The Entryway

Returning home to a clean and organized entryway is always satisfying for you, but it also leaves your guests with a great first impression of your space.

First things first – remember to clean the doormat! We suggest investing in two doormats, one on the inside of your home and one on the outside to maximize the amount of trapped dirt. To refresh, start with vacuuming mats on both sides, give them a good soak in your bathtub and air-dry. For lighter indoor mats, after a good vacuum and pretreating any stains, you can use the washer and then air-dry.

Not everyone has the advantage of a full mudroom. Shoes collecting at the door, especially while living in a smaller space, can be both a hazard and a pain! It’s always worth DIYing or purchasing a good quality shoe rack to ensure that your entryway stays as clear as possible through the year.
 

Image of Lincoln Park Tower Apartments
 

The Living Room

Otherwise known as the hub of the home, the living room is a space that is certainly well-used. As the place where you relax after a long day, your living room should prioritize comfort, which is why ensuring that it gets a deep clean for the new season is so necessary.

It’s no secret that cleaning your living room seating is essential when it comes to spring cleaning. This includes couch cushions, chairs, ottomans, and anything else that gets sat on. Vacuuming your furniture is always a satisfying task, especially if you’re a pet owner! Just make sure to pull your furniture away from any walls before getting started, to ensure you are trapping as much dirt and dust as you possibly can.
 

Image of Brittany Drive Apartments
 

The Bathroom

The bathroom is usually the most dreaded area of the home to clean, however its importance is undeniable. Just like how you tackle your overall spring-cleaning process one room at a time, in the bathroom it’s a good idea to take it one section at a time.

Drawers can be pain to keep organized and clean if you are someone who owns a lot of products! Because these hidden spaces are rarely seen by anyone, it’s easy to see why they don’t get refreshed as often. We encourage you to get started by tossing everything that is empty, expired or no longer needed, before going to a dollar store or hitting Amazon to invest in plastic drawer organizers. These can be a real-life saver to staying organized and keeping drawers clean going forward.

Keeping your drains in the bathroom smelling and looking fresh is a small task that will make a big difference. Help keep them free flowing by mixing a ½ cup of baking soda with a ¼ cup of table salt and pouring that mixture down each drain, followed by 1 cup of heated vinegar! Let this stand for 15-20 minutes, and then run the water for a few seconds. This tip is especially useful if you have a second bathroom that doesn’t get used as often!
 

Image of Eastwood Park Apartments
 

The Bedroom

Your bedroom should be a place of serenity and relaxation – and it deserves to be freshened up as often as possible!

It’s time to wash those comforters, mattress protector and clean those pillows – a task that realistically should be done around 2-3 times a year. If you make sure to check the manufacturer’s label before tossing into the washing machine, this should be an easy task.

While you’re washing those items, this is a great time to clean your mattress. Kill dust mites in your mattress by pressing firmly using the upholstery tool on your vacuum and cleaning the top and sides. After vacuuming, a pro tip is to sanitize the mattress with a disinfectant spray or to use an iron to kill dust mites closer to the surface.
 

Image of Le Faubourg De L’île Apartments
 

The Kitchen

A lot happens in your kitchen every day, month, and year! Junk drawers are formed, the oven is frequently used, and kitchen cabinets get painted with fingerprints. As the last space we’re including in this post, it’s another one that is certainly worth dedicating a day to organizing.

Cleaning your oven is an essential to a good kitchen deep clean. If your appliance doesn’t feature a self-cleaning option, place a hot, wet cloth on top of any burned spots to help soften any gunk. Afterwards, scrub with a mixture of baking powder and a heavy-duty cleaning pad before rinsing and wiping dry to make your oven look as good as new!

In addition to wiping down your fridge’s interior shelving on a regular basis, remember to also give the removable bins and shelves some love. Wash as you would your dishes with warm, soapy water to remove any food bacteria and spillage. Toss any expired food items is also a must!

Image of Riverton Park Apartments
 

Lesser practiced (and just as needed) is to wipe down all the walls and doors in your home! These areas are rarely cleaned and tend to collect greasy fingerprints, dust, and stains throughout the year. It’s as easy as using a damp microfiber cloth and working your way down from the top to bottom – your walls and doors are sure to look as good as new! For bonus points, use a bacterial-killing spray on all your doorknobs.

After reading this article, we hope we reminded you of some of the essentials for your seasonal cleaning list. We wish you all the best in your spring cleaning ventures, and hope you have a very productive and satisfying deep clean!

For tips on keeping your space decluttered through the entire year, we recommend looking at our ‘New Year, New Space! Refresh Your Home With Our Decluttering Tips’ blog post here.

The post Spring Cleaning With Tips From the Osgoode Pros appeared first on Osgoode Properties Blog.

This is why we wanted to put together a list of our favourite design tips to help everyone make the most of their home, no matter what style or size!

Avoid Clutter

As mentioned in the first part of our “New Year, New Space” blog series, avoiding clutter and having a clean space is crucial for both the aesthetic look, and the functionality aspects of your home. Especially when you live in open concept layouts, clutter will make the space appear smaller and less organized. Try using functional storage boxes or bins to keep clutter out of sight, and make sure that there’s more than enough room to walk around. For more ideas on how to declutter your home and how to keep it that way, read the first part of this blog series here where we deep dive into organizational solutions.

