There is no better way for moms to welcome the new spring season than to do her spring cleaning first! Don’t be shocked how your mom can really clean every part of your home that well. That includes the most difficult place to completely maintain the cleanliness, the bathroom. Consider how challenging it is to maintain the tiles, the flooring, the windows, the sink, cabinets, toilet bowl and the tub or shower, clean all the time. One more addition to spring cleaning is decorating your bathroom in a simple yet adorable arrangement. So for all the moms out there, taken also from everything I have learned from my experience, here is a simple guide and tips for spring cleaning and decorating your bathroom in an inexpensive way.
Prepare Your Magic Cleaning Supplies
Before anything else, make sure that you have all the cleaning supplies you need. If you are one of those “brand-conscious-moms”, go ahead and spend on your well-trusted products. I don’t see anything wrong on spending your money on those products as long as they do their magic well to your bathroom. But for some thrifty mothers existing out there, dollar stores are their first love when it comes to affordable cleaning supplies, not to mention most of their products really work. If you want to check out the bathroom cleaning supplies that only costs a dollar, you may go to the the dollar tree website for their bathroom cleaners and all purpose cleaner supplies. You may check your neighborhood too for stores offering unbranded and inexpensive cleaning supplies.
The basic bathroom cleaning supplies you need are the following: liquid bowl cleaner, tub and shower cleaner, or you can find an all purpose bathroom cleaner for both the tub/shower and toilet bowl, bleach to help whiten your tub/shower and toilet bowl more, disinfectant wipes, cleaning scrubs, toilet bowl brush, and a pair of clean gloves.
Grab and Set Aside Your Bathroom Essentials
To make sure you are able to clean every corners and spaces in your bathroom, set aside your bathroom essentials first. Empty your bathroom caddy, your toilet sink, the floors, and whatever things you have in your bathroom. Set them aside and if you need to wipe or dust them off, you may do so. Just make sure that they are in a safe place unable for your small kids to reach. You can take notes at the same time for the things you have ran out already or soon to ran out off. Here is a simple checklist you may use for the things you need for your bathroom.
DATE:___________
BATHROOM ESSENTIALS QUANTITY LEFT BUY NOW
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Mouthwash
Dental Floss
Hand soap
Hand and Body Lotion
Shampoo
Conditioner
Soap
Body Scrub
Toilet tissue
Shaving Cream
Razor
Deodorant
Air Freshener
Fill up the date and the necessary boxes needed. Allow extra rows for you to add up more of your basic bathroom essentials. This will serve as a good reminder and a helpful tool for your spring bathroom cleaning, too.
Start With Your Tub or Shower
You can take out your shower curtain if you want to and wash it first. Wear your gloves and clean the tub/shower using your all purpose cleaner or tub/shower cleaner. Don’t forget to scrub the tiles on the walls too. Include scrubbing the shower knob, caddy, and shower sprinkler in your cleaning. If you are using a non-slip bathtub mat, scrub both sides carefully and set aside after cleaning it. If you are sure that everything is well cleaned already, you may use a bleach for additional cleaning to disinfect and whiten the tub even more. Leave it for a while and trust the bleach to do its wonders! If you don’t like the strong smell of the bleach, you may use anything you want to cover your nose and mouth to prevent from exhaling too much of the bleach odor.
Head Out Next to the Toilet Bowl
Still using your gloves, clean the external sides of the toilet bowl first. Use the disinfectant wipes to clean the top, the sides, and the bottom of the bowl. Check out even the back side of the toilet bowl to make sure there is no dust left. Next is to wipe the seats. You can make a follow up wiping using tissue paper for the sensitive members of the family. This is to ensure that there is no remaining wet residues of the wipes. Afterward, pour over your toilet bowl cleaner and scrub the upper sides, lower sides and the bottom of the bowl. Again, to add up to the spring bathroom cleaning strategy, pour over some bleach on the sides of the bowl first doing a round motion, until the bleach reaches the bottom. Leave it again for a while.
It is Sink Time
I know, it seems like forever, with matching sweats all over your face and body! Think about this: “Cleaning is an unconscious way of loosing weight, too!”. Make this your ultimate motivator and remind yourself once in a while for you to be able to finish your spring bathroom cleaning. We are now halfway, so it will all be over soon. Cleaning the sink is a lot easier than the tub/shower and toilet bowl. Thinking about this is quite restful already! So start by wiping the counters and the mirror. Again, still using your gloves, clean the sink using your all purpose cleaner and scrub it nicely. Don’t forget to also scrub your sink faucets or fixtures. One good tip is, choose a cleaner that has a lemon scent or a flowery scent if you prefer it more. This will give your bathroom an extra good feeling of spring. You can rearrange your sink cabinets too if you still have the time. You can put cabinet mats or simply old newspapers or magazines. This is for unnecessary spills if you are storing your cleaning supplies under your sink cabinet.
