It’s Spring. Finally. And even if the weather is still a bit temperamental, you’re probably itching to get to that yearly cleaning to make your home fresh and new. Here are a few how-to’s from Martha herself that you should tackle each Spring to run the winter doldrums out.

English: Low energy lightbulbs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1)   Clean those windows. Enough with the snow and the sleet and the mud and the grime. Let those pretty springtime sun rays through by giving your window panes a good rub down. Rubber-edged squeezies and sponges are Martha Stewart’s recommendation for a quick clean.

First get a bucket full of warm water with a little bit of mild dish soap. Wet the window, rub dirt away. Dampen the squeegie, and start from an upper corner, draw it down the paine from top to bottom. Do it again, with overlapping strokes and wipe the rubber edge on the squeegie with the sponge after each swipe. Dry the windows with a clean cloth. Step back and admire your handiwork.

2)   Dust your lightbulbs. Yes, do it. Unscrew the bulbs and use a microfiber cloth dampened with water to clean them off. Don’t get the metal screw base wet, and if you do, for heavens sake don’t screw it back into the socket. You’ll be so happy to see the brightness return to your lighting.

3)   Everyone hates to wash the blinds. Yuck. But if you do it once or twice a year, they won’t have the nasty dust bunnies all over them. Wipe wooden blinds with a few drops of gentle wood cleaner on a nearly dry sponge. For those aluminum blinds? Take them down and put them on an old sheet outside to give them a good scrub. Hose them off and dry thoroughly, you don’t want them to rust.

4)   Change the direction of your ceiling fans. Ceiling fans default to a counterclockwise direction which gives a nice breeze during the summer and fall, but run the fan clockwise in colder weather to create an upward draft. This redistributes the warm air that rises and helps to heat your home more efficiently. Don’t know how to switch the direction? Typically there’s a switch on the base that will allow you to change the rotation.

5)   Clean out the refrigerator. And we don’t mean throw out those week-old left-overs. We mean, clean the shelves and vacuum the condenser coils. You’ll want to remove the shelves (one by one so you can still use the fridge) and let them come to room temperature. Make a solution of two tablespoons of baking soda in a quart of warm water, and wash the shelves with it. If you have stuck on food, just wet the offending area with the solution to loosen it up. Grab your spouse’s OLD toothbrush and scrub the crannies.