Every year, as I mentioned in a previous post, we get festive tartan throws for the living room. They are from the Home range at Primark, although you wouldn't know it to look at them. They're between £3.50-£5 each, which means that once winter is over, I can replace them at very low cost, and Scout gets two new blankets for his basket! (My dog can't have a normal soft basket as he un-stuff's EVERYTHING so he has a wooden surround, and LOTS of blankets!).
Primark's spring range is very hippy, boho looking. It's adorable, but it's not my style (I love boho, but just not the over-patterning of everything) so I'm in that transition waiting for their next influx of stock...I just know their summer line will be as spectacular as the adorable pineapple/ice cream/flamingo prints from 2015! So right now, it's back to the yellows - nothing says spring more that yellow and white, and you just know I'll be straight on the daffodils when they're in bloom! They're one flower that lasts more than 2 days, and bunches are really cheap.
Another job during spring cleaning is to battle mould. We live in a very old house, it was only £2000 to buy new when my Grandparents bought it...! So it's only single brick walls, not cavity walled, and only half the house was double glazed, with some of the back rooms still having the old aluminium windows. Luckily having had the kitchen done, we only have two alu windows left but the newer ones still need replacing as they've all blown their seals. Anywho! I am in a constant battle with mould and am always after tips to help prevent it, until we eventually have every interior outer wall replastered with a false wall to create a cavity, which is what our builders did in the kitchen.
But my favourite part of spring cleaning is the cleaning itself >.<
I know, isn't it sad! But I love washing all the cushion covers from the sofa, pulling up the rugs, moving the sofas and steam cleaning the wood floors. I love chucking all the glassware in the dishwasher (I have still only used it twice...!) and seeing it sparkle when comes out, hanging the washing on the actual washing line and not having to stick the heating on because we haven't reconnected the tumble dryer yet...I just love it.
My tips for spring cleaning....
- Make a spring/summer playlist! Spotify is super for free music streaming, and you can find almost anything on there! Make a happy, bouncy plasylist to keep you entertained as you dance around with that duster.
- But first - coffee! Give yourself a boost, you're going to need it ;)
- Light some candles. We use Yankee burner tarts on a Scentsy electric burner. We love the seasonal smells, but also stick with our all-time favourite classic of White Cotton. COnvince yourself your washing smells great! ;)
- Commit the whole day to it, and start early! I get up around 9 on my day off. I stick the news on, have a cup of honey and lemon tea then crack on with the cleaning. I'll usually be finished by 12/1 and then I have the rest of the day to enjoy my lovely clean house before 3 long days at work!
- Treat yourself. Buy yourself something small as a reward. I found this adorable stag/deer head chalkboard in the winter stock sale at Wilkinson's yesterday for £3. I'm slowly collecting bits for the man-cave / second spare bedroom, so this will be perfect!
What do you love about spring cleaning? Do you have any tips?
xo