Be the Floor Manager
To really make your spring bathroom cleaning complete, you can wash your bath rugs or put in your extra ones for a new fresh look too. But keep hold of your bath rugs for awhile. You need to clean the floors first. You can use a mop for tiled, marbled or laminated flooring. For wooden bathroom floorings, vacuum the floors first and use a very dry damp mop because excess water can ruin the wood. You can empty the trash at this stage. You can add up wax if you prefer.
Washy Washy Tub and Toilet Bowl
Now is the right time to wash the tub/shower and toilet bowl from the bleach. You can use the scrub again to wash the bleach thoroughly. Then you can put back the shower curtain. And put back all your bathroom essentials in the caddy or in places you want to. If you can avoid placing your shampoos, conditioner, etc. from the sides of the tub, do so. This will help you eliminate any dirt formation around the tub. Use a shower caddy as a better option for your essentials. You can now also bring back your bathtub mat, after drying the area of the tub where you are placing your mat. Another tip is to spread out your shower curtain even if it is not in use. This will help your curtain keep dry hence avoiding bad odor.
Time to Put Back Your Bathroom Essentials
Continue on putting back your essentials on the sink counter, on your extra bathroom caddies and of course keep your cleaning supplies. Rearrange them on the counter sink, that is if you prefer putting your essentials on the counter. Arrange your essentials, for example the toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss and hand soap, then place the ones in front for those you use most.
Decorating in an Inexpensive Way
Maybe at this time, you feel more relaxed. Every corners and spaces inside your bathroom are spic and span. You are beginning to feel the spring fling around your bathroom. To make your bathroom more spring looking, you can add a pot of plant or a vase of flowers. As much as possible, choose a live plant or fresh flowers to go with your bathroom. Choose a light colored pot or vase with a shade of green, yellow or orange if you want to really accent your bathroom with a spring look. You can match your bathroom rugs, shower curtains and/or window accents with the same spring color to add up the mood. Use a freshener if you want to for additional spring scent around your bathroom. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to redecorate your bathroom for spring, because you can just pick up flowers from your garden or any plant you like. It is inexpensive and the most important accent that can lighten up your bathroom.
There you go. Cleaning up your bathroom may sound exhausting but actually very rewarding. Seeing your bathroom so clean and fresh looking, and also good smelling, makes you feel relaxed and happy. Indeed the spring season is here. So go on and do your spring bathroom cleaning now. And of course add up a spice of spring by adding up fresh flowers or plant as an inexpensive spring decoration in your bathroom.
Looking for a simple weekend decorating project? Why not finally declutter your bookcase and turn it into an attractive focal point in the room. Most of us have a bad habit of holding on to every book we’ve ever read, which makes a bookcase look heavy and worn down. Use these different ways to decorate a bookcase, and don’t throw out any of your favorite books!
Use any, or all, of these different ways to decorate a bookcase and transform your cluttered, messy bookcase into something beautiful.
Remove the excess – The first step in decorating a bookcase is to remove all the excess junk. We’re all guilty of haphazardly tossing loose paperwork and other miscellaneous items where they don’t belong. Get rid of all the stuff that doesn’t belong and toss it out. Anything that can’t be thrown away should be neatly organized in wicker baskets or bins.
Paint the backing – Decorate a bookcase in a snap with a fresh coat of paint. To do this, paint the backing of the bookcase a bright color that will stand out from the rest. If the bookcase itself needs touched up, consider painting it semi-gloss or high-gloss white paint.
Wallpaper the backing – Wallpaper immediately draws the eye to the pretty pattern it displays, so if you really want to add a bit of flair to your bookcase, consider adding wallpaper to the back of the bookcase instead of paint. You’ll require very little wallpaper (probably one roll or less), and it will take just an hour or less to decorate a bookcase with this method.
Organize – For those of us that love books, it’s easy to get carried away with the amount we collect. If you can’t force yourself to throw anything away, simply organize the books you have. Arrange them by size and spine color so that they are pleasing to the eye.
Light the way – One of the best ways todecorate a bookcase is by illuminating the shelves. You needn’t spend a lot of money on expensive lighting, just use a few ‘tap’ lights or plug-in rope lighting. (Be sure to hide any cords behind books)
Add accents – To decorate a bookcase, you’ll want to add a few simple accents to break up all the books. Add small sculptures, photos, flowers, plants, candles, and so on. Try to separate the groupings of books as much as possible without creating more clutter.
As you can see, with a little organization and imagination, you can turn your bookcase into the focal point of your room and finally be proud of the books you have on display. These same tips can be used to decorate a china cabinet or hutch too!
More from Jennifer Wagner:
12 Uses for Old Wallpaper Books
Storage Solutions for Small Spaces
Unique Uses for Leftover Wallpaper