Spring Cleaning + Wellness: 7 Tips to Refresh Your Kitchen

After the winter months, our kitchens often bear the remnants of hearty, warm meals—leaving behind splatters and residues that dim its shine. It’s prime time to reclaim the sparkle of your kitchen! Tackling everything from sanitizing surfaces to reorganizing cabinets and thoroughly cleaning small appliances, each step is crucial for a clean, inviting, and most importantly, functional space.

Here are 7 tips from OBI‘s organization expert, Gabrielle Breton, for a complete and efficient kitchen clean-up, setting you perfectly in tune with the eagerly awaited summer vibes.

Tip 1: Check Food Expiration Dates

Before you even fill your bucket with hot water, start by inspecting the expiration dates of everything in your fridge, freezer and pantry. Dispose of any items that look questionable or have exceeded their shelf life. For those unexpired items that you doubt you’ll consume, donating to a friend, family member, or a local organization not only clears your space but also benefits others in your community.

Tip 2: Deep-clean Small Appliances

Winter means comfort food! It’s not unusual to use our small cooking appliances more in winter than in spring. Take the opportunity to give your slow cooker, air fryer and other small cooking appliances a thorough cleaning. Using a mixture of hot, soapy water, remove the grease and residues that have built up over the years. And don’t forget to clean the cables of your appliances, as dust and grease can easily become lodged in them.

Tip 3: Clean Surfaces

No spring cleaning is complete without thorough surface cleaning! For a sparkling kitchen, always use a mixture of hot water and dishwashing soap to clean all kitchen surfaces. Don’t overlook the often-neglected areas like the toe kick— that little space beneath your cabinets, as well as the tops and bottoms of the cabinets themselves. These spots can harbor dust and spills that go unnoticed during routine cleanings, making your detailed attention here crucial for a truly refreshed kitchen environment.

Tip 4: Clean Cabinets, Drawers and Storage Items

Once the surfaces are clean, it’s time to tackle the cabinets and drawers. Empty cabinets and drawers of their contents. Once the cupboards and drawers have been cleaned, take the opportunity for a swift decluttering session before putting things back! Anything that’s broken or no longer in use should be set aside for donation or disposal. If you have storage items (bins, racks, dividers, etc.), make sure they’re clean too before reassembling your space.

Tip 5: Clean Major Appliances

For a thorough cleaning, remove your refrigerator and stove from their corners. This will allow you to remove all the grease and food residues that have fallen into the little cracks over the winter. For easy cleaning of stubborn stains, spray on your favorite cleaner, leave for a few minutes, then scrape away the stain with a small plastic scraper. Once the external surfaces have been cleaned, here are a few specific interior cleaning guidelines for your appliances:

Stove: If your stove doesn’t have a self-neutralizing function, spray on a cleaner and make sure you read the instructions carefully. Some very powerful cleaners require wearing a mask or ventilation. Personally, I prefer to stay away from these types of products, opting instead for  gentler cleaning agents, such as a cream left on for several minutes to break down the dirt.

Dishwasher: If you’ve never done it before, you may be shocked by the state of your filter! Remove it and clean it with hot soapy water or leave it to soak for a few minutes. If you remove any parts, be sure to make a note or take a photo to save yourself a headache when it’s time to reassemble everything. Once the filter is clean, reinstall it and run a normal cleaning cycle.

Refrigerator: If you decide to remove the compartments for soaking, make sure the water isn’t too hot or that your compartments have spent a few minutes on the counter to avoid temperature shocks that could create cracks or worse, break them completely.

Tip 6: Clean Tablecloths and Placemats

Remember to thoroughly clean your tablecloths and placemats to remove stains, dust and accumulated odours. For fabrics, simply follow the manufacturer’s instructions for optimal washing.

Tip 7: Clean and Refresh Decorations

With your kitchen now spotless, it’s time to refresh and renew your decor. Replace winter candles with floral or fruity-scented ones to give your kitchen an enchanting springtime touch. Lighten up your decor with pale colours, such as pastel hues or soft shades of white and beige. Introduce softer, more natural textures, such as linen or cotton. These small changes will help create a fresh, bright and harmonious ambience that celebrates the beauty of spring.

Bonus: Spring isn’t just a season for cleaning, it’s also the perfect time for decluttering and reorganizing! Take advantage of this time to rid your home of unnecessary objects, to reorganize your spaces efficiently and create a more orderly and harmonious environment.  Sorting through your belongings not only frees up physical space but also brings a sense of lightness and clarity to your living spaces.