Spring Cleaning: Your Complete Guide with Free Checklist

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Refresh your home with this spring cleaning guide. It’s a much-needed renewal for every room in your house.

When the weather is warm enough for you to open your windows and let the breeze in, you know its the perfect time for spring cleaning!

How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

Wondering where to begin? Get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!

Spring Cleaning

Don’t let the word “cleaning” drag you down. Spring cleaning is a time for renewal, refreshment, and a time to revitalize your home. Breath new life into every room of your house.

This guide will walk you through every single step of spring cleaning. Don’t be overwhelmed. If you follow this complete guide, you will have a shiny fresh home in no time at all!

There is even a helpful printable for you too!

Table of contents

What is spring cleaning?

Before we go too far, let’s answer this question. What is spring cleaning?

Spring cleaning is renewing your home and starting over fresh at the turn of the seasons. It includes:

  • Dusting
  • Washing
  • Redoing storage solutions
  • Removing unused items from your home
  • Airing out the house with sunshine

When Should You Start spring cleaning?

You should start spring cleaning when the weather is warm enough for you to open your windows. This usually happens around mid-April.

There isn’t a real rule for when to start spring cleaning. But part of the joy of spring cleaning is letting the sun and breeze air out your home, so start it when it warms up outside.

How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

How do you deal with clutter?

One area you will be focusing on as you spring clean will be storing and removing all the stuff that doesn’t have a home. We call the loose items all over your home clutter.

It doesn’t have to be bad. Clutter isn’t something that you necessarily need to get rid of. It might just be that you don’t have enough storage to take care of everything you own.

So, how do you deal with clutter when you are spring cleaning?

Here are some ways you can deal with clutter.

Store it Under the Bed

One of the most unused storage places in the home is under the bed. Since you’ll be cleaning out everything from under the bed as you clean, this is the perfect time to create a storage system there.

Use some storage bags that fit under the bed for everything from extra blankets to seasonal accessories like scarves and hats.

Hang it Up

Another really unused space in the home is on the closet rods. You can store so many things vertically.

You can store any of these things (and more) in it:

  • Hats, Gloves and Mittens
  • Cleaning Products
  • Belts, Scarves, Jewelry, Purses and Fashion Accessories
  • Sports Equipment
  • Umbrellas
  • Craft Supplies

There are so many pockets that the possibilities are endless.

Donate It

Now you know where to store the things you use, but what about those things that you keep around but never use? It doesn’t make sense to try and store something that will just stay hidden in a box forever (unless it is sentimental).

These are the things you need to donate. Are there some coats you didn’t wear at all this winter? Give them away. What about extra pots and pans that you haven’t cooked with in years? Donate them.

Throw it Away

Finally, if you are finding things that aren’t usable, throw them away. Don’t give thrift shops your trash. Broken toys, stained clothes, or fire-hazard appliances should all be thrown out.

Try to recycle everything that you can. This includes:

  • Paper
  • Glass
  • Plastics
  • Aluminum
  • Appliances (check your local center)

Spring Cleaning Guide

Here is the complete spring cleaning guide. It will take you room by room through your entire house. We also have a printable checklist that you can use to keep track of your progress and tasks.

How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

Everything in this post is organized by room or area. This should help you keep track of what you finished.

If you want to keep the momentum going, our Take Action Printables binder has a room by room cleaning list as well as a weekly cleaning checklist that you can follow too!

There are two philosophies with cleaning and organizing – either you go room by room, or you sort and organize by type (clothes, papers, trash) in the entire house at once.

This article will take you room by room. You can also choose to organize topically. Just make a list of each category and cross them off your list as you organize them.

Suggested topical spring cleaning categories include:

  • Clothes
  • Books
  • Food
  • Home linens
  • Cleaning products
  • Toys
  • Memories/Sentimental
  • Closets
  • Seasonal

Kitchen

Let’s start in the most used room in the house ā€” the kitchen. Split this room into these managable sections.

  • Dishes
  • Cabinets
  • Spice Rack
  • Pantry
  • Counters
  • Under the Sink
  • Command Center
  • Curtains

Also see the complete kitchen organizing guide for more details.

