Common Sense Living

Posts Tagged ‘House Cleaning’

Image by Mistress B via Flickr

Finally, the weather is starting to break, and we can start the phase 2 spring cleaning.

Cleaning the carpets

Brush animals

Vacuum and clean upholstery

Windows and screens

Deep clean floors

Cleaning all winter bedding

Vacuum mattresses

Clean the oven

Start sorting and cleaning spring and summer clothes. Donate or throw away the stuff you know you need to. Why have it taking up room if you’re never going to use it again? Be honest!

Now don’t think you have to do all of this in one weekend. If it’s really muddy, you don’t want to clean the carpets just yet – what’s the point? Pick a task that makes sense to do now and knock it out.

I haven’t done all of my windows yet because I know it’s still going to be cold. I’ve only done the insides, and the screens on the windows I’ve had opened.

The point is to knock out a little at a time so you’re not killing yourself - and so you’re free to go out and play when it finally does get warm.

Did you finish the phase 1 cleaning? Here’s the phase 1 spring cleaning run-down >>>

If you need more help >>>

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I’m finishing up the carpets. You know me, a little here and there until the big job is done. But I’ve got to get it finished – Visiting season is starting…

The house I live in used to be part of a resort way back in the 1920s & 30s. Only 2 of the 6 cabins are left standing, and they have been converted to year-round houses.

Since I live in vacation land, I don’t go anywhere on vacation. Everyone comes here.

It actually took some getting used to in the beginning. It felt so weird to have to get up and go to work when you felt like you should be going out and jumping in the lake.

My first round of company is coming this week. Some old friends we met when Bill was stationed here at Great Lakes will be coming to see their daughter graduate from Great Lakes. Well, without Bill, he’s still in Iraq. It’s been 5 years since we’ve seen them.

Gotta get all the sheets washed. I don’t know where everyone is sleeping yet. Some menu planning and shopping. But overall, everything is in pretty good shape. If they came today, everything would be fine, but I’m a freak and I want everything really clean. Except my desk – that’s always a mess. I hear that’s a sign of a creative mind. If I put everything away, I can’t find it. Weird, huh? Everything else has to be so clean, and then there’s this big messy desk. I guess we all have our quirks.

Thursday night we’ll have teriyaki chicken, pineapple, fresh green beans, and I think buttered noodles. Friday, everyone will be running around. Saturday we’ll probably do brunch. It will be the only morning we have to lay back and relax. Maybe some strawberry-banana french toast… We have a spaghetti dinner fundraiser thing on Saturday night. I don’t know what time their church is on Sunday. Then we’re going out for lunch before they leave.

My daughter loves that kind of weekend – always on the run. I’d like a little more down-time myself. But it will be fun.

I don’t know if I’ll get to making those potato chip cookies…

I expect a lot from myself, don’t I? Maybe we’ll just forget the cookie thing. We’ll see. What would you do?

Image by lcs_lshull via Flickr

While I was outside enjoying a beautiful spring day, I thought about you. I wondered if you were able to be oudoors enjoying a beautiful day too.

You weren’t stuck indoors cleaning, were you?

Now I tried to get you to get your cleaning done so you could be out playing on these beautiful days.

But lets see what we can do to help you out.

You already have your day to day cleaning under control, right? If not, you are way behind the 8 ball. Trying to clean the whole house once a year is a nightmare. Grab a copy of Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak and get yourself on a schedule. Getting the day to day stuff under control is half the battle.

Spring cleaning is the stuff we don’t always get around to. But if you take 1 task a day, you can still get it done pretty easily. Just pick a task from this list each day, and before you know it – everything will be clean and shiny. Won’t that be great?

OK, here’s the list -

Take items off shelves and tables, clean them, clean the shelves and tables. This inlcudes books, cds, dvds, figures, pictures, plants, whatever. Take a few minutes and do one every night if you’re limited on time.

Clean all pictures on the walls.

If you’re really ambitious, you can wash walls and ceilings, but that will take you a few days of hard work. At a minimum, take your upholstery brush on the vacuum cleaner and vacuum all walls and ceilings. You’d be suprised how much dust sticks there. I try to wash down a couple rooms every year at a minimum.

Vacuum behind and under all furniture. Pull over everything that you can and clean behind it.

Vacuum all upholstery, including under cushions. If you’re ambitious, clean the upholstery. If you’re not that amibitious, us an instant spray cleaner to freshen up the upholstery. Make sure to thoroughly vacuum when it’s dry.

At a minimum, dust all plants, both real and silk.

Clean out cabinets and drawers. Remove items and wipe out the cabinets. Do one every night when you do the dishes.

If you have an open area above your cabinets, clean it.

Clean the underside of the range hood. Hopefully this is part of your regular routine too. If not, make it a point after this.

Wash curtains.

Wash light fixtures.

The cabinet exteriors should be part of your regular routine, right?

That’s really it for phase one. It’s too early yet to do some things. And I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. Just tackle those things for now and you’ll be in good shape! You don’t have to kill yourself. You have a few weeks to get this stuff done. Tackling a little at a time will make it a breeze.

I remember the days when I had a plate rail full of collectors plates around the entire formal dining room, and a chandelier, and sconces. Why did we used to put ourselves through all that? Yeah, it was pretty, but man – it was a lot of work!

And we’re all about making life easier here, aren’t we?

Really make your life easier  – if you don’t already own a copy of Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak - get it!

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Well, we’re going to get hit with 6 – 10 inches of new snow tonight and tomorrow. I think its great! I’m stocking up with good food, you know I like everything really fresh.

I’ve already made the spaghetti sauce for tonight, and we’ve got some excellent filets for tomorrow night.

I’m going to hit the library and get some movies.

And maybe this time we can actually get some sledding in! It’s been way to cold everytime it snowed this year to get out and enjoy it.

The house is clean, just a touch up dust and vacuum today.

Would you say I’m ready?

What if you’re not inclined to go play in the snow?

Well, you know spring is right around the corner. You could knock out some spring house cleaning

There’s a new gift in the subscriber area. Live Your Life by Design, Instead of by Accident. Its some of my best tips for keeping control in the face of chaos. If you’re not a subscriber, make sure to find the subscription box to pick up this and other great ebooks. Yeah, I’m going to make you work for it

Have a great weekend, and drive safe!

It’s the dead of winter. The temp right now is -1C. It’s too cold to be outside, and who wants to be?

If only it were spring.

The next best thing is to get a little spring fever. This is when I start my spring cleaning. When it does finally get warm, I sure don’t want ot be in the house cleaning.

This is a great time to wash figurines and floral arrangements, and take care of your plants – repotting, wiping the leaves.

Put on some Jimmy Buffet and go for it.

Spring will come. Honest.

*If you need help with ways to clean your house fast and keep it clean – click here *