Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring is in the air, and homeownersare busy cleaning out the clutter they have accumulated over the course of the previous year. It is a great time to tackle home improvement projects and make space if you are feeling a little cramped. We share some spring cleaning tips in this week’s blog post for residents in North Georgia and beyond!

Spring Cleaning Tips 2016

Spring cleaning is not only a great way to make space in your home, it is also a task that can help you keep your home in tip-top shape and ensure that your biggest investment does not fall into disrepair – and lose value in the process!

You have no doubt seen it happen time and time again. A neighbor will put an old piece of furniture – maybe something as simple as an old chair – outside of their home, with the good intent of repairing it or donating it to charity. However, as time passes, the chair earns its spot in the yard and soon enough, other pieces of the inside of the home make their way outside, collecting into a haphazard garbage heap and becoming a real eyesore.

Or maybe you notice a piece of chipped paint on your house and earmark it for later repair. The next thing you know, however, a year or two has passed, and that small paint chip has now become a large piece of missing paint and your home has lost some of its curb appeal and luster.

Taking the time to tackle these issues – even if it is just once a year or, better yet, at the start of each quarter – can save you a ton of money in the long run and keep your house looking beautiful. After all, who does not like to pull into the driveway of a well manicured home?

Our first, and most important, spring cleaning tip is to take inventory of your home: both inside and out. Take a notepad and jot down any issues you may see. This can be anything from peeling paint and water damage to issues with structural integrity or leaking faucets. Next, you will want to sit down and categorize these issues. We recommend organizing them by levels of priority (a leaking faucet may be more important than replacing an ugly, but functional, ceiling fan for instance). You can also try to arrange your “to do” list by cost, as money can certainly be a factor.

Our second piece of advice is to not get overwhelmed. This can be difficult, especially if you skipped step one above. By having a list, you can see the number of items and then begin tackling them one-by-one. Don’t stress yourself out to the point where you will not want to do anything. Instead, start off small and get as many small items off your list as quickly as possible. This will shrink the number of outstanding problems and make you feel as though you have made great progress – which, in fact, you have!

Next, we suggest that you ask yourself if you have the skill set or time needed to undertake some of the projects on your list. Painting the baseboards or replacing that ceiling fan might be in your wheelhouse, but what about repairing your driveway or patching the roof? The rule of thumb is that if you have never performed the task at hand or if you have any reservations whatsoever, you should call in the professionals and let them work on your home improvement project.

Finally, do not be fooled into thinking that spring cleaning is literally only about cleaning out clutter and making your appliances sparkle and shine. One of the most important things you can do (again, we recommend this at the change of each season) is to call out a pro to perform some basic home maintenance around your house.

This can include servicing your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system to maintaining your water heater. While there may be a little up-front cost associated with your home maintenance tasks, in the long-run you will end up saving money and increasing the lifespan of your appliances and important systems in your home.

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