The saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” But another activity usually falls in those same months: spring cleaning. It’s easy enough to accomplish if you’re forced indoors while it’s raining. But after more than a year of being encouraged to stay home whenever possible, your interior surroundings might seem dull after all this time.
Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be restricted to busting out the all-purpose cleanser bottles (and there’s new CDC guidance on that in the COVID era, anyway). It can also mean better organizing your belongings, upgrading your kitchen appliances, and tossing out what you don’t need (or at the very least putting it in storage until you really need it again).
Here is a selection of home items and services that could rejuvenate both your sanctuary and your spirit after a long, dark winter.
Cuisinart: One way you can save some room and hassle in the kitchen is with cordless appliances. Cuisinart’s compact, cordless EvolutionX blender is powered by 7.4 volts of lithium-ion efficiency and rechargeable via USB. A single charge can produce 20 minutes of continuous run time. (You’re most likely not going to need that much in one sitting.) From there, you can use the appliance for a variety of functions, from blending smoothies and shakes to crushing ice and pureeing soups. Suggested retail price: $80.
Food52: Speaking of cordless, the Modern Brass and Steel Rechargeable LED Lantern is a great alternative for lamps anywhere in the home or for carrying out to your patio. A customer favorite (that constantly sells out) on the popular kitchen recipes and e-commerce hub Food52, the lantern contains an internal LED light source (so no bulbs are needed) and is rechargeable via the included USB cable and adapter. Boasting a five-hour light time at full charge, the lantern’s design is inspired by the Danish tradition of hygge, fostering an ambiance of coziness year round. SRP: Starts at $180, with prices varying by finish color and material.
Open Spaces: Quickly becoming a cult favorite with a small but growing collection of organization essentials designed to fit in any room, Open Spaces is a solid bet for finding storage bins, baskets, and shelf organizers that are made to last at a budget-friendly price point. One of the brand’s most versatile pieces is the shelf riser, which can be useful in any room from the kitchen to the bathroom to the living room, standing in to instantly double a workspace or cabinet shelving area. SRP: $54 for a set of two.
Piece of Cake Movers: If you need some storage assistance (or are moving altogether) it can be difficult to navigate and narrow down all of the moving companies out there. Based in New York City, Piece of Cake Moving & Storage launched in 2018 and has since grown to have a fleet of over 50 trucks equipped with GPS tracking. (The company will move New Yorkers to any place else in the U.S., as well as within the city.) With giant pink trucks reminiscent of the original fluffy pink mustaches on Lyft vehicles several years ago, Piece of Cake strives to bring a positive attitude and a more personal touch when it comes to customer service, and the results show through more than 1,000 five-star reviews generated on Yelp and Google in a short time frame. Piece of Cake offers a comprehensive moving service, offering to pack up your belongings for you as well as dropping off packing supplies, such as boxes and plastic bins, to your door ahead of moving day.
Red Rover Moving & Storage: Launched in February, Red Rover’s “Fetchable Storage” was designed as a new category in the movers marketplace, occupying a space between rental trucks and Portable On Demand Storage (PODS). Instead, Fetchable Storage is a storage unit, on a truck, that the customer picks up. With 24/7 availability, online scheduling, and built-in driver’s assistance, the idea is to make it easier to crate your stuff and go without the hassle of having to pack and move everything to a storage, then unpack and return the truck to a rental lot. Headquartered in Tampa, Red Rover currently has three facilities in the Tampa Bay area and one on Long Island, N.Y. By May, Red Rover is planning to expand to a total of nine facilities throughout the East Coast, with one additional facility under development in Long Island, two in Charlotte, N.C., and two more in Boston.
Stojo: Stojo makes reusable drinkware and food containers intended to encourage and promote sustainable living while reducing single-use waste. Made from food-grade, recyclable materials, Stojo products are functional, portable, leak-proof, and easy to clean (dishwasher safe) and store. SRP: $24 for the 24-ounce (equivalent to a Venti at Starbucks) collapsible coffee cup.
The Container Store: Beloved by home-organization obsessives for years, but perhaps seeing even more love and interest after being featured on home decor shows like Netflix’s The Home Edit, the Container Store is the one-stop shop for reorganizing any room in the home. But much like a menu at the Cheesecake Factory, the presence of all of those organization options can be overwhelming. Sometimes it’s easier to pick one room at a time to work on and go from there. The closet is a speciality spot for the Container Store (the company has its own custom closet service, Elfa). While drawers and hangers (pro tip: super slim nonslip velvet hangers will buy you more space) might seem like the obvious way to organize your clothes, you should keep them protected too. The clear plastic jumbo PEVA organizers for dresses, suits, and more are heavy-duty and offer great visibility so you can better organize your clothes by season and occasion while keeping them safe from dust and other elements. SRP: $10 for the frameless suit bag, $15 for the dress bag.
The Container Store x KonMari: Home organization guru Marie Kondo recently launched a new collection of storage products with the Container Store, based on Kondo’s signature KonMari method. The Container Store x KonMari line features more than 100 sustainably sourced products, all designed to resonate with Kondo’s familiar theme, “To spark joy,” while keeping all of the rooms in your home tidy. The assortment of products—including rattan wicker baskets, wall-mounted kids’ bookshelves, a three-tier bamboo expandable shelf for kitchen condiments, and the light-gray-hued Calm & Clarity desktop organization set—is touted as being made from premium materials and touches multiple areas of the home, including closets, the kitchen, the home office, and children’s play areas, while complementing a variety of styles and preexisting home aesthetics. SRP: $150 for the bamboo hamper with liner and lid.
W&P: A sleek way to curb single-use plastics, W&P’s Porter Bags are reusable silicone bags with a secure, easy-open seal keeping contents protected during transport and storage. The one-piece design enables you to flip it inside out for cleaning (even in the dishwasher), and curved corners ensure there are no hard-to-reach spots that trap buildup. SRP: $32 for the standup bundle.
