Spring cleaning and spring decorating work best done together rather than as separate projects — decluttering and deep cleaning create the blank canvas that makes seasonal decor updates actually visible, rather than getting lost in a space that’s still cluttered from winter.

Below are 12 tasks that combine both, with specific techniques and real costs where materials are involved.

1. Deep Clean Your Windows

A mix of equal parts water and white vinegar, applied with a microfiber cloth rather than paper towels, cleans glass without the streaking that regular paper towels tend to leave behind. Clean windows on an overcast day specifically — direct sun dries the solution too fast and causes visible streaks before you can wipe it away.

2. Declutter Before You Decorate

Sorting items into keep, donate, and discard piles before adding any new spring decor prevents a room from just accumulating more objects on top of what’s already there. A genuinely useful rule: if you haven’t used or worn something in the past year, it’s a strong candidate for the donate pile.

3. Wash and Swap Textiles

Washing heavy winter bedding, curtains, and throws before storing them (rather than after next fall) prevents musty odors from setting in over months of storage, and swapping to lighter linen or cotton textiles for spring immediately changes a room’s overall feel.

4. Steam Clean Carpets and Rugs

A rental steam cleaner ($30-40 for a day) removes ground-in dirt and allergens that regular vacuuming doesn’t reach, and spring is a particularly good time for this given how much dust and debris typically accumulates over a closed-window winter. Let carpets fully dry (usually 6-12 hours) before replacing furniture to avoid trapping moisture underneath.

5. Add Fresh Greenery to Refresh Your Space

A few new houseplants or a fresh-cut bouquet ($10-20) immediately signals a seasonal refresh in a way that’s both affordable and reversible if you change your mind about placement. This is a genuinely low-commitment way to test whether a space benefits from more greenery before investing in larger, pricier plants.

6. Dust and Wipe Down Ceiling Fans and Light Fixtures

Ceiling fan blades and light fixtures accumulate dust that’s easy to overlook during regular cleaning since they’re above eye level — a microfiber duster with an extendable handle ($10-15) reaches these areas without needing a ladder for every fixture.

7. Refresh Your Color Palette with Spring Accents

Swapping a few throw pillow covers or a table runner to lighter, warmer-toned spring colors ($15-25 per item) changes a room’s mood without the cost or commitment of new furniture or paint, and it’s easy to store the swapped-out winter textiles for next year.

8. Clean Out Your Closet

Sorting clothing by season and removing anything that no longer fits or gets worn frees up genuine storage space and makes daily dressing easier, since a closet packed with off-season or unworn items makes finding anything slower.

9. Update Your Entryway

A fresh doormat, a small vase of seasonal flowers, and clearing out accumulated winter coats and boots resets the first impression of a home for spring, since the entryway is both high-traffic and highly visible to every visitor.

10. Deep Clean Kitchen Appliances

Running a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher, wiping down the inside of the microwave, and cleaning behind and underneath the refrigerator addresses the kitchen maintenance tasks that get skipped during regular daily cleaning. A dishwasher-safe cleaning tablet ($1-2 per use) handles the dishwasher cycle with minimal effort.

11. Style Open Shelves and Bookcases

After dusting and removing anything no longer needed, restyle open shelving with a lighter mix of books and objects than a winter-heavy arrangement — leaving visible negative space between groupings reads more current than a shelf packed edge to edge.

12. Wash Walls and Baseboards

A mild soap-and-water solution wiped along baseboards and any visibly marked wall sections removes the accumulated scuffs and dust that build up over months and go unnoticed until spring cleaning specifically draws attention to them.

Wrapping It Up

Decluttering before decorating is worth doing first regardless of which other tasks you tackle — adding fresh spring touches to a space that’s still cluttered from winter undercuts the whole point of a seasonal refresh. Once that’s done, the greenery and textile swaps are the fastest, lowest-cost ways to make the shift to spring feel immediate.