Rent a wet vac for your carpets, buy a new duster that can reach  high up spots, and get a refill on disinfectant and cleaner to use liberally in your home.

If you need a little bit of financial flexibility to get the cleaning supplies you need, Pioneer’s VISA credit card is perfect solution. You can have a little bit of wiggle room when paying off these supplies without putting your spring cleaning on pause. Plus, you earn Rewards! points everytime you use it, which you can use on a nice gift card to treat yourself once the spring cleaning is all done.

All Done! Now It’s Time To Tackle Your Next Home Project

Once you’ve deep cleaned and your home looks amazing and fresh, give yourself a nice pat on the back. Treat yourself to a nice meal, a new movie, or whatever you want for some self-care.

After cleaning, you may have noticed some home projects you can tackle.  Maybe you want to paint a room, remodel your kitchen, or do something big like add on to your home. With your home cleaned up, you are now free to pursue your next project without worrying about your spring cleaning all done.

If you’re looking to take on a large and expensive project, a Pioneer Home Equity Line of Credit could help you reach your goal financially. You can pull money from your HELOC to pay for supplies, tools, and labor to finish your home project. Then, once the draw period is done, you can start paying it off.
 

Learn More About HELOCs!