Spring Cleaning

Cleaning can be a chore, a relief or a little bit of both! Some of us are consistent and methodical in our approach to cleaning, and others more haphazard. However, we are all that person who wants to dust off the cobwebs after a long, dark winter, throw the doors open and let in the fresh air. Spring Cleaning will get you started on your journey to a clean and healthy home, free of dust, debris and clutter. The magazine is full of tips and tricks to make cleaning less drudgery and more satisfying by keeping routines all year, so springtime cleaning is not an enormous task and using the best "green" cleaning products that are good for our home and the environment! Set aside some time and dig in. Spring is just around the corner!

Dirt—as in older than, poorer than, common as. Is dirt the lowest common denominator by which everything is measured? Lewis, the editor of this dirt-versus-cleanliness essay collection, reveals and considers the "emotional engines" attached to this ongoing struggle.

In this anthology of 38 pieces, by writers ranging from Rebecca Walker to Ann Hood to Joyce Maynard, essayist Lewis (Life Inside: A Memoir) turns her attention to housekeeping. Dirt in our homes and the process of cleaning it up is a universal task that all of us can appreciate. But while some of us enjoy housekeeping and excel at it, others abhor it and ignore it as long as possible. The contributors discuss their cleaning experiences and how those experiences have shaped them; clutter, neatness, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, hoarding, and dust bunnies are all covered here. This book certainly differs from the usual how-to manuals. Indeed, even though it offers no direct help with cleaning, its heartening prose could encourage even dedicated slobs to raise their standards. It is effectively a cumulative story about our lives and a great read to pick up now and then: the short entries and interesting points of view make this a pleasing and accessible volume.

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). 

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

The follow-up to the bestselling Complete Book of Home Organization, the Complete Book of Clean is a foolproof, eco-friendly guide to cleaning your home ... Learn the best seasons to tackle home projects, storage solutions to simplify the process and teach even the messiest kids to clean up after themselves. This book will help you tackle every mess, stain and dust-magnet, and keep things from getting out of hand in the future--all while being friendly to the environment and keeping toxic chemicals out of your home. Whether you're a neat freak or new to the world of homekeeping, let Toni Hammersley be your guide to establishing routines, learning techniques and mastering the best home cleaning hacks out there.

In Decluttering at the Speed of Life, decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mindsets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. In her signature humorous approach, she provides workable solutions to break through these struggles and get clutter out—for good!

While the world seems to be in love with the idea of tiny houses and minimalism, many of us simply can't purge it all and start from nothing. Yet a home with too much stuff is difficult to maintain, so where do we begin? Add in paralyzing emotional attachments and constant life challenges, and it can feel almost impossible to make real decluttering progress.

Not only does Dana provide strategies, but she dives deep into how to implement them, no matter the reader's clutter level or emotional resistance to decluttering. She helps identify procrasticlutter—the stuff that will get done eventually so it doesn't seem urgent—as well as how to make progress when there's no time to declutter.

Melissa Dilkes Pateras is the most competent housekeeper/DIY-project master/home repair genius that you've ever been sexually attracted to. Once she followed her kids onto TikTok and began sharing her years of knowledge, she found a community eager for her approachable, often tongue-in-cheek advice on everything from caulking to why color-coded closets are a spiritual experience. She doesn't care about transforming our homes into a minimal, beige Instagram post. Melissa sees housekeeping as a form of anxiety relief, self-care, and self-esteem-building. She wants us to feel able to take care of our homes in a way that works for us-so we can relax and feel confident inviting others over; in short, to say, "come on in."

Get rid of the clutter — and keep it away! Organizing expert Donna Smallin shows you how to enjoy the happy, healthy, and inviting home you long for with hundreds of time-saving, clutter-busting tips. Smallin’s simple and manageable approach helps you focus on the things that will make the biggest difference in the least amount of time. Clear away the clutter once and for all, and discover the peace of mind that has been hiding underneath.

