1 The worst thing about spring cleaning is that as you clean something, and then it gets all messed up again in the wake of you moving over to the next space. Our solution: Work from top down and inside to outside.

2 No one likes a half cleaned, half sorted space. Make sure you spring-clean one room, and more specifically one area of the room, at a time.

3 Always make sure you put items straight in their final destination. It’s no point moving things from this space to that space, only to move them again and again.

4 If your husband is not an on-demand handyman make a to-do list for a hire-in handyman as you go along, that way at the end of your spring-clean you hire a handyman and get him to do everything in one go.

5 Dust before wiping… no one likes that wet, dust-come-mud vibe.

6 Plan ahead: We all know storage is going to be an issue so don’t think that you can be organised without the necessary tools. Decide on your storage solution ahead of time, for example extra floating shelves or stacked boxes.

7 Be ruthless! If you haven’t used something for the past season chances are you aren’t ever going to need it. Yes, we are talking to you, old diaries from three years ago…

8 Keep your keepsakes. Just because you are spring cleaning, it does not mean you don’t need to be sentimental. Were you saving some old photos, a wedding invite, a birthday card or even a newspaper clipping? Don’t think that just because you are cleaning and clearing out, all those memories have to go. No, simply create a keep-sake box… one day your children or grandchildren will be grateful.

9 Update! Embrace technology. Load all your CDs onto your computer and your iPod and then you can get rid of your CDs. Trust us, this is a major space saver. The same goes for that old printer or camera that you are storing just because you can’t face throwing something like that in the trash. If you have a new printer, get rid of the old one.

10 Sort according to convenience. Your husband’s camping gear that he uses once every three years does certainly not need to be stored at the front of your only storage cupboard. Put that sort of thing in a box, labelled in the garage and store something, like the outside cushions, that you use every day in the most convenient spot.

Words: Cheska Stark
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