While spring hasn’t yet quite sprung, it’s definitely on the way. We’ve got longer days, better weather and spring flowers making their appearance, so it’s beginning to feel like winter is firmly behind us. This is the time of year when we start to look around the house and realise that it’s all looking a bit sorry for itself and could do with some freshening up prior to spring. We’re not really talking about spring cleaning yet, just about injecting a bit of freshness to lift our spirits and put us in the mood for the new season.
Flowers
Buying fresh flowers over the winter can be expensive and feel extravagant, but now we’re starting to see the new season flowers appearing. A vase of flowers is an easy way to cheer up a room and create a focal point. Try buying a small bunch of spring flowers such as daffodils or early tulips, and bulking out the bouquet with foliage from your garden. Cut the ends of the flowers before putting them in water, and change the water every day if you can. Remove any leaves below the water line as they’ll soon start to rot and smell, and add a tiny drop of bleach to the water to maintain freshness.
Change soft furnishings
Not many of us have the luxury of two sets of curtains – winter and summer – but it’s easy enough to change cushions and other small accessories to give a room a fresher feel. Reversible cushions are a great idea as they give you two looks for the price of one. If your cushion covers need washing or dry cleaning after the winter, then now’s the time.
Strategic cleaning
OK, so we’re talking about spring cleaning just a little bit, sorry! If you have open shelves in your kitchen displaying mugs, jugs or plates, then it’s well worth tidying that area. Even if you use the crockery every day, dust can accumulate on the shelves themselves. Take everything down and either run it through the dishwasher or hand wash it, then wipe the shelves. If you have shelf lining paper, this is a good moment to think about renewing it. When you put everything back, you can also take the opportunity to remove any items you no longer like or use, and perhaps change the order of the items so the display looks a bit different.
Sort out the fireplace
If you’re lucky enough to have an open fire, you’ve probably been very glad of it over the winter! Now the colder weather’s over, though, it’s time to give your fireplace some TLC. Get ahead of the game by having your chimney swept. Find an approved sweep in your area on the HETAS (Heating Equipment Testing and Approval Scheme) website. You can also clean your fireplace accessories (poker, tongs and shovel) and give the hearth a good scrub to remove caked-on soot.
Turn out your linen cupboard
If you’re anything like us, most of your linen cupboard will be taken up with things you don’t actually use, such as old sheets and threadbare towels. These can always find a use around the home, even if it’s just for cleaning rags or dustsheets, so we’d never advocate throwing them out! If there are things you don’t use, though, it’s worth bagging them up and storing them elsewhere so that you can find your household linen more easily and it gets less crushed. You could also dig out your lightweight sheets and give them a quick wash, ready for changing the beds when the warmer weather settles in.
Main image by Jill Wellington/Pixabay
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