With the new year in full swing and spring just around the corner, many of us will take the time to spring clean our homes before heading outside to enjoy the warmer temperatures. The tradition of spring cleaning dates back centuries, thanks to the soot left on the floors of old homes after the winter use of materials like kerosene and coal to light and heat houses. Windows and doors would be opened with the warmer weather, so that the soot could be removed from rugs and swept from floors.
Even after all this time, there’s still something about the fresh arrival of spring that seems like the ideal time for deep cleaning and home renovations. Getting that process started, however, can easily feel overwhelming. From polished plantation shutters to cleaning checklist tips, here are 6 ideas to get your home ready for warmer weather:
Make Your Own Cleaner Using Household Supplies
Vinegar, baking soda, distilled water, and lemon juice are just a few common pantry supplies with uses that extend far beyond cooking. You can use baking soda to scrub away hard to remove stains, deodorize rugs, and clean kids’ toys. A combination of distilled water and vinegar will help clean the glass of your windows and mirrors. Lemon juice can help balance the strong scent of vinegar. You can also mix lemon juice with olive oil and vinegar to make a gentle wooden furniture polish.
Pay Attention to What You Forget to Clean
Spring cleaning gives you the opportunity to focus on those cleaning tasks that might be forgotten with the demands of daily life. This is a great time to run a cloth along baseboards, use a duster on the walls, and spruce up ceiling fans. Don’t forget about the machines that you use to keep things clean, either, like dishwashers, vacuums, and washing machines.
Changing seasons is also an ideal time to change air filters. You’ll breathe easier and have less dust to clean up later.
Follow a Spring Cleaning Checklist
One way to make sure that you tackle all of your cleaning tasks is to use a checklist. You can make your own or choose one from the many available online. Try to make sure that your checklist only has you completing a couple of cleaning projects a day. Spreading out the cleaning work is much easier and less overwhelming when you aren’t trying to deep clean your whole house over the course of a week!
Organize Your Closets and Cabinets
Spring cleaning is the perfect time to clean out closets, decide on what to do with old clothes, organize your pantry, and generally accomplish organization tasks that might otherwise be put aside. A helpful tip for organization? Consider using clear containers and bins to organize the things in your closet. Clear containers allow you to easily see the items that you’ve stored away.
Freshen Up Your Plantation Shutters
One of the benefits of having plantation shutters as your window treatment is how easy these beauties are to maintain. The authentically wooden plantation shutters that we sell at Shenandoah Shutters don’t require expensive products or time-consuming routines to stay clean. In fact, the use of products — even soap and water — can be too harsh for the wood. Instead, keep your plantation shutters sparkling with a microfiber cloth, feather duster, and gentle, wood safe furniture polish. To be extra safe, you can even use your homemade furniture polish on your plantation shutters. Combine two parts vinegar with two parts olive oil and one part lemon juice for an easy DIY plantation shutter cleaner.
When it’s time to clean, carefully dust your plantation shutters using the feather duster. You can also use a vacuum attachment to sweep each row of the shutters. Then, add the gentle furniture polish to your microfiber cloth and run it along each part of the shutter. After the polish dries, if you still feel like there’s dust on your shutters, you can use a toothbrush to clean anything that you couldn’t remove with your feather duster.
Add Plantation Shutters to Your Home This Spring
Home improvements are popular in the spring. If you’ve been hoping to install plantation shutters in your home this year, spring is one of the best times to do it. Plantation shutters filter the gorgeous sunlight in and out of your home, creating an inviting ambiance that pairs perfectly with the season of blooming flowers and warmer days. Plantation shutters are also energy efficient and provide an added layer of privacy. Like spring cleaning, plantation shutters date back centuries as a result of their ability to keep homes both sunny and cool.
With spring and summer comes BBQs and group celebrations. Your ability to control the natural light in your space will enhance each room of your home for you and your guests. Since Shenandoah Shutters uses only wooden plantation shutters, you can also rest assured that our stunning window treatments will look beautiful alongside your wooden furnishings. We use fine American woods, including yellow poplar and basswood, for our plantation shutters. If a specialty wood, like cherry or mahogany, would be better for your home, let us know! We can accommodate your specialty wood request.
At Shenandoah Shutters, you’ll also choose from creams, stains, or custom colors to complete the look of your plantation shutters.
Plantation Shutters Never Go Out of Style
While plantation shutters are a time-honored window treatment, you can still choose from a variety of styles for your windows. We have shutters for windows every size and shape, including sliding glass doors. We even patented our own original Softedge design, which offers an innovative and modern look for the plantation shutter.
Concerned about the future? Shenandoah Shutters offers a limited, 100-year transferable warranty on your plantation shutters. Since each shutter is hand finished using a silken lacquer, we offer a 25-year warranty on that, as well.
We’re proud to have spent decades serving the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C areas. Shenandoah Shutters is located in Richmond, making our woodshop and showroom within visiting distance of our service areas.
Ready to make your appointment? Contact us today to schedule your free, in-home design estimate and consultation. Plantation shutters are the ultimate way to transform your home for spring.
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