It’s that time of year again. Spring has sprung & it's the perfect opportunity for a bit of a spring clean to banish those winter blues and give your home & life a refresh! Over the next 4 weeks we're going to be sharing expert tips & tricks on how to Spring clean different areas of your home & life.

For week one, we tackle spring cleaning your bathroom, living area, kitchen & pantry. 

First things first: Some simple tips you get you started

Write A Checklist

Write down a checklist to make sure you have everything you need before you get started. A working vacuum, a clean broom, a duster, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and cloths are just a few of things you’ll need to get your space sparkling clean. Make sure you have lots of rubbish bags, and don’t even think about starting until you have your ultimate cleaning kit in place.

Block off time in your schedule.

When it comes to Spring cleaning divide & conquer each room or space over a month or two. Don’t have a loose plan to spring clean your house, be committed and block time off to get it done. Spring cleaning is so much better if it’s done in the morning, because you can enjoy the fruits of your labour later that day. If you procrastinate you’ll most likely put it off for another week, again. Don’t let that happen! Just get it done.

Start with the space you dread the most

Whether it’s the kitchen, bathroom or laundry, start spring cleaning in the space that you least want to tackle. Once it’s done, it’s off the list and you can focus on cleaning the other spaces.

Set The Mood!

Distract yourself. Listen to podcasts or music while you clean, or turn on the TV & have your favourite show or movie in the background. It'll make the time go faster and you’ll enjoy it more!

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The Living Areas

There’s nothing like a spring clean to give your living room a new lease on life. We spoke to Ania Forster and Kasia Clarke from the Interior Design Studio, Zephyr & Stone & asked them to share their top tips for refreshing and maximising your space.

Declutter

Declutter- this always comes first when refreshing any space, and the more you let go of unused items the better the result! Clean out any cupboards and storage of old books, magazine and items you don’t use. Declutter your coffee table and wash or dust any items that need a refresh.

Clean everything!

Clean from top to bottom. Start with the ceiling, such as a fan and work your way down to the floor. Remove artwork from the walls and give them a dust and polish and remove any marks on the walls before returning your artwork. Pull your cushions off the couch, give them a good beating and vacuum your couch. Dust everywhere, including the ceiling, window frames and window sills, and floor and ceiling corners. Pull any furniture out from the walls, dust behind them and give floor rugs a shake outside. Even consider taking your rugs to a dry cleaner as you’ll be surprised at how much dust and dirt they hold. Finally, sweep or vacuum then polish the floors – you should be able to see your reflection! 

Refresh your furniture

If your sofa is beyond cleaning, consider having it re-upholstered rather than replacing with a new one. This costs a fraction of the price, is more sustainable and has a similar effect of replacing with new!

Add to the space

If you feel like updating the space, add new accessories like sofa cushions to really make your room feel refreshed. Cut foliage from garden trees and place in a large vase for a free and effective pop of green, or invest in a potted plant to really add the feeling of Spring to your space 

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Bathroom

Now is such a good time to spring clean your bathroom & beauty collection! As the mercury starts to rise, a lot of us often shuffle around our beauty & skincare favourites too. We spoke to our Founder Beck Wadworth & also the Gritty Pretty Team & got their expert tips & tricks on spring cleaning the bathroom & beauty cabinet. 

Clear everything out

First things first, clear out everything from your bathroom cupboards & drawers. Pop them into categories to go through - skincare, makeup, haircare, femcare, medicine etc. Before you go any further, do a thorough clean of all the surfaces, cupboards & drawers.

Get down & dirty

Take things to the next level & do a thorough clean of the bath, tiles, shower, toilet & basins. Wash any shower curtains, remove any soap scum, wipe away any dust & clean the windows & any fans. 

Take note of what you have in your beauty / skincare kit and check the PAO symbol. 

"On the back of every beauty product, you’ll find a period after opening (PAO) symbol. It’s a simple graphic of a jar with 6M, 12M, 24M, etc. on the back. Once opened, this is the amount of time you can keep the product until it goes off. For skincare, even if it seems fine, after this time the product probably isn’t effective anymore. Time to throw out anything that is no longer" Expert Tip from the  Gritty Pretty Team 

Shop your stash 

"Now that you know what you have, shop your stash before you spend on new products. A lot of us invested in beauty products during lockdown as a means of self-care and, you know, something to do. Do you have any unopened products sitting in your bathroom? Everything you own excited you at one point in time - that’s why you bought it."  Expert Tip from the Gritty Pretty Team

Organise your bathroom

Once you have decluttered your skincare/beauty & completed a thorough clean, start adding everything back into the bathroom - fresh towels, hand soap, a lovely candle etc. When it comes to filling your drawers & bathroom cabinet, do it in an orderly fashion. Our Founder suggests having all your day-to-day skincare favourites in one easy to access place as well as your makeup in one place too. From there organise your other makeup, skincare, haircare, fem care, tools & more into their own areas. Keep everything in their categories so they are easy to find.

Write a List

And finally if you are running low on anything in the bathroom or with your beauty/skincare, now is the perfect time to write a list of things you need to organise or purchase. 

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Kitchen & Pantry

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen & pantry + for a lot of us, this area can quickly become out of order! So this area of the home without a doubt is one of the most satisfying to spring clean.

Clear everything out

First things first, as you did with the bathroom, clear everything out of the cupboards, pantry, fridge & drawers in the kitchen. Lay it all out so it's easy to go through. 

Check & Chuck

Now that you have everything laid out, go through your pantry & fridge items to check the date stamp on every item & also to ensure now condiments or fridge items have any mold. There are two different types of date stamps: use by and best before. 

• Use by: The use by (or used by) date is placed on foods that must be eaten within a certain time for health and safety reasons. 
• Best before: Best before dates are used to refer to the quality of a food item. That means they may lose some quality after the best before date has passed, such as nutritional content, colour or texture loss.   

Ensure you throw out any products that have expired & write a list of products you need to replace on your next shopping run,. 

Wash & Clean

Of course, do a thorough clean of all surfaces as well as the fridge, pantry, oven & counter tops. Remove any dirt, food crumbs, sticky marks, etc. Allocate a good amount of time to this & have a relaxing coffee break afterwards! It's a big job.  

Soak

It's also a good idea to do a soak or heavy dishwasher load of cutlery, pots, pans, etc. 

Sort your storage

Once you have finished cleaning, access your pantry, cupboards & fridge & make a plan of how you are going to store some of your staples to keep them fresh & easily accessible. We suggest labeled air tight containers, pantry racks, separator drawers for the fridge & we also love beeswax wraps.   

If you have a small kitchen or pantry, make the most of the space. Get creative, a lot can be done in this area & now is the time to make those changes. 

If you go for air tight containers with products like grains, flour, cereals, pasta etc - our tip is to stick a label on the back or underneath with the date you put the product into the container. It's also a good idea to cut the instructions off the back of the boxes or packets & keep them in a folder/box in the kitchen. Or... go one steps further & take a photo on your phone & create a 'Pantry' album with all the instructions & details for things like pasta, rice etc if you remove it from its packet. 

Get organised & give everything a place!

Keep your pantry / fridge & kitchen looking clean and tidy by grouping items. If you organise the foods in your pantry by food group, it makes it easy to find ingredients and to keep track of what you have on hand. 

Do the same with your pots, pans, trays, cutlery, cleaning products, tea towels etc. Give everything a place & stay consistent by sticking to this & keeping everything organised.