So, be honest with me. If you aren’t one of the many hundreds who are participating in the April #GetButtonedUp challenge, are you procrastinating on your big spring clean?

If you are, it might just be a sign that you have your priorities in the right place.

What? Did I just say that?

Well, for starters, when you’re spending time getting your house obsessively cleaned from top to bottom means you’re not doing a whole lot of other things.

Not to mention, if you have little kids – the mess just going to end up right back where it was within seconds.

But…(you knew there had to be a but, didn’t you?)

Before we through the baby out with the bath water, consider that it is possible to fake your way to a fairly decent spring clean. Here are 6 things you can do to get that sparkly spring-clean feeling in a fraction of the time. So go ahead, get to cheating! Who knows, once you get started, you may not want to stop.

Who says good enough isn’t, well, better than perfect?

Make it sparkle…in the 1 room that counts:

The next time you have a few minutes, grab some glass cleaner and a rag and go to town on the windows in the one room you spend the most time in.

Defunk fabrics:

The next time you do a load of laundry, throw in mattress pads, pillow covers, and yes, those dingy looking slipcovers on your couch that have never seen the inside of a washing machine.

Deep clean carpets in high-traffic areas:

It is seriously amazing what a steam vac can do to rejuvenate carpets. By limiting your work to the most highly-trafficked areas, you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck. But I’ll bet you won’t just stop there (warning: it’s addictive).

Liberate your medicine cabinet:

Take 5 minutes to give your medicine cabinet a good once-over and toss all those old toiletries. If you have old medicines, check out safeguardmymeds.org for tips on how to dispose of them safely.

Lose all your DVD and CD cases:

Seriously, there is no reason to put up with a cluttered mess of DVD and CD cases (most of which are probably empty anyway). Get a book to hold the cover art and discs and recycle the plastic holders. You’ll reclaim tons of cabinet space for REAL clutter just by doing this one little thing. Photo credit

Open the windows:

Nothing freshens up a room like mother nature’s breeze. Throw open those windows on the next warm day and let the fresh air clear out any stuffyness for you.

Tell me, do you think there are better things to do than spring clean? Or do you truly love it? If you’re participating in the April challenge, what are some of the benefits you’re getting from it?

{P.S. the main image is actually a poster you can buy on Amazon! The perfect retro image spruced up for today’s modern moms}