If you’re struggling to stay on top of your to-do list, you probably have a good reason: anxiety, fatigue, depression, ADHD, or lack of support. For therapist KC Davis, the birth of her second child triggered a stress-mess cycle. The more behind she felt, the less motivated she was to start. She didn’t fold a single piece of laundry for seven months. One life-changing realization restored her sanity—and the functionality of her home: You don’t work for your home; your home works for you.

In other words, messiness is not a moral failing. A new sense of calm washed over her as she let go of the shame-based messaging that interpreted a pile of dirty laundry as “I can never keep up” and a chaotic kitchen as “I’m a bad mother.” Instead, she looked at unwashed clothes and thought, “I am alive,” and at stacks of dishes and thought, “I cooked my family dinner three nights in a row.”

Building on this foundation of self-compassion, KC devised the powerful practical approach that has exploded in popularity through her TikTok account, @domesticblisters. The secret is to simplify your to-do list and to find creative workarounds that accommodate your limited time and energy. In this book, you’ll learn exactly how to customize your cleaning strategy and rebuild your relationship with your home, including:

-How to see chores as kindnesses to your future self, not as a reflection of your worth
-How to start by setting priorities
-How to stagger tasks so you won’t procrastinate
-How to clean in quick bursts within your existing daily routine
-How to use creative shortcuts to transform a room from messy to functional

With KC’s help, your home will feel like a sanctuary again. It will become a place to rest, even when things aren’t finished. You will move with ease, and peace and calm will edge out guilt, self-criticism, and endless checklists. They have no place here.

An organized, clutter-free home appeals to everyone. But where to begin? This useful guide provides fun, creative and painless ways to get started using the tips, techniques, quick fixes, and trade secrets used by professional organizers.

Decluttering Your Home shows how to save time, money, and energy. It takes the cluttered and distressed through the first steps in decluttering and gives common sorting strategies that work.

Geralin Thomas specializes in home and home-office organizing. She's a public speaker and an instructor to professional organizers. For six seasons, she organized America's most cluttered homes on A and E's TV series, Hoarders.

Cleaning out your cupboards isn’t just about a tidier kitchen. Find peace, repair your past, and live a more fulfilled life with this uplifting guide to the spiritual practice of decluttering.

Bless your clutter. Yes, you heard right: Bless it. Bless everything in your life that is superfluous, broken, burdensome, and overwhelming—because it is all here to teach you an important lesson, perhaps the most important lesson there is: what really matters.

Everyone’s lives could use some serious decluttering. But decluttering isn’t just about sorting junk into piles and tossing things in the trash. Decluttering can inform us of our burdens, help us to understand our attachments, and aid us in identifying what is truly valuable in our lives.

Written by a medical doctor and a spiritual intuitive, with case studies of people just like you, Breathing Room takes you on an enlightening room-by-room tour where each room in your home corresponds to a “room” in your heart, and where declutter­ing will not just make space but improve the spirit.

So, if it’s weighing you down, if it’s become an obstacle, if it’s making it near impossible for you to find the things you really love—it’s time for you to let it go and find a little breathing room.

Welcome to the world of safer, greener household cleaning. This friendly book will help you become more self-sufficient and benefit your health, the environment, and your bank balance. Natural Household Cleaning is packed with clear, easy-to-follow cleaning recipes to replace common commercial cleaning products with natural alternatives. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover that your kitchen cupboard already contains many harmless options for transforming your home into a clean and fresh-smelling haven. Lemons, salt, vinegar, baking soda, and club soda are just some of the natural ingredients that can be used to clean the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, floors, and everything in between. Many of us don’t realize just how easy it is to make your own cleaning products and achieve truly amazing results. Turn a chore into a pleasure and discover a whole new way to clean!

Discover the joy of cleaning with this cheery and thoughtful guide to tidying up and turning your house into a home.