Photo: Lincoln Park Tower Apartments

Think Ahead

If you find yourself changing your space every few years (or months) when you get bored, invest in larger products such as sofas and bed frames in neutral colour palettes. These items cost more to replace, so make the best long term decision for your space, and for your bank account, by investing in high quality items that will stand the test of time – and will hold up through the duration of all your design phases! Don’t underestimate the power of upgrading your interior by switching up smaller décor items like pillows, side tables, vases, and artwork.

Photo: Le 700 St. Joseph

Section Out The Space

When living in a smaller space, it can be difficult to create design solutions that are functional and pleasing to the eye. We suggest sectioning out your space to give the appearance of more room by incorporating décor items like rugs, plants and side tables. Use these items to create a clear separation between spaces that are dedicated for different things, like your living room and your office.

Photo: Eastwood Park

Let There Be Light

There’s no better way to add more square footage (without actually adding more square footage) than by adding the magic of mirrors to your home. Not only do mirrors provide reflective light to help brighten your space overall, but there are so many beautiful designs to choose from. Opt for frameless to create a minimal feel or add some creativity with a circle or arch shaped piece. No matter what you choose, variety is key – a combination of floor and wall mirrors are sure to create a look of the spacious atmosphere that you’ve been dreaming of.

Photo: Lakeview Apartments

Bring The Outside In

No matter what size of space you have to work with, the list of benefits that come with incorporating plants into your design are endless. Indoor plants come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and with lots of possibilities to choose from when it comes to vases and pots. Not only will greenery enhance your home visually, plants have also proven to have many benefits to your overall physical health. By incorporating more plants, you can enjoy an improvement to your mood, increased levels of creativity, stress relief, and less air pollutants in the atmosphere. The best part is that with indoor plants, you don’t necessarily need to have a green thumb — options like long-lasting succulents are available for those who are looking for low maintenance options!

Photo: The Oaks

We hope you’re able to take these tips and transform your space into its highest potential. Don’t forget to share your apartment living designs with us on our social media channels – tag us so we can see how you’ve designed your Osgoode space. After all, anything is possible with a little bit of declutter and design!

The post New Year, New Space (Part Two)! Upgrade Your Space with Our Home Design Tips appeared first on Osgoode Properties Blog.

Start Small

Big goals are great, but if you find yourself becoming overwhelmed with your original decluttering plan, it’s time to scale back, and simply focus on one item at a time. For example, begin by focusing on one space in your home, like the bedroom. We suggest clearing off and organizing two spaces, like a dresser and a nightstand, before tackling a bigger project such as your closet. Once those smaller spaces feel cleaner, you can move on to the larger areas.

Photo: Lincoln Park Tower Apartments

Get Smart with Storage

Whether you live with a large family or by yourself, it’s easy to accumulate a lot of things over time. The easiest way to make your home feel less cluttered is to invest in (or DIY!) storage solutions – each and every item in your home should have its own dedicated space to be returned to after use. Let’s talk specifics – for your entryway, create a ‘drop station’ to hold your daily items. This can be something like a tray or a small basket where you and your cohabitants can drop essentials like keys, mail, a wallet, or purse. In your living room, keep the clutter away by curating what is displayed on your bookshelves and coffee tables, and by giving yourself the permission to donate or to put anything you don’t enjoy looking at anymore into storage. If you have the budget, invest in furniture pieces that feature hidden storage, such as an ottoman, or a side table.

Photo: Riverton Park Apartments

Organization Methods

For the rooms that got extra crazy during the holidays, try an organization method known as the four-box method. Get four boxes (or bags) and label them trash, give away, keep, and re-locate. Go through each space in your home, sort through all the items causing clutter, and put them into one of the four bags. This is one of the fastest ways to get yourself organized – and also a wonderful way to donate to charity or clothing donation bins.

Another way to get organized quickly is to take the 12-12-12 challenge! Challenge yourself to locate 12 pieces in your space that should be thrown away, 12 pieces that can be donated or given to a friend, and 12 pieces that you can move to a new location within your home.

Photo: Le Faubourg de L'ile Apartments

Give Everything a Home

As previously mentioned, it’s much easier to keep your home decluttered when everything in it has a specific place to go! In your kitchen and bathroom areas, try labelling containers for different items. Also in your bathroom, keep all your hair products in one drawer. When you do your hair, make sure the products used return to their home in that drawer. If you have children or pets, create storage solutions using baskets or trunks, and ensure that everything, including toys and games, gets returned to where they are supposed to go when they’re done playing.

Photo: Lakeview Apartments

Last but certainly not least, patience is key. Decluttering your home isn’t something that can be done overnight and the more efficiently your space has been designed, the less cluttered it will become over time. This is a process that can take a while – so make sure to celebrate and enjoy your organizational wins!

In the second part of this blog series, we’ll be covering some helpful design tips for spaces of all sizes and styles. Make sure to keep an eye out for part two, happy decluttering!

The post New Year, New Space! Refresh Your Home with Our Decluttering Tips appeared first on Osgoode Properties Blog.