10 tips for spring cleaning the living room

Welcome to the living room cleaning day.

One of the busiest rooms in every home. 

While growing up we lived in many different places and out of all the different homes that we had I remember almost every single living room and the things our family would do together there. Talk, laugh, learn, play, fight lol. I try to make our living room welcoming for all who enter our home.

Here is my before. I have got to admit this is way cleaner then what it normally is. When I decorated for Christmas I put most of the toys away down stairs and replaced them with children nativity sets instead.   When I put away all the Christmas stuff those went away too and I just never brought up the toys that were in the living room before. I am enjoying the quick clean up that we have had for the last 2 weeks so who knows if they will ever come back. I have also got an extra couch in my living room due to basement renovations. 

Lucky for me it also needs to me cleaned...

I have a love hate relationship with microfiber. I love how it looks when it is perfectly clean, I hate how it looks after my kids touch it! All those spots you see are either milk from a leaking bottle or water from a leaking bottle. Oh the joys of a toddler.  Lucky for me it is super easy to clean. Which leads to my first tip.

1. Cleaning microfiber couch part 1-  I mainly use this for my microfiber couch it is the best invention ever for little mess all the way to whole couches!

But if you don't have a mini carpet cleaner, no worries. That is my next tip

2. Cleaning microfiber couch part 2- All you need is water (add a little all purpose fabric cleaner of you want), a spray bottle, and a clean scrub brush.

Just take the spray bottle fill with water and just a drop of cleaning solution if desired ( you don't want much because you don't want it to suds up). Spray and then scrub every where, let it dry, and that is it. You can scrub it again with the dry brush to soften the microfiber and tada looks brand new again.  At least for 5 mins before the baby wakes up... Here it is, wet but clean!

My other couches are leather and they are a dream! It is so much easier to keep these looking nice all the time because everything wipes right up! To be honest I really didn't want leather couches because I didn't like the idea of them being cold in the winter and my sweaty skin sticking to them in the summer. Yeah I haven't actually had a problem with either of those. Lol lucky for me my mom and husband convinced me that I did want them. 

Just like the other couch though they still need to be maintained to keep them fresh and from cracking. 

3. Leather couch maintenance-  my process I vacuum out the cutions and then give them a good wipe down with plain old water. Chemicals may change the color of the leather so there is no need for that! 

Then I revive them 1-2 times per year by conditioning them with extra virgin olive oil. I lather it on pretty thick with paper towels and let it sit for 1-2 hrs to allow it to soak in and then wipe off the excess with paper towels until they aren't absorbing any more oil. This is definitely a nap time chore. 

It is shinny for the first few days but then it is back to normal. I am always a little nervous to sit on them after thinking I will get oil on my clothes but I have NEVER had any come off on my clothes.

Here is a YouTube video of my whole process.

4. Celing fan dusting- I hate dusting the top of these and having dust fall in my eyes. So I have changed up my technique. First I vacuum off as much as I can, and next I have started using a pillow case! Just slide it over the blade and rub it around a bit all the dust is caught in the pillow case! I shake it out outside and then repeat! This is so much better then just a wash cloth.

What a perfect angle for this pic, 😂

5. Air vents in the floor- pull these up and vacuum them out.

6. Returns- also don't forget the returns in the wall. These can easily be taken off to be washed if needed.  I have noticed that mine are really grody this year.

7. Window tracks- don't forget to use a tooth brush to loosed up all the caked on dirt like I mentioned in my kitchen cleaning post. 

8. Dust walls with any handy dry duster thing. Here is mine. Also featured in my kitchen cleaning post.

9. Doors and frames - since they seem to be the dirtiest I take a water wet sponge to clean them off and if they need a little bit more love I bust out my handy magic eraser. You knew I was going to mention this little bad boy didn't you?!?!

10. I like to take all my furniture out so I can give it a really good vacuum and carpet cleaning. 

I can't move this giant thing out by myself so it is going to stay this year.

After the floor is all dry, probably by tomorrow, I will put my furniture back. This is a great time to rearrange everything!

These lists are making each room so simple. When I have gotten distracted by other tasks or needed to help /play with kids it is so easy to see where I have left off and start right back up again! If you haven't printed your own check list off yet go to my spring cleaning post here and print a free check list for yourself!

 Also go follow me on Instagram @_countrysparkles_ where I will share lots of stories and progress as I move through my home. I also am linking this challenge with the hashtag #springcleaningdoneearly if you want to follow along, or even better use the hashtag on your progress!