Korinne Robertson, Zero Fox Design, March 16, 2023, VOL. 4 ISSUE 15 

I’m not the designer that loves to be cliché, but well, spring is here so you know what that means.  Out with the old, in with the new!  Turning over a new leaf!  Spring cleaning! Those are some of those fun terms no one really loves.  Well, they’re fun to say, but not always fun to do.  I’m not here to haunt you with chores, I’m here to help, so let’s talk about it.

Whether we like the idea of purging, organizing, and cleaning, it’s undeniable that springtime is the best time to do it properly.  We can open the windows, enjoy the longer days, and play some music while we commit to a little bit of work inside the home.  Let’s face it, after the winter that we’ve had here, we should welcome any chance to make use of (and enjoy) some warm fresh air and sunshine. 

One of the most valuable tips I can share as a professional is to keep a list or booklet regarding changes you’d like to make around the home. If you don’t have a list going already, now is a great time to start one.  Every time you notice something you’d like to change inside of the home, take two minutes to add it to your list.  Perhaps you want to dust all the baseboards throughout the house or replace the weather stripping around your door.  Maybe you’ve had enough of the disaster that’s happening inside your container drawer in the kitchen.  When you add things to the list, you create a goal to work towards, which in short, is crossing items off the list.  But imagine if there was another goal?  I propose that you don’t make finishing the list the entire goal.  Make your major goal a change to your home.  Paint a bedroom, buy new window coverings, and find an area rug for the living room.  Clear out the storage room in the basement, and maybe you can create a home office.  Give yourself the promise of something fun once the list is crossed off entirely.

One thing that drags us down the most, and really creeps up on us over the colder months, is stuff.  Clothes that you no longer wear for whatever reason, outdated magazines, containers with no lids… just… stuff.  Make this spring the opportunity to purge your home of your excess stuff, and you’ll feel so much lighter and happier moving into the warmer weather. 

If ridding your home of your extra things seems daunting, take a few moments to find any local organizations that will come right to your home to pick up the items you no longer need.  There are many people that can make use of things, even if you cannot.  Donating to local charities is a great way to keep items out of the landfill, and maybe even just help someone else in need. 

Another fun idea is to have a yard sale.  Putting reasonable prices on working, intact items that you no longer need means that others can use them, the items stay out of our landfills, and you make a little bit of extra fun money while you’re at it. While you likely won’t make enough money at your yard sale to book a trip to the Galapagos, you can treat yourself to dinner afterward. Maybe you’ll make enough to purchase a couple of gallons of new paint for your living room and bathroom.   Remember, you can also book a local company to come pick up any of your unsold items so that you don’t need to add them back into your home. 

Among the other things you’ll want to casually organize for your spring cleaning efforts, write down a small goal or two.  Is that goal to rearrange your furniture after you finish dusting your baseboards?  Maybe you want to paint the bedroom or buy yourself that new area rug.  Realistically, you don’t want to do those things until the house is cleaned of a winter’s worth of dust, and you have space to move and work.  Even the smallest amount of decluttering leaves things more organized than how you found them, and an organized home is a great environment to move forward with your rewarding changes!

Springtime is a great time to embrace change and begin some new habits.  I firmly believe after sorting through a cabinet full of containers and lids, you’ll question whether you really need to keep that extra sour cream container that will go to live forever in the container cabinet.  You definitely will stop to consider whether you need to keep those magazines once you read them.  Purging has a way of teaching us about what we need, what we use, and what we should keep.  I know I’m personally guilty of keeping things to one day decorate with, and I don’t need more of those things.  I need more space.  I can’t have one without the other.  So, this spring, I’ll be purging my personal collection of stuff with the windows open and the music playing.  My big goal is to have more space, and I’ll also learned that if I add more stuff to my collection, I’ll ultimately have less space. 

Every effort related to spring cleaning is a step forward in your home and space.  It’s definitely a great way to stay in touch with your household décor and design goals and to keep up with your habits within your home.  If you view it as less of a chore, and more of a way to learn about your home maintenance, you’ll feel comfortable about tackling another goal in the future.  Maybe even learn some DIY!  At the very least, you’ll feel you’ve accomplished something, and your home will feel like a palace when you’re finished. 

For Home related design and decorating questions contact Korinne at Zero Fox Design at

519-329-2505 or at k@zerofoxdesign.com