I have been so running behind with post..and today I have been trying to catch up! So here is a very late Tuesday Tips and Tricks. As many of you know, we are doing a Spring Cleaning Challenge to get our homes spruced up before the hot days of summer come!
We have already done area 1 and also area 2. As promised, I would do a few before and after pictures for you guys of what I get done in each area.
To read this post in full, click the link to the left.
My cabinets and pantry were a complete mess. I mean mess. I still had boxes of baking items and spices that needed to be unpacked. We have been here 7 months and still shit in boxes. =(
See what I am talking about. It was horrible. None of us could find anything we wanted and how messy it was, drove me crazy.
Our spice cabinet left a lot to be desired. I am short and tend to just toss stuff on the first and second shelf.
Another unorganized cabinet.
Even our lazy Susan was in total disorder.
And even one cabinet not getting used.
So I got busy!
Much better huh!?
The lazy Susan has pasta on the top and can goods and such on the bottom.
That closet got done too!!
Again.. much better!!
On top, is some appliances I don't use all the time.
On the shelf below is the tea and coffee shelf. That entire tray is full of tea.
Then there is the breakfast shelf.
Then there is the snack shelf.. I think that I might have to move this up a little higher when the kids get here!
Then I have the plastic wear on the bottom shelf and a few larger items on the floor.
I also put a lot of cooking items on the top of the cabinets to get it out of the way.
I also got my new canisters filled up on the counter.. if you didn't see when I got these you can click here.
The coffee area is more cleaned up.
This area is all cleaned up too!
There were still 4 other counter
areas that I didn't get photographed but you can basically see that I have been
busy!
This week we are focusing on the
main bathroom and one extra room. The extra room may be a second, or third
bathroom, a guest bedroom, a child’s bedroom, the office, or maybe the laundry
room. Just pick one extra room and focus on it this week.
The bathroom: Do you live in fear
that someone will actually see your bathroom? It is too easy to close our eyes
to the mess that is hiding right behind the bathroom door. This week, we are
going to open that door to the bathroom, and BabyStep, by BabyStep, we are
going to conquer the MESS that is the main bathroom! My bathroom is always
cluttered with make up all over the place. I am going to try to get it somewhat
under control in the coming days and more importantly, keep it that way!
Your bathroom should give you sense
of relaxation and joy when you enter. This is a place for you to pamper and
take care of yourself. Treat the room with love and respect and it will bless you
with comfort and peace.
First off.. Remove the obvious clutter, take out the dirty
laundry, and empty the garbage can.
Don’t forget to add the bathroom to
your daily routines. A couple of minutes focusing on the bathroom each day will
make a huge difference!
Area 3:
If
your home is still cluttered, you are not supposed to do detailed cleaning yet,
just declutter for 15 minutes a day in this area.
Do
not get blown away by how big this detailed cleaning list is! We do not do all
of it in one week. It did not get dirty overnight and it is not going to get clean in a day!
It might be easier to print
each room on a separate sheet of paper. Copy and paste into a word processing
document.
You may need to add a few of your own details that apply to your
home.
Bathroom
detailed cleaning list
1.Wash area rugs
2.Scrub/wax floor
3.Straighten drawers/ cabinets
4.Clean shower stall/ wax (not the floor!)
5.Wash shower door
6.Clean medicine cabinet
7.Clean scale
Extra
bedroom detailed cleaning list
1.Polish furniture
2.Straighten drawers/closet
3.Clean cobwebs
4.Wash mattress pad/dust rug
5.Flip mattress
6.Wash curtains
7.Wash windows
8.Clean window
10.Clean top of sewing machine
11.Straighten bookcase
12.Straighten computer desk
13.Clean out the closet
14.Put away stray items
15.Fertilize plants
Children’s
bathroom detailed cleaning list
1.Wash area rugs
2.Sweep/scrub/wax floor
3.Straighten drawers/cabinets
4.Clean shower/tub stall
5.Wash shower door
6.Scrub bath toys
7.Wash down outside of toilet
8.Throw away empty bottles
Children’s
bedrooms detailed cleaning list
1.Polish furniture
2.Straighten drawers/closet
3.Clean cobwebs
4.Wash mattress pad/dust rug
5.Flip mattresses
6.Wash curtains
7.Clean window
8.Straighten toy shelves
9.Clean under the bed
10.Clean out the closet
11.Put away stray items
12.Sort out-grown clothes
13.Vacuum under bed/closets
14.Dust baseboards
15.Clean fingerprints off door/walls
16.Rearrange videos/games/books
Office
detailed cleaning list
1.Clear off the surface of your desk
2.Throw away pens that don’t work
3.Sharpen pencils
4.Throw out all the trash
5.Put items to keep in a pending file for
Wednesday (desk day)
6.Do not stop to pay bills
7.Straighten one drawer at a time
8.Toss out old receipts from over 7 years
9.Clean off the monitor screen
10.Fill printer caddy with paper
11.Establish a place for current bills
12.Vacuum under desk and the whole room
13.Dust furniture
14.Clean windows
15.Remove cobwebs
16.Check supplies of paper and printer
cartridges
17.Stamps and envelopes
Laundry
room detailed cleaning list
1.Wipe down the top of the washer and dryer
2.Clean the gunk from under the washer lid
3.Throw out empty bottles and boxes
4.Empty the garbage can
5.Check supplies of laundry detergent, softener,
spot remover
6.Sweep and mop the floor
7.Remove the cobwebs
8.Put away all clothes
9.Look behind appliances for odd socks
The Bathroom and one other room.
I’d like to focus on the laundry room. Two areas to focus on in the laundry
room is the pile of clothing that needs to be mended. Schedule some time this
week to take care of the most needed items and repair them. You don’t have
to do them all, just the ones that are most missed by their owners! Dump the items
that are too badly damaged to be repaired or that no longer fit anyone. You
might also have a stack of clean clothing in great shape that needs to be
donated. Put those in a bag and put them in your car to be dropped off at your
donation drop site as you run errands. Keep a bag in your laundry room to
collect items to be donated. They’ll be less likely to migrate back into the
clothing pool! We have 3 full bathrooms in this house so its going to be a little more work for me.
I think one week will be enough but since I have been running behind we will give it 2 weeks. Remember, try to keep up with the zones we have already done. If you are just now jumping in.. just follow along. I love all the emails that I get from you guys about how good it feels to do your spring cleaning and how you love your clean homes... so keep them flowing in!
A clean house really does lift the spirits.
Happy Cleaning!
xoxo
K Jaggers
♥
