Summer Cleaning Tips

Summer time is around the corner, and although its a time for fun, its also a great time to tackle some of those cleaning tasks that require a little extra work — and a little extra water. So we encourage you to have fun with it. Put on your favorite sweat or swim gear — perhaps even a mimosa or two — and have a little fun in the process!

1. Windows

Wash your windows inside and out. And don’t forget the window screens. This is also a crucial step during the summer when your windows are open more and the humidity can encourage mold growth. Take the time to suds-up your window screens to keep your breathing easy and enjoy the fresh air.

Click here for more tips to clean windows indoors

2. Clean & reverse the fan

Ceiling an floor fans can spread germs and dirt around your home if they are not properly cleaned. A tip from the pros: after cleaning the fan, switch the direction of the blades to counterclockwise. This trick pushes the cold air down saving energy and increasing the effectiveness of your machine.

3: Air Conditioner

We’ve saved the most important for last. An air conditioner that is clogged up with dust and dirt won’t function as well or cause the machine to quire working altogether. Simply clean the filter with warm soapy water and let air dry in the hot summer sun.

Spring Cleaning Time

We all know the term: Spring Cleaning - our favorite time of year! Not only are the wildflowers blessing us with their vibrant presence but its a motivational time to clean, reorganize, dust off the patio furniture and start spending more time outdoors.

We’ve pulled together some of our favorite Spring Cleaning posts for you:

Spring Cleaning For House Plants

How to Keep Your Outdoor Space Tidy

Don’t Let Bugs Bug You or Your Guests

Keeping Allergies at Bay at Home

Outdoor Summer Organization Tips

Summer times often means more time outside, outdoor barbecues and parties. It also means more outdoor items and often creative organization. Here’s a few tips from our pros:

1) Storage benches are a great solution for outdoor linens and provide additional sitting space for guests.

2) Hoses are necessary but can be very difficult to store in an aesthetically pleasing way without a hose reel or storage container. Check out Houzz’s selection.

3) Keep your bbq space tidy by keeping all of your grilling tools in one place. We recommend a bucket or a storage cabinet for this area if you have the space for one - this makes for a great space for outdoor dining materials too!

4) For cleaning porous outdoor furniture use Melamine Foam (a.k.a. Magic Erasers) it works wonders!

Need help? Did you know that we offer professional organization services aside our cleaning services? Call us for a free quote today.

Tips for Organizing a Linen Closet

Do you have a linen closet but aren't sure how to best utilize it?

We often see these areas as trouble spaces because there's often wasted space in these areas or hard to work with areas. For these areas space optimization and organization are key. Here's a few tips from our pros.

1) Always start with a clean slate. Meaning remove all items from the area you want to organize; and then group those items together so we can start to understand what type of storage containers we might need and what we might have too much of :) This is the perfect time to get rid of old towels or items you haven't used in a number of years.

2) Once you know what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of collect all of your storage bins and organization resources and start placing similar items in those that fit correctly. This will help you understand if you need to purchase more or what you can use. We recommend the www.containerstore.com for unique shaped organization options

3) Next clean the area, wipe shelves, vacuums or mop the floor, and be sure to look for any cob webs that might be hiding in the corners. We also suggest giving your linens a fresh wash at this time.

4) Now it is time to get creative. We encourage browsing Pinterest or home stores like Ikea for unique organization ideas that fit your space and style. Try to use every inch of your space. Don't forget corners, ceiling shelves and door spaces. For example, adding hooks to the back of a door or an over the closet door hanger can open up places to store items like robes, children's hooded towels, winter socks, facial towels -- the possibilities are endless. You can use stacking racks to optimize storage for smaller items, and storage baskets for odd shaped items like floor rugs.

5) Once you have all of your items in place, label, label, label. You may remember where you put items but your partner or children may not. This helps everyone in the house keep the space organized.

6) Don't forget the extras! Air fresheners, linen sprays, essential oil diffusers, laundry sheets, and moisture rid systems like Damp-rid are all great tools for keeping your linens and linen closet feeling and smelling fresh and clean. Some of our favorite essential oils for this space is grapefruit and lemon.

image credit: Good Housekeeping