The first day of spring officially came a few months ago, but for me the beginning of spring comes the first time I can leave the windows open all day. This particular seasonal transition always seems to bring a cold (nothing so far for 2019, knock on wood and take a zinc). But one thing I remember as a kid is that when the symptoms finally faded, my stepmom would wash my sheets and open my windows for a few hours. I loved how it felt to return to my room afterward—it wasn’t just the sickness that was cleared, but the whole feeling of winter.
Apparently that’s one of the theories of where the whole idea of “spring cleaning” came from in the first place: In the 1800s, when the weather warmed up, people would scrub down their homes to get rid of the dust that had gathered from heating their homes with whale oil or kerosene. Plus, spring meant they could open their doors and windows while cleaning, and take rugs and bedding outside for a much-needed deep clean. When I’m too tired or busy to actually check off every item on my spring cleaning list, sometimes I just crack the windows a bit to mimic that fresh feeling from my childhood.
When developing our spring cleaning program each year, we try to make it as personalized as possible: not everyone has the same cleaning needs or the same amount of time. But this year, we tried to take it one step further—you can choose your own adventure based on your mood. So if, like me, you just want to open the windows and call it a win, we won’t judge. But if you’re looking for deep cleaning advice or something in between, we have plenty of tips for that too. Sign up for the 20-day, room-by-room program here. Our lifestyle editor, Taryn Williford (who runs our January Cure), developed the program. We both can’t wait to hear what you think.
Throughout the month, we’ll be talking about other kinds of cleaning, as well. It’s tax season, and in that spirit, we’ll have some thoughts about cleaning up your finances. And starting on April 22 (Earth Day), we’ll have a dedicated week about cleaning up the home we all share: the planet.
It’s not all cleaning in April, though. We’ll also be continuing our “New Homesmiths” series every Tuesday until the end of the month, where we meet people who were looking for change—and found it by changing how they live. If you haven’t watched yet, you can catch up here and here. And our first April episode features an airplane home.
What does your spring cleaning routine look like? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment