Spring cleaning guide
April 7, 2010
Our roundup of everything you need to whip your home into shape for
spring - with a little style thrown in for good measure.
Cleaning
Why we need to spring clean. I know when the snow melts and the first robins come to call, when
the spring peepers begin to sing from their mud puddles and the laughter
of children returns to the parks and playgrounds, something wonderful
is about to happen. Spring cleaning. Read the full story.
Spring cleaning: A mess of questions for Monica Nassif. Monica Nassif, founder and president of Caldrea, maker of housecleaning
products, answered readers’ cleaning questions. Read the full story.
Latest dirt on vacuums. These days, there are many more choices for getting the job done than
there were in Franklin's day. The trick is in choosing the central tool —
the vacuum —that best suits your needs. A look at what's new may help. Read the full story.
How to fake a clean house. Messy home? Take refuge in tips to fake a clean house when unexpected
guests drop in. Read the full story.
Mix up your own green cleaning supplies. A little digging in the kitchen cupboards is all that's needed to round
up enough supplies to polish, clean and disinfect every room in the
home. Read the full story.
Flylady helps you reel in spring cleaning. My longing for spring turned to musings about spring cleaning, so I
turned to the most practical cleaner I know for advice: the FlyLady. Read the full story.
Teach the man in your life to clean. Many women complain the men in their lives don't measure up when it
comes to housework. Read the full story.
Housekeeping primers aimed at men and women take different approaches. It’s no secret that men and women sometimes take different approaches to
housecleaning. After I married my husband, I found him cleaning the
toilet by disassembling it first. Read the full story.
Detoxify your house. Stuff that's hanging around in your carpet, in your garage
and under the sink can make you older. Clean your house and watch your
body's clock turn back. Read the full story.
10 tips for a clean, green spring. It's that time of year again. When the sun starts to shine, we want our
homes to shine as well. Cleaning in a green way is best for you and your
home, and takes no extra effort — it's just a matter of changing the
way you clean. Read the full story.
Banish soap scum. Soap buildup, especially on shower stalls and tiles, can be a real
bother to clean. It never seems to come off completely! Read the full story.
A slightly less painful way to dust the blinds. Despite my best efforts, a domestic diva I am not. And among my most
loathed chores is cleaning the blinds. Read the full story.
Clean windows like Sarah Richardson. Sarah Richardson's tip for getting clean and sparkly windows, just in time for all that lovely spring
sunshine. Read the full story.
Organizing
Guide to getting organized. From clothes, papers and trash strewn throughout rooms to refrigerators
crammed with rotting food, the show Hoarders offers a startling
glimpse of individuals whose inability to discard things overruns both
their homes and lives. Read the full story.
Do's and don'ts for reigning in home chaos. Rosalie Maggio is not a neat freak who is out to guilt you into feeling
your home is a quagmire and your life an out-of-control train wreck. Read the full story.
9 ways to banish clutter. The dreary days of winter are the perfect time to get things in order
inside your house—or didn’t you know that January was get organized
month? Professional organizer and author Deniece Schofield points out a
few common challenges and tips to overcome them. Read the full story.
Organize your closet in 10 minutes. Is your closet an overflowing disaster? Clothes packed tight, shoes in a hodgepodge on the floor, purses, scarves and sweaters piled high on the shelves?
Some tips for organizing your closet in 10-minute chunks: Read the full story.
Diary of a mad hoarder. The wake-up crash came when my closet collapsed. The rod, sagging for
weeks, finally snapped with a dramatic, defeated WHOMP, spewing a haul
of clothing (plus handbags and vintage hats from the shelf above) into
the hallway. Read the full story.
Weed out clutter's roots. Professional organizer Andrew Neary says
procrastination and a reluctance to give things up can lead to those
piles of papers that have turned your house from a calm haven into a
stressful chore. Read the full story.
Conquering the clutter. Gemma Johnson's downtown Toronto bedroom was so messy, she couldn't even sleep in it. Read the full story.
Corral cable clutter.That rat's nest of cords behind your desk is not only ugly, but it can make swapping out your accessories and even charging your iPod a real pain. Read the full story.
Spring cleaning 101: How to get rid of all that clutter. Toss, reuse, sell, recycle. When it comes to getting rid of stuff,
knowing what to throw out is only part of the equation. You also have to
figure out what to do with it. Here's a guide to getting rid of
the things you don't use, need or even want. Read the full story.
Decorating
5 home decor must-haves for spring. After the long winter months, it’s nice to see the first signs of
spring. For many, this includes the wonderful experience of freshening
up the home and purchasing new things. Read the full story.
Spruce up your space for spring. That recent stretch of spring-like weather is enough to fire up your
redecorating bug. But if calling in the contractors isn't part of your
budget, you can still freshen up your home on the cheap with these
tricks. Read the full story.
Simple ways to transform your space for spring. On the leafy street where I grew up, spring brought blazing forsythia
and a canopy of fresh green blooms. But for me, the season never truly
arrived until the afternoon I would come home from school to find our
apartment transformed. Read the full story.
Perk up your windows. The days when people swapped out heavy velvet drapes for lighter, more
translucent ones come spring are gone — window treatments are too
expensive for many of us to have multiple sets of draperies. Read the full story.
Enjoy blooms early by forcing buds. If your appetite has been wetted for an early spring I have some good
news for you — whether you live in a condo or home. Now is the perfect
time to force many spring flowering shrub cuttings into bloom indoors.
You will get the natural benefits of fragrance and colour without having
to hold your breath ’til late April or May. Read the full story.
Small touches can refresh your outdoor space. Whether you've got a sprawling yard, mid-size patio or even a single
balcony, you can create a great space for relaxing and entertaining, say
designers Mallory Mathison, Janine Carendi and Brian Patrick Flynn. Read the full story.
Breezy bedding updates. A person changes the style, materials and colours of clothing they wear
from one season to the next, why not give the same consideration to your
space? Changing our bedding is a fun and easy way to transform our
spaces, and make sleeping more comfortable, for the spring and summer
months. Read the full story.
Easy peasy patio sprucers. As we head into the summer of the 'stay-cation,' we're turning our
attention towards making our outdoor spaces as comfortable and stylish
as the rest of our home. Read the full story.