Spring means spring cleaning. With mild temperatures forecast for this weekend, many may be tempted to give their homes a fresh look.

Whether it's painting a room, washing the outside of the house or cleaning up, sometimes you just don't know where to start.

Here are a few tips to help you tidy up your home and make life easier.

The one-year rule

Apply the one-year rule to every aspect of your home - your closet, your kitchen cabinets and even your book shelves. If you haven't worn or used an item of clothing once in the last twelve months, donate it.

Donation centers such as L'Actuel in Vaudreuil-Dorion, the Renaissance boutique in L'Île-Perrot, Carrefour de l'Espoir in Vaudreuil-Dorion, or Source d'Entraide in Saint-Lazare will be happy to pick up your items and clothing. Be sure to check the donation schedule beforehand.

As for going to the store to donate your items, take the opportunity to browse their boutiques. Maybe you'll come across some great finds.

Get the whole household involved

Ask the kids to help you clean a room or two, and be sure to clean all the nooks and crannies we tend to forget about on a daily basis.

Clean doorknobs, cabinet handles and light switches, and move furniture around to remove dust from underneath.

Death to paper

Have you ever gone through your papers and discovered a check you'd forgotten to deposit? If you want to avoid having to clean out your papers next year, learn to do without paper, whether for banking, shopping or government payments.

Keep an eye on expiration dates

Check the expiration dates of your medicines, cosmetics and kitchen items, and throw away any that have passed their expiry date. As a reminder, it's a good idea to take expired medication back to the pharmacy.

Outdoors

Once you've cleaned the inside of your home, let's move on to the outside. Nice weather makes us want to clean up and spruce up our properties.

That said, it's important to remember that water is not an inexhaustible resource and must be preserved. In fact, many municipalities have put in place various regulations concerning the outdoor use of drinking water.

When cleaning the outside of your home, you can avoid or reduce the use of drinking water. For example, to wash the exterior siding of your home or parking lot:

Use a brush and broom instead of a garden hose, or use reclaimed rainwater.

When you wash your vehicle, you can use a wash bucket or a hand-held hose with a release closure.

Rainwater harvesting

One of the best ways to save drinking water is to harvest rainwater. Indeed, the easiest water to recover is that which runs off roofs, which is collected using a rainwater harvesting barrel. Installing such a system reduces, if not eliminates, the use of drinking water outside the home.

To avoid any inconvenience, consult your municipality's website for current regulations.

Have a good clean!