Spring Cleaning Checklist, Self-Care Edition

There’s one feeling that I wish could be bottled up for safe keeping: arriving home from a trip and finding a CLEAN house. 

Around our East Texas home, that ambiance is experienced once in a blue moon. And by blue moon, I mean only when my daughters’ school schedules align and I have a day off from work before the trip. 

That’s when my home organization game is ace—when no one is following me around with the wrong end of an Annie’s organic cheddar bunnies bag and a Capri Sun’s crashing waves. 

But with a little spring cleaning and DIY home organization, I’m optimistic that I can capture that clean windows, sparkling sink, just-home-from-paradise feeling and have it linger all spring and summer long. 

What’s more, I’ve decided to view this spring’s cleaning session as self-care for my home. 

Now, when I’m enjoying self-care for my self (as the term typically applies), it’s all about the product I’m using and the space I give myself to fully let go of what’s holding me down. 

For example, if my self-care routine includes a cup of coffee, it cannot be a Keurig cup or a fast food drive-thru of caffeine. 

I need the good stuff for the experience to qualify as self-care. 

We’re talking single-origin black coffee that was sustainably-farmed, expertly roasted, and intentionally prepared with a pour-over method and an overarching blueberry tasting note. Also acceptable: a sweetened condensed milk latte with sparkly confetti toppings.

What does that have to do with spring cleaning?

More than you'd think.

Intentionally spring cleaning the house can fit the self-care bill for your family’s HQ if you clean, organize, spritz, and style with products that you love—not with the chemical solutions pushed by big box stores.

By using sustainable cleaning products and tools that are safe for you to breathe—and wonderful to smell—you’ll create a more inviting home and turn this springtime chore into a purpose-filled activity.

Consider this post your PLEASE READ BEFORE SPRING CLEANING guide, as you’ll probably want to purchase a few cleaning tools and storage supplies that will make your experience 1000x easier (and more enjoyable!). 

Below we’re sharing our organization tips for home, as well as some spring cleaning tips to keep your home feeling fresh, smelling like citrus—or lavender, vanilla, jasmine, lemon créme, or leather—and looking like a Pinterest dream. 

Follow along to give your home some self-care, and experience the cloud-like comfort of living daily life in a spring cleaned space.

Spring Cleaning Tips: Kitchen Edition

Suggested Soundtrack: The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates (Start with You Make My Dreams Come True)

Recommended Room Scent: California Love

First things first: LeBron can’t win championships without a basketball, and you can’t clean your house without an all-purpose cleaner. Perfect for countertops, walls, food prep areas, and high chairs, Murchison-Hume’s All Purpose Cleaner is available in Original Fig and Australian White Grapefruit scents. We also carry concentrated refills to cut down on waste and keep you restocked. There’s even a how-to video on the product page to show you how to refill your original spray bottle by using a brass funnel. 

Kitchen Spring Cleaning Checklist:

• - Toss out expired food from the fridge and pantry
• - Get rid of storage containers or tumblers with missing pieces (lids, straws, etc.)
• - Donate small kitchen appliances you haven’t used in 2+ years
• - Clean interior and exterior of refrigerator
• - Use glass cleaner on windows
• - Wipe down walls, paying special attention to splash zones
• - Remove tester spaghetti noodles from walls (This may only apply to me)
• - Clean out the silverware drawer (and all other drawers, but this one is top priority)
• - Water herb plants—repot if they’ve outgrown their planters
• - Sweep floor, including any gaps between appliances and/or cabinets
• - Mop floor
• - Replace kitchen brushes, dish drainer, dish tray, dish soap and hand cream set, and tea towels.

This sounds like a lot of work, but by setting the vibes with the right scent and soundtrack, you’ll dance your way through the tough stuff and create a refreshed space for yourself and your family.

 

 

Spring Cleaning Tips: Bathroom Edition

Suggested Soundtrack: True Crime Podcast or Re-Watch Podcast (My faves are Office Ladies and Drama Queens)

Recommended Room Scent: Cabana, inspired by The Ritz Carlton

Fun fact: A few years ago, I listened to a podcast on cleaning the bathroom. The content helped me to take on bathroom clean-up with courage and determination. Trust me—by following this cleaning philosophy and incorporating the bathroom cleaner into your regular routines, you’ll replace potentially icky vibes with beach sensations in the powder room.

Bathroom Spring Cleaning Checklist

• - Lay a full size bath towel on the floor of the bathroom 
• - Pick up every item sitting on a surface—including a shower ledge—and place it on the towel
• - Bundle up the towel and move it outside of the bathroom (Now you have a clean slate to start cleaning)
• - Clean out cabinets 
• - Wipe down mirrors and windows
• - Clean showers and bathtubs
• - Wipe down surfaces
• - Clean toilet
• - Sweep floor
• - Mop floor
• - Wash bathmats
• - Unfold your towel to move small items back to their spots on the bar or in the shower
• - Add new organization and functionality to the space with crates and baskets

My favorite additions of these home organizing ideas are the small and medium folding crates in the color salmon. They’re stackable, fold flat-able, and can add so much cheer to my little ones’ bathroom—an aesthetic pairing to the cabana breeze brought about by the Hotel Collection. 

 

 

Spring Cleaning Tips: Bedroom Edition

Suggested Soundtrack: Midnights by Taylor Swift (Obviously)

Recommended Room Scent: Rest Kit—Sleep, Retreat, Dusk & Grove

The bedroom is where the magic happens. And by magic, we mean sleep (What were you thinking?). Spring cleaning the bedroom means dusting those blinds and fans, refreshing the linens, sorting through the closet, and taking care of any under-the-bed dust bunnies. In my own experience, I’ve discovered that a restful night sleep makes my fine lines appear smoother. If that’s not motivation to take on the bedroom spring cleaning list, then I don’t know what is. 

Bedroom Spring Cleaning Checklist

• - Dust ceiling fans and blinds
• - Dust tvs and wall decor
• - Clean out nightstand drawers
• - Sort through dressers
• - Toss out any underclothes or socks with holes or stains
• - Set aside unwearable t-shirts with nostalgic value to add to a keepsakes box
• - Add other clothes you never reach for to a donate box
• - Clean out closet
• - If you haven’t picked a clothing item up in a year, consider donating it (There are some special occasion exceptions)
• - Donate extra jackets, coats, and blankets
• - Clean windows and mirrors
• - Wipe down walls and doorknobs
• - Dust behind furniture
• - Clean under the bed
• - Wash mattress protector
• - Replace worn out pillows
• - Sweep or vacuum the floor
• - Refill your humidifier or add the Architectural Digest award-winning Cloud by Vitruvi to your nightstand

Spring cleaning is an opportunity to set your intentions for your bedroom. Last spring, my sister gifted a nightstand kit to me that included a lip balm and luxurious hand cream. As the poster child for dehydration, I was immediately drawn to a new wellness ritual that could offset dryness. I reached for my lip balm and hand cream religiously, and my body was better for it. Other options to create a sacred space in your bedroom are a designated water bottle or color-coordinated diffuser.

 

 

Spring Cleaning Tips: Living Room, Playroom, Mudroom, Laundry Room, Common Areas

Suggested Soundtrack: Romantic Comedy Audiobook 

Recommended Room Scent: Mystify, a garden party for the senses

The remaining rooms are going to receive similar treatment to those above. They’ll get dusted, swept, mopped, window-washed, etc. After all of this dusting and mopping, your family is going to be breathing cleaner air and dealing with way less allergies. Hooray!

As you’re spring cleaning these common spaces, look out for items that don’t deserve a spot in your house anymore. For clandestine missions—like making your kids’ artwork disappear—we suggest waiting until garbage day to put it directly in the bin. Somehow your little ones will still figure it out, but it’s your best defense against 48 identical butterfly drawings. 

Throw pillows not working for you? Throw ‘em out. Extra linens you’ve never touched? Donate them. Wall decor you received as an unregistered wedding gift? Get it out of here. These are your spaces. Make them work for you. 

Don’t forget to stock up on cleaning supplies and solutions to effectively refresh these high-traffic areas. 

Common Areas Spring Cleaning Checklist

 

 

Spring Cleaning Challenge

As you give your home some self-care with spring cleaning and home organizing, we hope you’ll find the experience meditative, purposeful, and—at times—fun. 

Pull in your partner to spring clean the master bathroom. 

Send your kids on a scavenger hunt (aka spring cleaning checklist adventure) in the playroom. Give them the task of organizing their toys with baskets, toy chests, and book racks to cut the clutter.

Join together to clean all of the windows. 

The spring cleaning self-care experience can be one that’s good for your house, and for the people who make it a home.