Spring is in the air… The birds are cheeping, the daffodils are blooming, the skies are clearing and the nights are starting to like barbeques. It’s time to air out your wintery flat and make room for a new, leafy season. Just because you rent a small and probably overpriced flat, doesn’t mean you can’t transform it into a sparkling, fresh, aromatic haven in which to live (and show off to your friends). So we’ve put together a list of spring cleaning hacks to revitalise your living space – on a budget.
1.Clean out your grim oven - au naturel
Clean out the grease in your oven using a home-made combination of vinegar, salt and baking soda. This all natural hack is cheap and easy and you avoid contaminating your cooking space with potentially harsh and damaging chemicals that can wear the insides away.
2. Make dirty sponges re-usable
Got some blackened sponges you were about to throw away? Fear not, just pop them in your microwave and they come out completely re-usable, good as new.
3.Use vinegar to make burnt pots and taps shine
Vinegar again! Use up more of your household vinegar to scrub the insides and the bottom of your burnt and scorched pots and pans – and even your taps! After a bit of soaking and scrubbing, they will be a twinkling silver once again, it’s amazing.
4. Make your own scented candles
Can’t afford expensive scented candles? Fuck Diptyque, make your own out of cinnamon sticks...
5.Make your own lavender pillow and linen spray
You know that fresh laundry smell that sadly fades after about a day of use, well now there’s a way to prolong it! All you need is water, some rubbing alcohol, and a few drops of lavender essential oil to spruce up your linen. The scent will remain fragrant for a long time. Don’t like lavender? Use rose water instead…
6.Vanilla extract can be an air freshener
This one is actually genius. Put a few spoons of vanilla extract into a mug and then bake it in the oven for an hour. Your whole house will smell like vanilla flavoured muffins for hours, it’s irresistibly inviting. This one is famed for being used by realtors to lure people into buying a home…
7.Spice racks can hold toiletries
Put up spice racks in your bathroom to hold and organise your toiletries in a neat, elegant and space-efficient fashion.
8.Flip-flops pick up pet hair
Lastly, this one’s a brilliant hack for those of you with pets. Dig out those holiday flip-flops and use them to pick up animal hair. Just put them on your hands and crawl around on the carpet for a bit, the pet hair will stick right to the rubber. Genius!
**Liked this? You might also be interested in: **
Follow Maeve on Twitter @MaevieCampbell
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.