Home & Garden A Marketing Supplement of Sauk Valley Media
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
www.saukvalley.com
Sauk Valley Media • C1
AROUND THE HOUSE | SPRING CLEANING
Bend, stretch, reach and dust Cleaning? Look high and low KALEY BELAKOVICH Tribune News Service
Metro Art Service
What’s the hangup? Don’t put off organizing your shed. Organizing the place where you’ve been chucking junk and stashing stuff can save you time and energy in the long run.
Time to shed the clutter Spring cleaning isn’t just for the home; organize the overflow, too Metro News Service
Despite other intentions, homeowners often turn their garages into storage centers for random, little-used items, leaving little to no room for the tools and even vehicles that actually belong in a garage. Such homeowners may turn to sheds to store their garage overflow and keep yard equipment at the ready, but storage sheds are not immune to clutter, and homeowners may find the very structure erected to keep them organized requires a bit of organization itself. A well-organized shed can save homeowners time and energy, as it’s easy to abandon or delay a project if you can’t find that pair of work gloves you stashed. The first step to any organizing project is to take everything out of
the shed and determine just what needs to go back in. Items that do not belong in the shed should be moved to their rightful locations, or tossed in the trash if they’re no longer needed. Make a pile of anything that will be kept, a separate one for donations and a third for garbage. Take inventory of what you have, so you know whether you’re missing any items or you have something and do not need to purchase another. Now that the entire shed is empty, you can assess just how much room you have. Utilizing vertical and overhead space effectively can free up areas on the floor for larger equipment. Shelving, racks, pegboards and any other materials that enable you to hang or store items off the
floor are good investments. Visit your nearby home improvement retailer to find items that can simplify your storage. You also might be able to put scrap wood to use to make your own storage shelves or a work bench. Extra kitchen cabinets can be installed in the shed to organize additional items. In order to remember where items go, label or sort them accordingly. Some people like to take organization a step further by tracing the outline of tools hung on the wall so they can be placed back in the same spot after use. This also serves as a visual reminder of which tools are missing and which ones need to be purchased.
Ah, spring cleaning. All the tasks you pushed aside earlier in the year now await you – a seemingly never-ending list of chores. However, not everyone has the time or energy to scrub their house from top to bottom. For those who need to abbreviate this seasonal ritual, housecleaners say the following areas are the most essential: Baseboards – “I think the thing people have the hardest time keeping up with is the baseboards,” says John Crum, owner of Crum Cleaning in Kansas City, Missouri. To clean your baseboards, first vacuum or sweep the area. Then, take a cloth or sponge and a cleaning solution – a combination of soap and water, vinegar or a wood cleaner – and wipe down the baseboards. High dusting – According to Crum, homeowners often forget to dust ceiling lights and fans because they’re out of reach. Others may choose not to clean them because the job sometimes requires a ladder. Maria Keashon, owner of Arbor Cleaning Services in Feasterville, Pennsylvania., adds that homeowners forget to clean off the top of their kitchen cabinets. “With kitchen cabinets, you normally see people put plants and decorations up there,” she says. “They never even think of going up there [to clean].” Keashon says her company always cleans cabinet tops when completing a spring cleaning, as dust accumulates quickly. Those who don’t want to climb atop a ladder can purchase a longer dusting wand made specifically for high fixtures and ceilings. Walls – Crum says walls are another neglected space when it comes to cleaning house. However, homeowners face more challenges when washing walls, because the proper method can vary based on whether walls are painted and the paint type used. If you don’t know what type of paint adorns your walls, you’re best off using dish soap and water to softly wipe them down. This also works for walls that aren’t painted, such as those covered in wallpaper. Don’t scrub too hard, or the paint might fade. Behind appliances – According to Crum, many people neglect the harder-to-reach areas, such as behind the refrigerator, oven, washer and dryer, because they take more time to clean. CLEANING CONTINUED ON C3
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