Sunday, April 30, 2017

Springtime



Is there still
such a thing as  
 an annual
spring cleaning?


No one really talks about this anymore.

I remember my mom turned the entire house 
upside down and inside out.




 
The walls were washed (with Spic and Span)
from top to bottom every spring.
And all the curtains were washed and hung out to dry
and drapery was sent off to the dry cleaners.
 Rugs were beaten and aired out, carpeting shampooed, 
windows and screens cleaned,
closets and drawers reorganized. 



It was a BIG JOB.
It was a BIG DEAL.

Did your house go through this process too?




My mom was also a decorator 
and she rearranged furniture -- 
a lot!

 I remember coming home from school  
to find all the furnishings 
in new places.

 (Too bad she didn't have a blog back then to share these changes !)



Image result for vintage house cleaning ad

Spring for me includes cleaning, 
but it's not nearly as aggressive 
 as it was when I grew up,
sorry Mom. 

 I try to stay on top of things,
keeping home maintenance projects 
spread out over the year.

Right after the holidays, in January,
is when I organize everything. It's become a tradition
and I don't quit until every drawer, closet,
shelf, and space is organized. Not sure how
or why this came to be -- it just IS what I do.


Image result for vintage house cleaning ad


 But to get to the point of this post,
finding new accessories and items to decorate with 
in the spring IS something I love! 

Do you?

Refresh.
Renew.
Replace*.
Rearrange?!








*If you have not been over 
to the PH shop on Etsy lately,
there might be some things 
that would work in your home.

So if I have caught you in the middle
of a huge spring cleaning project,
(and you are looking for a reason to take a break)
hehehe
put your mop down
and take a seat 
in your favorite arm chair.

You can shop from there
and we will mail you things
that will appear 
magically on your doorstep
to help you spruce up
your interiors!

Never know what you might find.
Check it out!

ThePolohouse on Etsy









Maybe there is a Mother's Day gift you might find too?





7 comments:

Pinky at Designs by Pinky said...

Hi Alison! So good to see a post from you! My Mother never did Spring cleaning, actually she wasn't very good at keeping things clean.....which made me crazy, even as a small child. So now I am a very big cleaner and organizer etc. I also organize after the holidays. But right now I am trying to go through alot of things and pack them up for our neighborhood garage sale in Sept. It just may take me all summer, LOL! Have a beautiful day my friend! XO, Pinky

Rose L said...

I remember my mom and grandma doing that and we kids were always assigned the easy tasks. do not do that. I am more of a, "Oh, visitors coming in 2 days--must clean." type. I do light cleaning as needed. I find other things to make life enjoyable more important.

Sarah said...

Alison, I'm an occasional spring cleaner and not necessarily in spring. '-) I try to tackle my closet with each new season and often take a drawer or two every now and then to clean out and organize. Amazing what one might find. Ha!

I do remember my mom cleaning. She would wash windows, scrub down the floors, organize the pantry, etc. When we lived in a one story home, I would wash the windows several times a year because I like sparkling windows. Have to hire window washers for this house, so it happens once every year or so. Same for power washing the terrace. That was recently done, and oh does it look fresh.

Thanks for sharing a post. Wonderful treasure in the ETSY shop.
Are you having a Derby Party?

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

I so remember my mom washing the walls with Spic and Span,taking down the curtains and washing them, and we kids washing the screen and then remembering how clean and fresh everything smelled..oh the memories...nowadays, most drapes need to be dry cleaned and the walls just get either re-painted or touched up. We lived in a house where there was not much room for "extra" so cleaning out drawers, etc was not really done...well except, taking things out of the drawers and cleaning the actual drawers!
Where has April gone...pretty soon we will be talking about the heat of the summer!...in the meantime, i shall enjoy all the days that the Spring season has to offer!

Liz@ HomeandGardeningWithLiz said...

I do remember the same things! I never quite adopted a routine spring cleaning exactly but I do find that after Christmas I want to organize and clean out the extra stuff. Funny- I just mopped my kitchen and dining area and threw rugs in the washer earlier this evening! My sister and I were mom's house cleaners on the weekend when she worked and we took to moving the furniture around. Sometimes mom liked it and sometimes she didn't! We both still like to move our furniture around for a new look to this day! I will check out your Etsy shop but I'm on a "no frills" spending mode right now!

The French Hutch said...

Oh yes Alison, spring cleaning was a given growing up and now I do it, also fall and before holidays. I enjoy making everything fresh and clean, it makes me happy. I think a clean and well organized home makes everything better........
Great post, sweet memorie..............

Nandhini said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.