1-2-3: Now's the time to air out your kitchen and do a deep cleaning! You can either do this all at once in a one-day marathon cleaning session, or do it in pieces: fridge, freezer, pantry, and a few cabinets or drawers at a time.

1. Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers

• Use a microfiber cloth with a mix of water and white vinegar to clean surfaces. Vinegar helps cut grease, which can build up on kitchen surfaces.
• Wipe down the outside of the cabinets and don't forget the handles.
• Take everything out of your cabinets and drawers and sort into categories: frequently used, sometimes used, rarely used, donate/discard.
• While the cabinets are empty, give them a good cleaning with the microfiber cloth.
• While the drawers are empty, use a hand vacuum to get out the crumbs and dust, then wipe them with the microfiber cloth.

2. Refrigerator and Freezer

• Go through your refrigerator, checking foods (especially condiments) for expiration dates. Toss anything that is expired!
• Check the freezer for foods that have expired or look like they have freezer burn. It's generally safe to eat foods with freezer burn, but they taste awful.
• Wash refrigerator and freezer shelves and bins, either by hand or by running them through the dishwasher if they are removable.
• Grab an empty plastic water bottle and use it as a "sentinel" to tell you that the food in your freezer is still safe to eat: Fill the water bottle half-way and set it on its side in the freezer until it freezes solid. Once frozen, set the bottle upright in the freezer. Check the bottle periodically to ensure that the water is still frozen vertically. If the water is down at the bottom of the bottle, you'll know that your freezer lost power and the water melted and refroze. If that's the case, then your frozen food did the same and is no longer safe to eat. This is great if you're in an area that loses power and you go on vacation and want to know if your freezer stayed frozen.

3. Pantry

• Check the expiration dates on the foods in your pantry and toss anything that has expired.* Dry goods can become stale and oils can go rancid - yuck.
• For foods that are close to their expiration date, place them near the edge of the shelf so you remember to eat those soon.
• Vacuum and wipe pantry shelves just as you did the cabinets and drawers.
• If you are at a loss for what to do with some of your pantry items, check recipe sites that let you search by ingredient to find ways to use up odd items.
• If you find foods in your pantry that you're really never going to use, donate them to a local food pantry.* For me, it's usually fava beans. Every few years, I trick myself into thinking that I like fava beans so I buy them but I never seem to want to eat them!

Now enjoy cooking in your nice clean kitchen!

*Please do not attempt to donate expired food to your local shelter or food pantry as they cannot accept foods that are past the expiration date.

If your basement is used primarily for storage, one big issue to keep in mind is combatting moisture.

Store items in plastic bins so they are impervious to surface moisture on the floor. Raise the bins on garage-style shelving or pallets. Label the bins so the contents are easily recognizable.

A dehumidifier is a key appliance. If possible, run a hose from the dehumidifier to the utility sink so they unit can drain constantly and you won't have to empty the tank every day. Check with your local utility company for rebates on new, energy efficient models.

Keep the area around the boiler, hot water tank, water meter, fuse box, etc. free of clutter so they can be accessed easily when they need to be worked on.

The main factor in keeping things organized is to create zones for the different types of items you store in the basement, rather than storing everything in one big area with no distinction. For example, you might have different zones for laundry, rarely used or seasonal kitchen items, holiday decorations, outdoor furniture storage, tools and household repair items. Distinctions between zones could be as simple as using different shelves or using painter's tape to mark off areas of the floor. Labeling everything helps the whole family know what goes where. If you don't have a label maker, just use painter's tape and a permanent marker.

Now is a great time to air out your basement and get it organized!

When the weather gets warmer, it's time to head to the garage and get it cleaned out for the season!

Of course, you might want to park your car in the garage, but aside from that the garage is a convenient place to store outdoor gear. That means making space for both lawn and garden tools and sports gear.

The first thing to do is actually clean the garage. It doesn't need to be pristine like the interior of your house, but it's a good idea to work from top to bottom (ceiling to floor) and banish the cobwebs, dust, leaves, and other debris that accumulates. A good wool duster works well and an extendable one will help you reach to the top of the ceiling.

Use cleaning wipes or a microfiber cloth to get the dust off of boxes and bins. Sweep the floor to evict the leaves and whatever dust that fell off the bins you just cleaned. Finally, open the doors and give the space a good airing out.

Now that the cleaning is done, let the organizing begin!

The goal with organizing the garage is accessibility. To take advantage of the few months of good weather, you'll want to be able to grab what you need and go.

• Make the snowblower trade spaces with the lawnmower.
• Hang items such as rakes and shovels on the side walls of the garage. Put the rakes closer to the garage doors now and the shovels toward the back. Next season, swap this positioning so you'll be ready for snow.
• Put bicycles within easy reach. If you want to hang them on hooks, make sure you can get them down easily. Otherwise, just park them near the garage door.
• Hang bike helmets on their matching bike so they're easily identified and not forgotten.
• Use large plastic bins (preferably clear and weather proof) to create kits of sporting gear: beach kit, soccer kit, camping kit, fishing kit, etc.
• Store the bins on sturdy garage shelving that fits the bins for easy accessibility without much wasted space. Shelves make it so that bins don't have to be stacked on top of each other, which makes them difficult to access.
• Use more bins to make kits for gardening, lawn care, and general household maintenance (i.e. tools).
• Hang beach chairs and beach umbrellas on hooks along the wall.

After you've finished spring cleaning the garage, be sure to reward yourself: ride the bikes, take a walk, or plant some lovely flowers!

Check out the first in my 4-part Spring Cleaning series with NBC10's Emily Volz.

​In the first video, I talk about switching your coat closet from fall/winter to spring/summer.

Here in New England, many of us have older homes with small coat closets or mudrooms. So instead of trying to squeeze all the coats into the closet, we have to make some adjustments and put at least the bulkier coats away for the warm seasons.

Before putting coats away, be sure to follow these steps:

• Inspect coats, scarves, hats, mittens and gloves for dirt, stains, or damage.
• Clean the coats and accessories before storing: Don't put items away if they're not clean because stains can set in and moths or other critters can feast and damage the fabric. Wash or dry clean the coats and accessories as indicated on the care labels.
• If you wash the coats in your machine, make sure they are completely dry before putting them away. You don't want musty, moldy coats next year!
• Repair tears, missing buttons, or other damage. If you're not skilled at this, bring the coats to your seamstress, tailor, or dry cleaner.
• Put items away in plastic storage bins or sealable bags for maximum freshness next year.

Once the bulky coats have been put away, use a small vacuum to clean the closet and wipe the shelves to get rid of the dust.

Now you're ready to stock the closet for spring and summer. Replace the heavy coats with light jackets, windbreakers, and raincoats. Hang summer caps and hats on hooks attached to the closet doors or along the side walls.

Because my spring jackets take up only about half the space of the winter coats, I have room to add a storage bin unit to my closet in the warm season.

As you can see in the photo, each of my two daughters has a drawer for her bathing suits and flip flops. One shelf has the sunblock container along with another container for goggles and a water-resistant zippered case to take along to the beach. The rest of the shelves are stocked with towels, which I roll to make them tidy and easy to grab.

At the bottom of the closet, I keep a first aid kit and two picnic blankets handy.

Now you're organized and ready at a moment's notice to enjoy the warm weather and be outdoors this spring and summer!