Spring Cleaning A Home Tradition

Spring cleaning is more or less an annual American tradition. Besides cleaning the windows to let the spring sunshine in, think about cleaning out unused furniture, appliances, and old clothing to make more space in your home.

Another Person's Treasure

As people say, one person's trash is another person's treasure. Why not turn that old refrigerator in the garage that's not being used into Starbuck's coffee money for a month. Get those 1990s clothes that you no longer wear out of the closet. If they don't sell at your yard sale, they can be donated to a nonprofit supporting the homeless. Either way, you win by giving yourself more living and storage space. In many cities, large items that nonprofits don't want will be picked up for free by the city. Often this offer only comes around once a year during the spring.

There are many reasons to have a yard sale. Besides putting a few dollars in your pocket, it's good for the environment when you recycle your trash into someone else's treasure. Not only does your old stuff find a new home, it cuts down on all the excess packaging that goes in the trash heap when something is bought new from the mall.

Time to Tackle Once a Year Chores

If April showers bring May flowers, now is probably the time to clean last autumn's leafs out of your rain gutters. It's also time get out in the yard and clean up the downed branches and other debris the winter left behind.

However, don't forget about cleaning up inside your home. Now is a good time to clean out the dryer vent (the hose running from the dryer to outside). Do you remember the last time you cleaned out under the bed? Now's a good time to tackle that annual chore. It's also a good time to pull the furniture away from the walls to vacuum behind. While you have the furniture pulled out, take the opportunity to wash those hard to get at windows and conduct a thorough carpet cleaning.

If you go about your spring cleaning with enthusiasm you'll probably work up a small sweat. That makes it a great time to throw open the windows to let some fresh air in. It's been a brutally cold winter for many of us. Now's a great time to shrug off the cold to let the sunshine in. You might even be ready to put your winter clothing in storage and bring out your spring and summer clothing.

While you're in the mood for the season change, go at it with vigor by cleaning the ceiling light fixtures, the doorknobs, and light switch plates. You've been wiping mud and snow off your feet on the front doormat all winter long. The doormat probably needs a good cleaning to make your front door appealing to visitors.

While you're at it, has your junk drawer turned into three junk drawers? It might be a good time to clean out the junk. If you have a forced air furnace, this is the time to clean the vents and do your annual furnace cleaning. Might as well tackle the bathroom also. Take everything out of the medicine cabinet, wipe it down, and throw out expired medicines. And don't forget about the refrigerator. You need to be throwing out that old food more than once a year. But for your spring cleaning, why not pull the fridge away from the wall to give the floor a cleaning. Do the same with the stove.

Look around, spring has sprung. Getting your spring cleaning done will put you in a chipper mood.

Author bio: Brian Kline has been investing in real estate for more than 30 years and writing about real estate investing for seven years. He also draws upon 25 plus years of business experience including 12 years as a manager at Boeing Aircraft Company. Brian currently lives at Lake Cushman, Washington. A vacation destination, a few short miles from a national forest in the Olympic Mountains with the Pacific Ocean a couple of miles in the opposite direction.