Prepare Your Home, and You, for Spring

Each season for your home comes with new responsibilities to prepare your home for the season. As the winter months fade away and spring blooms, these tips will keep your home and things in great shape for spring!

Spring is springing, and the flowers will soon be blooming, and the leaves change from bare and gold to green with new life. Now it's almost time to open our homes to the sunlight and fresh air that spring brings, and let out the bundled-up, stuffy winter-ness of our homes. Spring cleaning is a well-known spring ritual, but there's a lot more involved in properly preparing a home for spring than just cleaning!

Spring Cleaning First

Starting with spring cleaning is a great way to get into preparing a home for spring. Start with one room, and tackle the spring-cleaning project one room at a time. Spring is a great time to pack away or throw away the clutter from our lives and bring new life and things into the home. If you haven't used it in awhile, throw it away, no matter what "it" is!

Spring Cleaning Home Garage Sale

If you can sell it, plan a garage or yard sale, or get out a digital camera and take pictures of things to sell on eBay. Not only do you clean out your home, but you also get some extra money to buy some new things to spring up your home!

Prepare Your Home for Warming Weather

It's time now to clean up the vents on your air conditioner or uncover and clean out your window units if you have them. The first blast from the air conditioner will not be pleasant if you don't take care of this simple chore. If you don't prepare your home for spring by cleaning out the air conditioner vents and/or pads, you're going to get dust and debris and allergens all over your freshly spring-cleaned home!

Properly Store Winter Heaters for Spring

Chances are you had firewood, space heaters, gas or kerosene heaters or other heating devices for winter that will now need to be stored for the spring. Be sure to store these items properly and safely. Kerosene or other liquid fuel heaters should be completely emptied and cleaned before storage, and it is best to store them outside if at all possible. If it's necessary to be stored inside your home for spring, be sure to store away from any open flame sources, such as water heaters or stoves.

Storing Winter Blankets for Spring

When preparing your home for spring, you probably want to fold and properly store your winter blankets so they are safe from damage during the warmer months. Finding storage boxes/bins or containers that are waterproof and bug-proof is a good choice. There are plastic storage bags with vacuum suction that keep your blankets, comforters and quilts safe and fresh.

If you can't afford these, be sure to fold your blankets carefully and store them in closets, along with some mothballs to protect from bug damage. Do not place mothballs directly on the blankets, as they will eat holes through the material.

Storing Jackets and Coats and Winter Clothes for Spring

The same thing for blankets can be used for coats and jackets. If you have a garage for storage space, this is ideal. Attics and crawl spaces are good to store these items if space is limited, as long as you store them in waterproof and pest-proof containers.

Check for Pipe and Water Leaks

Before turning on the faucets to water the yard and plants, be sure to check under the house and on the sides of the house for any water or pipe leaks. Turn off all faucets in the house, then check your water meter for any movement. Listen for the sounds of running water under and around the house.

Clean Rain Gutters and Roof for Spring

Preparing your home for spring means preparing your home for April showers. Melting snow, rain, and thunderstorms are on the way, so rain gutters, awnings, canopies and other outdoor areas where leaves can gather and prevent water from flowing should be cleaned out.

If you follow these steps, you can prepare your house for spring and clean up the clutter in your life to enjoy the sunlight and warmer temperatures.