Inspiration and Preparation ~ Spring Cleaning "Warm Up"

Spring has almost arrived, the time to wash and scour, open up the windows and breathe in the fresh air! It is the season to purge and produce a healthier home by reducing pollen, dust mites, mold spores and our old adversary, the germs. I am hoping to inspire you to start your deep cleaning with a smile!

"In fact it was an immense relief to them all to have a little work, and they took hold with a will, but soon realized the truth of Hannah's saying, "Housekeeping ain't no joke."

~ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

"You sometimes see a woman who would have made a Joan of Arc in another century and climate, threshing herself to pieces over all the mean worry of housekeeping."

~Rudyard Kipling

Alas, this "Joan of Arc" warrior cleaner is not me. I love to keep my home "neat and tidy" but it lacks in good, old fashioned, deep and dark crevice scrubbing! Unless the hormone levels are off the charts, I really am not that aggressive (sigh…).



Like some of you, I need a bit of inspiration to jump start my housecleaning. Sometimes it takes going through pretty magazines and seeing all the clean houses to get motivated. Housecleaning books are also a huge help (here is a favorite)! Other times, it takes a few pictures and organizational tips from like-minded women (such as yourselves).

Spring cleaning can be a joy when your home is filled with the scent of lavender and lemons, when happy and wholesome music is playing in the background, when the workers don their colorful aprons and the desire to accomplish great things for the home is in the heart. Get the whole family involved by micromanaging tasks into bite-sized pieces and delegating chores to (even the smaller) children.

To begin, you can print out and prepare your cleaning supplies with this Martha Stewart list:

How to Stock a Cleaning Kit 



Now that we have had our "warm up", let us begin with our:

10-Step Housecleaning Inspiration 

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.