Living Room

Next, let’s move to the room where you entertain guests – the living room. Depending on whether you use a family room more or not, you might have some storage issues here.

Go through the living room in these sections:

  • Books
  • Movies/Games/Electronics
  • Cabinets
  • Toys
  • Blankets
  • Personal items
  • Curtains

Keep the organizing going with our living room organization guide.

Bedroom

After the living room, move to the bedrooms. Bedrooms tend to be the messiest rooms in the house. If this is true for you too, then give yourself a little extra time to tackle them.

Typical bedroom organization tasks include:

  • Under the bed
  • On top of dressers
  • Clothes
  • Bookshelves
  • Nightstands
  • Bed sheets and blankets
  • Curtains

Since closets can be such an involved chore, let’s make closets their own section entirely. If you need more ideas for your bedroom, check out the bedroom organizing guide.

Closets

The closets section includes all the closets in your home – all bedrooms, bathrooms, and hall closets. Since closets have doors, they tend to become more disorganized than other places in your home.

These are the things you need to do when you spring clean your closets:

  • Evaluate storage systems: is what you are doing still working?
  • Remove unused items
  • Label bins
  • Store things vertically – use hanging organizers in closets to store things like scarves, belts, and even gift wrap.

If you want a more in-depth guide that walks you through more steps and hacks, check out the ultimate guide to closet organization.

Bathroom

After you finally tackle all the closets, move onto the bathrooms. When you spring clean the bathrooms, focus on reorganizing all your toiletries and beauty products. The goal is to have a serene room where you can relax.

Follow these steps for an organized and clean bathroom.

  • Under the sink
  • Medicine cabinet
  • Shower supplies in the shower/tub
  • Towels and washcloths
  • Beauty products
  • Bathroom vanity counter

We compiled an extensive bathroom organization guide if you really want to completely reorganize everything or just need a few more ideas.

Garage / Shed

Next to the closets, the garage and shed tends to be the next most disorganized places in the home. When we don’t know where to put something, just put the box in the garage – right?

Spring is a perfect time to sort through all those neglected boxes and tools and get a grasp on what you own.

Depending on when you last organized it, this might be a monumental task. If so, save this for last. In fact, we created a complete garage organization guide that splits it up into small sections, making it easier to accomplish.

When you spring clean a shed and garage, you’ll focus on these areas:

  • Tools
  • Yard work appliances
  • Sentimental items
  • Trash
  • Unused items
  • Things to donate
  • Holiday/seasonal decor
  • Sports equipment
  • Outdoor toys

Appliances

Finally, clean out the appliances. You don’t have to save this for last. In fact, if you start with the appliances first you might feel a sense of accomplishment and be more motivated to clean other areas next!

Cleaning appliances includes:

  • Dealing with possible hard water stains/issues
  • Refrigerator – clean out old food, wipe down shelves
  • Wiping down the outsides of the appliances

Use this checklist – or create your own – to keep track of which appliances you cleaned:

  • Dishwasher
  • Stove/Oven
  • Microwave
  • Refrigerator
  • Washing Machine
  • Dryer
  • Small appliances – coffee pot, air fryer, etc

Get a Free Printable Spring Cleaning Checklist

Now that you know what parts of home need to be cleaned, this printable spring cleaning checklist will be really helpful. Just check off the items as you complete them. 

To get the free printable spring cleaning checklist, click on the button below:

Once youā€™ve signed up and confirmed your e-mail address, weā€™ll send you the free printable spring cleaning checklist. Plus youā€™ll have the opportunity to be on our VIP mailing list to receive our weekly organizing tips in your inbox. You’ll also get exclusive discounts and be among the first to hear when new products and services become available.

Then you just need to download the PDF file and save it to your computer. This spring cleaning checklist and all other free printables from Clutter KeeperĀ® are for your own PERSONAL USE ONLY.

Tip: laminate the checklist so you can reuse it without having to reprint it each spring.

How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

Tips for Tackling Spring Cleaning

Now that you know what needs to be cleaned, let’s go through some encouraging tips that will make it a lot easier. The end goal is a clean and organized home that feels relaxing! You should have such an organized home that anyone can put things away without asking you where they belong.

