too early to spring clean?

I am of the 'take your glasses off and have another glass of wine' persuasion.

I move the furniture, change around pictures, etc on the walls and buy a couple of new cushions. Also swapped about some ornaments. Dunelm have a sale at moment, some good bits in there too.

Perhaps just go out instead, or take your glasses off and lusten to music!

January sun is lovely but is is low in the sky, is very yellow, throws long shadows and reveals dust in rooms and on the windows.

To perk up a room I suggest you take everything out of it that stands on flat surfaces and clean everything in the room really thoroughly including the windows inside and out.

When all the main items of furniture and all carpets, rugs and curtains are clean have a ruthless throw out of all the 'ornament' type items you have removed. Only put back a few and then only the really nice ones that do the room a favour. Don't put things on windowsills at all as it looks messy and unstylish.

It might also be worth buying a few new items. Other commenters on this thread have suggested cushions but rugs might also have a big effect.

Less is more.

I find housework boring and tiring. so do just enough to stay above health hazard status. DH feigns ignorance of the existence of the need for cleaning, so no help there.

I have been reading about this method in the press recently too, there's a book by Marie Kondo called The life changing magic of tidying which explains her (Japanese) method. It sounds good and is really about how de cluttering your home will lessen the stress of everyday life. I always like to have a thorough de clutter in January as it feels like a good way to start a new year and it's a productive way to spend the most miserable month of the year!

What is this 'cleaning' of which you all speak? Me, I'm off back to my craft room! Happy Monday, everyone

DH and I cleaned out the airing cupboard yesterday. We had a lot of bedlinen and towels which we use but a lot that was just taking up space. It took us about two hours and we were pretty ruthless. The cupboard is very tidy now and I can see where everything is but have discovered that I am in need of some fitted bottom sheets as the elastic had gone on some of them and they were very thin. Not exactly saving money!

Thanks f77ms, I'm going to try spraying them with mould remover, then wash them when the weather is better. Bay windows are lovely, but have their drawbacks too!

I agree about washing all types of curtains. The previous owners of our house left some rather grand, lined curtains which last autumn I bunged in the washing machine and dried on the line. They were fine, maybe a tad shorter but nothing that noticed much. I expect they would have cost a fortune to dry clean.

I'm not much into spring cleaning either but when we finish using the woodburner in the spring I do find that the downstairs part of the house needs a deep clean. DH and I do a room a day, even taking off the seat and arm covers of the sofas and armchairs and washing them. That's the easy bit, fitting them back on and zipping them up again is a mammoth task best done in the nude with the windows and doors wide open to catch any passing breeze.

Carolebarrel , Curtains hang best if they just skim the windowsills . Have you tried washing the curtains , it may be worth a try even though they may say they should be dry cleaned . I think you can buy a product for getting rid of mould on fabric on ebay rather than throwing them out .

I either make my own curtains ( very easy really !) or buy cheap ones so I can replace when I get fed up . Do you have a sewing machine ? I have huge bay windows so have to buy 2 pairs of the widest size so making them is very much cheaper and also an achievement you can be proud of .

Phoenix. That's such a good tip

I do all the jobs that need doing inside at this time of the year.so that when the weather is better I can do the garden Cleaning out drawers all the way through the house. I enjoy needle work so I'm making two summer dresses for youngest GD 8 mths and a quilt for my niece's expected baby. Sorting photos, cooking soups for the freezer. Absolutely no time for spring cleaning!
And may I add. We've just come back from seeing The Danish Girl. What a great film. Wonderful settings and Eddie Redmayne is incredible!

Talking of spring cleaning, etc., anyone have any tips for how to curtain a massive bay window?
Should curtains sit on the sill or hang over? My current curtains have gone black and mouldy because they touch the constantly wet windows. Paid a fortune for them to be made so need some advice.

I'm another one who supports the Galen approach to the "spring clean" I mean come on folks!

A quick tip re ironing curtains, position the ironing board parallel to the bannisters, and as you iron let the bit you have just done dangle over them.

Stops the curtains crumpling as they go over the other side of the ironing board.

Does this make sense?

What's wrong with a bit of dust? There are too many good books to read to worry about cleaning ! I do what's neccesary ,nothing more!
I've tried the "brighten up with new cushions etc " but then don't want to part with the old bits so end up even more cluttered!

I don`t spring clean but just keep on top of things on a daily basis , so much easier and nicer to live in a clean house.
I would recommend the Range too. There are some lovely things which are SO cheap and I also get things from charity shops and ebay to brighten up the house .
I have just painted the hall and stairs in Grey hints which looks just beautiful , so calm and clean looking .
Chuck the rug out unless it cleans up well , you can get one for £20 !

ajanela, the trouble about asking the sun to come out is that what needs doing straight away, if it does, is the windows. They look fine in the rain and gloom, but horrible if the sun shines through the grime. I'm not so keen on cleanliness that I'm prepared to stand outside in the frost with my hands in a bucket of water.

Repainting not reprinting <sigh>

I've gently broached the subject of redecorating to DH, he didn't say no so the utility room's getting sorted at long last then really the rest of the house except the bathroom needs reprinting. The living/dining room needs a new carpet as does our bedroom and I suspect the stairs and landing too, so major upheavals ahead ?

It's many years since I've 'spring cleaned' as such - my mother was obsessive about it and in her later years when she was losing her memory she started to keep a diary of what she'd done and when. I try to keep on top of it as I go and big jobs such as stripping the covers off the sofa cushions get done when the weather is warmer. I took the decs down last week and also put lots of battery candles and lights in vases around the rooms. I've just got a new cordless vacuum so at the moment the place is quite clean as it's so easy to hoover all the cat hair up - I even pulled the bed out this morning and cleaned under there! My husband vowed we were never decorating this house again (we've been in it 30 years) so guess we'll have to move when the next room needs doing!

Galen - definitely more than sufficient

I read a really useful article a while ago about de-cluttering. The best advice was not to start in the 'obvious' places i.e. the sitting room or kitchen, but to clear out the attic or the spare room first, that way when you get as far as sorting out the other rooms you won't end up with little piles of stuff that you can't bear to part with but have nowhere to put them. It really worked for me...

Thought spring cleaning was meant to be done after the last coal fire of the winter,so few houses have open fires nowadays so probably not relevant.