Spring Cleaning in a Pinch

Although spring has just arrived and it's time to start chipping away at that winter grime, I realize not everyone has the time to devote an entire day to making every inch of your house glow and shine. However, given just one afternoon you can make quite a dent in your cleaning and make your house not only presentable but pleasant. The trick is to focus on those big ticket items in your home, mainly the floors and the bathroom.

Winter is an absolute nightmare for flooring, with all of the salt and slush we drag in from the roads or even just that water that drips off of the kid's clothes after a day of sledding, but spring can be just as bad with the dirt and rain-boots. April showers may bring flowers, but they also bring mud. Your best defense against the forces of sediment creeping across your hardwood floors is a microfiber mop. Just put one of the pads on the mop, spritz it with some water, and run it over the floor. It will leave your hardwoods sparkling without having to get down on your hands and knees or dragging a slimy mop across the floor. Also, don't forget your dog's favorite rug or the carpet in the living room. Vacuuming will do a ton to spruce up the place and make it smell and look fresher. Plump a few pillows and you are all set.

Now for those bathrooms. You want to spare any guests who might stop by from a flashback to their days in a college dorm. Your bathroom doesn't need to look like you have had four college suitemates fighting over the mirror. Microfiber clothes are going to be your defense against bathroom buildup. Just spray the super blue cloth with a gentle cleaner like Modern Mermaid in the Bare Bathroom Cleaner. Wipe down the mirror, sink and vanity, then tackle the toilet with a large looped microfiber cloth. You can finish the whole thing off with the microfiber mop again.

By taking on the floors and the bathroom you will pretty much clear up your house for company and make your home feel more hospitable. However, for those odd tasks that you don't ever seem to have the time to get to, like washing the windows or organizing the pantry, keep those in the back of your mind. You can always chip away at them when you have some time, like organizing just one shelf of spices or washing just the windows in the dining room when you get a spare minute. As long as you know what you want to accomplish, you can plan ahead and eventually conquer any cleaning task that seemed impossibly time consuming.