the 5 things we're doing to freshen our homes for spring

(Alt. title - scrubbing every germ from your house during Corona season)

This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission should you choose to purchase the items we are recommending. We only recommend items we own, know, and love! You can view our full disclosure policy here.

It's strange. I'd planned wrtie this post weeks ago before COVID-19 was all anyone was thinking about. This is the normal time of year for Spring Cleaning, but it's taking on a whole new meaning with the state of our world. If you're social distancing right now and you're looking around at the state of affairs at your house, here's a few things you can do to combat the cabin fever and give your home a refresh. Everything on this list can be done right from home with some elbow grease (and possibly a few clicks of your mouse).

GROVE.CO – We can’t talk spring cleaning without cleaning products. We've been Grove customers for YEARS and get most of our cleaning products delivered to our door. Grove has also promised to not participate in price gouging during this time of high demand. And their products are natural and don't contain harsh chemicals. Good people, they are.

My favorites are the Mrs. Meyers dish soap, hand soap, and all purpose cleaner. In the winter I adore the Iowa Pine scent, but as the weather turns I stock up on Basil, Lavender, and Rosemary.  And they’re a small business, which of course we love to support, and every time we order there is a “thanks Tara!” handwritten on the outside of the box. I cannot say enough great things about Grove. If you’ve never tried Grove, you can get a free 5 piece gift set now and $10 off your next purchase with this link!

COZY MINIMALIST HOME – this book is a game changer. You might have seen me going through this last year on Insta Stories (check out highlights where I saved videos of our progress). It methodically helps you go through your home and edit out the non-essentials, leaving you with a home that you love. And now that we are all home for a stretch, we've got the time to implement!

LITTER BOX UPGRADE– OK, I know this sounds strange, but hear me out! We love our Ruby but cat litter is literally the worst, right? My biggest complaints are odor and litter tracking outside the box. Since the Instagram algorithm has figured out that I like cats, I have gotten no shortage of $200 litter cleaning robots advertised to me, but I just can’t bring myself to spend that much on what is essentially a cat-toilet.

Enter this modern cat box. It has a modern minimal look, which I like, but the best part is that it’s a top entry box with grooves. That way Ruby can rub her paws and kick litter inside the box without it going all over my floors and causing odor and general ickyness. We’ve had this for about a week now and I’m so glad we made the swap from a standard box. And at less than $35 it doesn’t break the bank.Side note - I tried to get a photo of Ruby standing on or near the box, but cats don't care what you want them to do.

OOOOH THAT SMELL–since we are on the topic of odors, to know me is to know that I'm desperate to have a great smelling house (and to have no one the wiser that we have a cat), and diffusing essential oils is my favorite way to keep our house smelling amazing. It's cheaper and safer than candles (because small children). We have 5 diffusers in our house, all of them the Pure brand. We use different oils based on the time of day and year from lots of brands! My go-to blend to make the house smell clean is eucalyptus + lemongrass, and at night we love lavender + eucalyptus for relaxation and easier breathing.

SHELF PAPER-I have to credit on of our clients with this one! We are wrapping up her renovation and she asked me to help her install shelf paper and it was just the most amazing little detail that added so much personality and wow-factor to her home. We used self-adhesive wallpaper, which gave us literally thousands of options. AllModern, Urban Outfitters, and Etsy have a huge selection of wallpaper for all of your shelf personality needs! Oh, and a tip! Kristen with TLD is refreshing the shelf liner at her house. If you find yourself struggling to remove old paper, blast it with a blow drier for a minute and it will help release the glue! Who knew?!

We hope this inspires you to refresh your home, or at least makes the task a little more fun! If you try any of these tips or products, tag us on social at #TLDspringcleaning so we can cheer you on!

---

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, but not to worry, we only recommend products we know, use, and love! You can view our full disclosure policy here