As winter finally recedes and the weather begins to warm up, New Yorkers may feel the urge to open their windows, let the sunshine in, and freshen up the space in which they live. With every new season comes a fresh start. Here are some summer cleaning tips to make your space feel as fresh and new as the lovely weather outside.

Lighten Up

With winter gone, it’s time to put away heavy fabrics. Pack up the heavy comforter and replace it with a light cotton blanket. Any throw pillows that are made of dark or textured fabric like sherpa can be changed out for pillow covers in light fabrics like linen or cotton, in bright colors or fun patterns. Put away heavy throw blankets as well to make things feel more summery and less cluttered.

Deep Clean

Summer is the time to really clean all those nooks and crannies that got dirty over the winter. Vacuum underneath furniture, where dust gathers unseen. Clean underneath your bed. Scrub the floors with a damp cloth. Alternatively, you can hire an outside company like Wizard of Homes (named 2013’s Best Deep Cleaner by New York magazine) to come in and really do a deep cleanse of your apartment. They can clean the oven, the refrigerator, the shower — areas that you might not even know how to clean properly. Using a professional cleaning service costs money, of course, but you may find it worth it to enlist their help once a year.

Declutter and Donate

This is also a great time to declutter your home and rid it of any extraneous items — including clothing. Make a pile of things you haven’t used in a while, put it into a bag, and wait a week or two. See if you miss the items. If you don’t, let them go! Donate them to your local Goodwill or sell them on eBay. Your whole space will feel much more light and fresh without all that extra baggage lying around.

Clean Drapes

To freshen up the overall feel of your space, get your curtains dry-cleaned. This small detail may not be one of the more obvious summer cleaning tips, but grime can gather on curtains over the winter, and if they’re patterned, you may not even notice — until you clean them, that is. It’s surprising the impact that fresh, clean, non-wrinkled curtains can have on a space.

Add Flowers

After you’ve cleaned your apartment floor to ceiling and donated your unused items, treat yourself to some fresh flowers! There’s no better time than the summer months to bring some greenery and gorgeous blooms into your NYC apartment. Fresh flowers go a long way toward brightening a space and adding that extra little finishing touch.

Image Source: Flickr/Nicola Holtkamp

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