With the official start of Spring last week comes the official start of Spring Cleaning Season nationwide.

In some homes, Spring Cleaning is an annual ritual, tackled within one sweat-filled, rubber-gloved weekend.  In other homes, it's a less serious endeavor. 

Either way, it helps to have a game plan.

Courtesy of Martha Stewart's website, the Spring Cleaning Organizer is a 9-step checklist covering all of the basics. 

• Clean shades and windows
• Sort through wardrobes
• Clean and rotate mattresses and cushions

Most of the checklist items can be retired with household cleansers and vacuums.  A few, however, require heavy-duty appliances that you may not have at-home.  For example, cleaning carpets and rugs is best-handled with a steam cleaner; and, washing windows may be too dangerous, depending on your home.

If you don't want to rent cleaning equipment from your local hardware store just for Spring Cleaning, consider hiring an Angie's List contractor to do the job for you.  It will cost more money than doing it yourself, but the job will get done right (and your home will be clean).

The Spring Cleaning checklist also reminds homeowners to check the batteries of in-home safety devices like smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and flashlights.

(Image courtesy: Junk Bee Gone)