Spring is the time for renewal so it’s a great time to take stock, do a spot of spring cleaning and get ready for the change in season and the longer days that are just around the corner.
Bring the outside in
Seasonal blooms – vases of spring flowers arranged naturally and placed around the kitchen will instantly transport you to a country meadow even if your kitchen is in the middle of town. Aside from the usual daffodils and tulips, look for pussy willow which makes striking displays, especially at Easter time when hung with decorations from the branches.
Refresh and renew – breath a fresh look into your kitchen with some easy and inexpensive updates.
Invest in new accessories and furnishings that celebrate the flora and forna of the season. Botanic prints are a key look this season so you can easily update your kitchen with a new blind, cushions or pretty china depicting spring blooms and wildlife.
Opt for some gorgeous new cookware: pots and pans, even kettles come in pretty pastels which feel just right for this time of year.
Get organised
Keep clutter at bay. It’s so easy for busy, family kitchens to become cluttered, especially as we all spend a lot of time in them. Dedicate an area of the kitchen to household admin: pinboards covered in pretty fabric look attractive and keep important papers in one place. Have a system of throwing away junk mail immediately: if you don’t, it’s very easy for piles of unwanted mail to build up and take up valuable counter or drawer space. If paperwork needs attention, mark it with a date and keep important pieces in a pretty box file.
Spring cooking tends to be lighter as we swap the casseroles and one-pot dinners of Autumn and Winter for seasonal salads. So think about what equipment you really need to have to hand over the coming months. If space is tight and storage a problem, consider moving large pots, casserole dishes and other equipment to a spare room.
Release your domestic goddess
Spring is the perfect time to do all those jobs you’ve been meaning to do since the new year: kitchen cupboards are an obvious place to start and knowing that this job has been done will give you enormous satisfaction. Empty your food cupboards and have a sort through all your jars and bottles. Throw any away items that are past their sell-by date and be ruthless with any items you know you won’t be using any time soon. While your cupboards are empty clean the surfaces with a good all-purpose cleaner to remove any lingering stubborn stains.
Spring is the perfect time to give all areas of your kitchen a thorough clean as the sun starts to pour in and show up all that needs doing.
It’s very easy to reach for mass-produced detergents but it is far nicer and cheaper to look at more natural solutions to everyday cleaning jobs;
- Distilled white vinegar – has a huge range of uses for cleaning and has been used for generations to tackle any job that requires de-greasing dirt and grime. Use it as a general all-purpose cleaner by mixing with water – half a cup of vinegar to about 2 pints of water. It has long been known to work well with scrunched up newspaper to clean windows and leave them streak-free. Pop some in a bowl or bowls and dot around the kitchen or other rooms to get rid of strong food smells like garlic or fish.
- Bicarbonate of soda – the alkaline properties work well to get rid of stubborn smells from the fridge or sprinkled around the sink area to remove grease and grime. Old household management books talk of its uses for cleaning silver by making a cleaning paste with water which will bring any items back to their original glory.
Use natural fragrances like lavender and herbs to fill your kitchen with the lovely scents of spring: if you are lucky enough to have a laundry room, try hanging bundles of dried lavender tied with pretty ribbons above the linen.
Above all else, embrace the coming season and celebrate all that Spring has to offer both outside and in the home.
