Don't worry if you aren't quite sure where to start. With this eight-step guide, your space will be sparkling in no time.

Interested in attending Dwell on Design New York? Get your show passes now for a chance to participate in three days of discussions, installations, and more.

Spring cleaning is the perfect time to move larger appliances and heavier pieces of furniture to clean all the dirt, dust, and grime that is usually left unnoticed.

Cash and Rock are shown here in front of a blackened steel “fireplace wall” that was designed by Hufft Projects. Matthew explains how he’s learned to design things that are durable and safe. He continues, “You never realize how destructive kids are until you have them. I’m continuously learning from them and how they interact within architecture.”

A simple, chic, elegant modern prefab open kitchen.

Created by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, University Tower at The New School in New York's Greenwich Village features a green roof, 20 percent recycled materials, and a banded brass face and lower-than-average glazing ratio (31.5 percent compared to the typical 70-80 percent) to minimize the energy impact of the city's volatile climate.

The skylight in the kitchen keeps things quite bright.

The Balancing Barn in Suffolk: On the edge of a nature reserve a few miles from the Suffolk coast, the MVRDV-designed Balancing Barn cantilevers over the surrounding meadow.

“I simply was drawn to the notion of concrete. So much great modern architecture has made use of it,” Blauvelt says.

New interior finishes, furniture, and a guesthouse were part of the restoration/renovation of John Lautner's Chemosphere, a 1960s house that makes frequent cameos in film and television.

Architect Stefano Girodo explains the building has a “completely prefabricated and modular structure.” It was built using recyclable and environmentally friendly materials and designed to ensure easy mechanical assembly once on site.

A couple enlist Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to reimagine their home as a multigenerational meeting point. In 1963, landscape designer Lawrence Halprin devised a master plan for a community that would live in harmony with the natural environment. The resulting Sea Ranch, which stretches 10 miles along the Pacific coastline in Sonoma County, California, is characterized by timber-frame, wood-clad structures that are in dialogue with the local climate and terrain. Sited on a bluff within this pioneering community is the vacation home of a lawyer couple. After purchasing the residence in 2007, they lived in the home as it was for four years, even keeping the previous owners’ furniture. Envisioning a retreat that would accommodate their extended family and guests, they then recruited Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to help guide the project.

Sleeping nooks that look like the grooves in a block of cheese.

How to Talk to Contractors: Don’t get lost in building jargon when planning your latest project. Illustration by Blanca Gómez

This round table is made from solid white oak and hard maple.

Handmade Corian butterfly keys were used to join the two kinds of wood.

An eggplant knife from Bulgaria as represented in Usefulness in Small Things. Photo: © Usefulness in Small Things, Rizzoli, 2011.

Choosing not to make a big to-do of itself, this cottage blends in with its surroundings. A wall of glass on one end allows a merger of the outdoors with the interiors, while white trim leaves the appearance of a snow-kissed façade year-round. Berlin, Germany. By Atelier st Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH from the book Rock the Shack, Copyright Gestalten 2013.

Transformer or beach hut? Positioned in a coastal erosion zone, this holiday retreat for a family of five is completely capable of being relocated. An oversized shutter allows for protection from the elements when not in use and opens to allow sun in during the winter or provide shade on hot summer days. Waikato, New Zealand. By Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects, from the book Rock the Shack, Copyright Gestalten 2013.

The ever-changing, lush wooded surroundings of Minnesota, such as those experienced at this 8,000-square-foot Type Variant House outside of Minneapolis designed by Coen and Partners, are right near the small town of New Richland.

Girodo describes LEAPfactory’s architecture as being “molded according to the needs and stresses imposed by context.” In this setting, strong winds and snow loads are serious concerns. The shell’s composite sandwich panels and aluminum shingles ensure that the school can withstand the elements.

The Yale School of Architecture by Paul Rudolph in New Haven, CT.

You don't need a full greenhouse to successfully grow herbs, just a dedicated spot that will get at least six hours of sun a day. In fact, your indoor herb garden can be as simple as a row of potted plants.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

The Landscapes of Quarantine installation at Storefront for Art and Architecture. In this shot, left to right: Map 002 Quarantine by David Garcia Studio and Quick by Richard Mosse. Photo by Emiliano Gradano.

The Landscapes of Quarantine installation at Storefront for Art and Architecture. In this shot, left to right: Q-City: An Investigation by Front Studio and NYCQ by Amanda Spielman and Jordan Spielman. Photo by Nicola Twilley.

Usefulness in Small Things by Kim Colin and Sam Hecht (New York: Rizzoli). Photo: © Usefulness in Small Things, Rizzoli, 2011.

Broken, 2014. I.M. Pei's Fountain Place in Dallas, Texas, built in 1986. “He used angles, triangles, planes and prisms to create a seemingly impossible visual space with this building,” says Olic. “The view from the east makes the structure seem broken and folded down the middle.”

For better or worse, Livesey says, nearly all the furniture in the building is on wheels. Here, in the auditorium, partitions break up the space for end-of-quarter reviews.