Patric Richardson is known as “The Laundry Evangelist,” but his genuine love for household chores extends far beyond the laundry room. His philosophy is simple: tidying up is a privilege and a task you do for those you love (including yourself), and there are a million ways to infuse joy into the everyday tasks behind maintaining a home.

House Love is his sunny guide to freshening up every inch of the house—from the entryway to the attic, the backyard to the bedroom. Patric shares his best design inspiration, DIY projects, and, of course, cleaning tips, so you can fall in love with your home all over again—or for the very first time!

This book also grants you permission to shake things up. Keep bath salts in a cookie jar? Sure. Display a surprising mishmash of pillows? You bet. Discover your personal design style? He helps you do that too. Plus, Patric’s cleaning genius will change your life, with expert advice like:

• Which three cleaning tools are worth splurging on
• How to create a powerful (and antibacterial) cleaning spray with lemon and thyme
• What exactly to clean when you only have 10 minutes to spare

Complete with fun-to-clean-to playlists, charming recipes, and even step-by-step instructions for cleaning every type of room, House Love brightens up life’s most common chores. With this book, you’ll learn new and novel ways to transform your home, and Patric’s entertaining stories, good humor, and genuine warmth will guide you every step of the way.

Get a sparkling home in a snap! This room-by-room guide is jam-packed with time-saving advice, including information on hardworking Good Housekeeping Institute Lab-tested products. Hundreds of tricks and tips for taking care of everything from grease stains to kitchen odors, laundry mishaps, and carpet catastrophes will help you clean faster, declutter more easily, tackle trouble spots, simplify big jobs, and accomplish more in less time.

Little known fact: Buddhist Monks are amazing at cleaning and tidying. In this one-of-a-kind guide to cleaning your home, Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto reveals how to make your home as spotless as it is tranquil and peaceful. For Buddhist monks cleaning well is a cardinal skill and, in A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind, readers will discover their never-before-shared cleaning pro tips. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, true enlightenment is impossible if your home has even a speck of dust and, assuch, Buddhist monks have much to teach us lay people about achieving a truly Zen clean. A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind features charming illustrations and step-by-step instructions on such essential household cleansing tips as: * First, Air It Out: Before cleaning anything Monk's first open the temple windows to purify the air and let the crisp morning breeze in. * Don't Procrastinate: 'Zengosaidan ' is a Zen expression meaning that one should put all their efforts into each day so they have no regrets. In the context of cleaning, this means don't put off cleaning those dishes you've left in the sink. * Remember to Put On Your Samue: Samue robes are worn by Japanese monks when they perform their daily duties of cleaning and looking after the temple. Easy to move in and to wash and care for, they are the perfect cleaning attire. From cleaning up everything from your kitchen sink, toilet, and that pile of unidentified stuff in the corner of your garage to your mind, body, and spirit, this book will guide you in creating a home environment that will calm your thoughts and nourish your soul.

With the help of New York Times bestselling author and housekeeping guru Marla Cilley, you'll cure your household CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) by changing your messy home into a soothing sanctuary

Are you suffering from CHAOS, otherwise known as Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome? If your house is a jumble of dirty dishes, piles of paper, and never-ending laundry, you are probably afflicted. But don't give up hope, because now there's an antidote: The CHAOS Cure.

In her eagerly anticipated new book, Marla Cilley--aka "The FlyLady" to the hundreds of thousands who visit her website for daily domestic inspiration--reaches into our homes to help make housecleaning more meaningful and life less messy. With a little bit of armchair therapy and plenty of practical, tactical tips--such as "On the Fly!" quick fixes and genius uses for sticky notes--she'll help us get our houses in shipshape order before we can break a sweat. Along the way, the FlyLady teaches us to embrace household maintenance as an act of self-care, and to enjoy the soothing satisfaction of an orderly habitat.

Before you know it, you'll be on the fast-track to living CHAOS-free, surrounded by sparkling serenity.