After many cold, rainy, windy months, spring is finally getting close. March 20th will be the first day of spring, when day and night are exactly balanced. It’s time to finally leave behind the tiring winter months! Spring cleaning gives a fresh feel to your home, helping you catch a new wind of energy. With these spring cleaning tips, you’re all set up for success!

#1 Deep clean communal areas

I think we both know it’s time. Often, these shared spaces can feel like they belong to everyone and to no one at the same time and nobody is willing to take action to keep them clean. So be that person, pick up some heavy duty cleaning supplies (send your housemates tikkies for the cost) and get to work! If you have a tiled kitchen, a fast way to clean it is to make a bucket of hot soapy water, throw it around and use a hard brush or broom to scrub the floor and walls. Afterwards, you can use a squeegee and a microfiber towel to mop up the water. Don’t forget to clean your fridge and defrost your freezer! A fun way to get this done with your roommates is to have a ‘freezer week’ where you eat everything in your freezer until it is empty and you can defrost it.

#2 Give your houseplants some love

Green fingers or not, as a student your houseplants are probably happy to get a sip of water every other week at most. During this changing of seasons, take some time to check up on them. It’s a great time to tackle any care tasks you’ve been procrastinating on, like repotting or finding them the perfect spot. You can even use an app like Planta to check the health of your plants, and find out what steps you need to take to make sure they make it to next spring. Of course, once your plants are all happy and in their perfect spot, you may notice some areas of your room looking a little empty… feel free to reward yourself for all your hard work with another little plant friend to brighten up the space.

#3 Sell your old study books

If you have any old study books you won’t need anymore, you can start putting them aside to sell. With some time left on the current semester, you’ll have plenty of time to critically choose which books to sell and to find a buyer. Also look at your other old study materials. Are your summaries in need of a little organising? Is there anything else you can pass on to the next batch of students? You can sell your books through programme group chats, or find a place in your faculty building to post an advertisement.

#4 Use mindfulness to forget about last semester

Did you have a good semester? Tired of the stress and/or workload yet? Did you know that there are ways to spring clean…your mind? Mindfulness is a great tool to manage stress in your body, and it’s really easy to get started. There are apps, games, video’s, and e-learning modules available basically everywhere to teach you about mindfulness and help you to reduce stress. Mindfulness teaches you to take on a more neutral perspective to your emotions and thoughts, which can help reframe negative thoughts. It works on the principle that your brain can be trained like a muscle: by completing mindfulness exercises, you’re training your brain to take a step back and assess before you slip into a negative thought spiral. You can also learn to relax more quickly to help you sleep. Very helpful when you’re days away from the exam week and working against a mountain of stress!

The UG offers a wide variety of free courses, workshops, and e-learning courses on mental health and study related topics. Learn more on the UG website.

#5 Get rid of old items

Look through your room and ask yourself: does this spark joy? King's day is coming up in April, which is a great opportunity to get rid of old clothing, furniture and decor. So long as you have a mat or a blanket to sit on, you can park yourself and your items on the sidewalk of one of the ‘singel’ streets and sell your items during the King's day market. Other ways of making a profit of your unwanted items is by selling them online on Marktplaats, Vinted, or Facebook Marketplace. If profit is not what you’re looking for, or you can’t be bothered to find buyers for everything, you can also always donate your items to the local thrift shop. Here’s a list of clothing containers (‘textielcontainers’) in Groningen, for easy and quick disposal of your clothing items! Many containers belong to the local thrift store.

#6 Out with the old, in with the new

A bright new spring calls for a bright new space! Now that you got rid of old items, there’s space to redecorate. Luckily, the city of Groningen is host to many secondhand shops and markets to find affordable and unique items. For example, EM2 on the old sugar factory grounds regularly hosts a secondhand or vintage market. Check out upcoming events on their website! As far as second hand stores go, ReShare store Groningen and Goudgoed Damsterdiep are great for clothes, the Winkel van Sinkel, Mammamini Helpman and the shops on the Ulgersmaweg always have furniture, and the Oude Kijk in Het Jatstraat can’t be beat where it come to finding vintage shops.

Enjoy your fresh and clean home and make the most of the next few months! How are you preparing for spring?