How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

These tips will help you overcome that “I don’t want to clean” feeling, learn how to make cleaning fun, and list out some questions you should be asking yourself as you clean.

What to do when you are not motivated

How do you overcome that feeling of “I just don’t want to do it,” and find the motivation to clean your house?

Busting out of the winter blues is a very real struggle. But as much as you want to, don’t keep putting it off. You will feel so much better when it is all done!

Here are some tips for busting out of the winter, “I just wanna ignore it all” thoughts.

  • Split it up into small steps – Instead of thinking you have to organize all the closets, just tackle your bedroom closet first. If you need to, organize your shoes in the closet first.
  • Reward yourself – After you accomplish something, reward yourself! Stand back and celebrate what you did. Little rewards will motivate you to do more.
  • Do the easiest chores first – When you really don’t feel like cleaning at all, start small. You’ll finish it faster and feel that sense of accomplishment sooner.
  • Put on some music – Sometimes uplifting and happy tunes are just what you need to distract you and get you moving.
  • Just get up and move – Other times all you need to get started is just to do it. The minute you start moving around doing it, the more you’ll feel like doing it.
  • Make it social – Doing things with friends or family members can make it a lot easier to do. Maybe ask your friends to come over and help you clean and in return you’ll go to their house to help them.
How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

How to Make Cleaning Fun

Is there a way to make cleaning fun? Yes, there actually is! Even if you really hate cleaning, it is something that needs to happen. Cleaning your home will keep you healthier and can even have a positive impact on your mental health.

Here are some tips for making cleaning fun. Try one or all of them and see if they help you too.

  • Make it a game – Time yourself and see how much you can get done in 20 minutes. Then, see if you can best your time.
  • Involve friends – Everything, even cleaning, is more fun with friends. Cheer each other on via Instagram or Snapchat. You can even make bets – everyone put money in and the first person to have a really cleaned and organized home wins the pot!
  • Dance – Turn up the music and start dancing around while you clean. You’ll laugh at yourself and it’ll keep you happy.
  • Add a bit of competition – Adding a bit of competition can make it so much more fun. Maybe split the garage in 2 and see who can get their half cleaned first – you or your spouse.
  • Redecorate – Don’t just clean, but redecorate too! Adding some new decor will really improve the look and feel of your home.
  • Get the kids to help – Make it a family party and give spring cleaning tasks to the small kids too.

Questions to Ask As You Spring Clean

As you clean, you need to ask yourself these questions. These will help you create organization systems that work and prevent you from keeping things you don’t need.

  • When was the last time I used this? – If you haven’t used something for an entire season, don’t keep it.
  • Is this easy to find? – If you found something in the back of a drawer that you had not seen in months, find a better way of storing it. Or dispose of it. You should store things you keep in an easy-to-find place.
  • Does this have a home? – As you clean you might come across orphaned items that are just taking up space. If it doesn’t have a home – a storage system where it belongs – create one.
  • Why is this here? – If you find something in a place you didn’t think it belongs – like books in the bathroom – maybe there is a reason. Change up your storage systems and keep things close to where they are used most.
  • How important is this to me? – You might not have used something lately, but it might have significant sentimental value. If it means something to you, but you don’t have a place to store it, buy a sealable container to keep it safe.
How do you find the motivation to clean? Put on some music, involve your friends, and download our free spring cleaning checklist.

Spring Cleaning Printable Checklist

Checking items off a physical paper list is so rewarding! We created a spring cleaning checklist from the items in this post. Print it off and begin tackling things one at a time.

Spring cleaning is a wonderful time of renewal! Refresh your home – maybe even rearrange your furniture. Make your home feel like new again.

Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!

More Cleaning Help

Here are some more cleaning tips to help you along the way.

2 Comments

  1. Not looking forward to spring cleaning but this checklist would at least make it bearable. Thanks! šŸ˜‰

    1. Hi Marissa,
      You may not be looking forward to it, but just think how good it will feel to check things off the list! You’ll feel so accomplished. Thanks for stopping by!

      Best wishes,
      Carrie from Clutter KeeperĀ®

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