3 Ways Spring Cleaning Can Connect Your Home With Nature

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

It’s an essential part of spring cleaning: Getting your outdoor space ready to enjoy the warm seasons ahead. And yes, you have an outdoor space! It’s whatever area of your home base that you go to when you want to comfortably connect with nature. Maybe it’s a yard or a patio. Or maybe it’s just a comfy chair next to an openable window where you fill the sill with plants. Your outdoor space might be shared with others in your building or neighborhood—like a courtyard or a stoop or a community garden. Any of those zones are ripe targets for today’s spring cleaning mission.

Like I said, you might need to remix this one to suit your unique living situation. But no matter what, you should be able to handle at least one of the tracks below and apply the lesson to your home.

So what are you in the mood for today?

Whatever sort of area you have, the deep dive task today is to clean it well. Here are some things you might consider doing:

• Pick up or blow off leaves and debris.
• Sweep your decking or patio.
• Power wash the patio surface or home siding.
• Remove cobwebs and pests.
• Uncover and clean your outdoor furniture and accessories.
• Clean and inspect your planters and plants, re-pot anything that’s outgrown its pot.
• Inspect outdoor light fixtures or string lights for burnt out bulbs or any needed repairs.
• Clean window frames, tracks, and glass, inside and out.
• Clean your outdoor grill.
• Clean the railing or fence.
• Clean any water features, or the pool if you have one

If you’re a plant person, I bet you’ve been thinking lately that there’s one plant baby that looks like it could be living a happier life. Today, give that dude a new home in a new pot. You might want to go an inch or two bigger if you’ve had it in the same container a while, and definitely transfer them to a pot with good drainage, if that was holding them back.

If you don’t already have plants that fit the bill—get some! If there’s a better way to revitalize an outdoor area than by refreshing your greenery, I don’t know it.

I mentioned earlier that today’s zone was less about the floor plan of your home, and more about the space where you feel most connected to nature. If you had a tough time figuring out what that space is for you, maybe you need to muse on it a bit. Wherever you are today, take a walk outdoors with the express purpose of connecting with nature and thinking about how you can bring that energy back into your home—whatever it looks like.

Visit the Spring Cleaning for Your Mood page to check out all the assignments so far. Download the PDF calendar so you always know what’s coming. And sign up with your email so you’re always on track: