House Cleaning Schedule!

Recently I developed my own house cleaning schedule. I got tired of living in disarray...It was driving me crazy.

Step one was I got on top of laundry! I seriously spent a day doing nothing but laundry. I didn't do anything else. I washed, dried, folded, and put away...all day long. It was a terrible day BUT it all got done.



The actual Schedule is as follows:

DAILY
- Laundry (1-2 loads....I'm serious)
- Dishes
- General Tidy (normally the kitchen with this one)
- Inventory food and add to shopping list
- Vacuum Living Room (it's high traffic here)

MONDAY: BATHROOMS
- Wipe tub (if you wipe it often enough you don't have to scour it!)
- Spray and wipe shower
- Clear counters
- Wipe counters and sink
- Wipe toilet (we have some of those Kaboom cleaners so the bowl stays pretty clean!)
- Pick up floor

TUESDAY: BEDROOM/LIVING ROOM
- Every 2 weeks wash sheets (some people do this more often but every 2 weeks works for me)
- Every 2 weeks wash comforters (do this on the week you're not washing sheets)
- Pick up floor
- Dust
- Gather trash
- Gather laundry
- Make beds

WEDNESDAY: KITCHEN/TRASH/DINING ROOM
- Gather trash throughout house
- Clean out fridge
- Scrub sink
- Clear/scrub counters
- Wipe cabinets
- Sweep
- Clear/wipe table
- Wipe chairs
- Wipe handles on appliances
- Trash out to can

THURSDAY: FLOORS
- Scrub (or at least spot scrub) kitchen/dining floor
- Vacuum all rooms
- Spot clean carpet if possible

FRIDAY: PROJECT DAY!
A project is anything you can work on in small bites throughout the day. Things like
- Cleaning out a closet
- Organizing cabinets
- Organizing boxes
- Going through clothing
Etc...

SATURDAY: ERRAND/FAMILY DAY
This is the day we do all of our shopping and do something fun if possible (like the zoo or park)

SUNDAY: CHURCH/REST/ERRANDS
If you've kept up with your schedule you should be able to do the basics and then RELAX!!


What do you think? Do you have a cleaning schedule?


Linking up

It's . . . Clean

Thank you to my mother-in-law! She came and helped me get on top of my house again. That meant hours of laundry, numerous trips to the garbage, and enough vacuuming to seriously flatten some carpet.

Now it's up to me to keep it that way.

So, a few things that we came up with to help.

1) The bins with diapers are in the hall closet. Franklin can't pull them out if he can't see them!

2) The laundry is under control and I'm back to doing a load or so a day.

3) I made a list for Stefan and I with "Things to do before bed"
     - Dishes (unloaded if they're clean. Sink empty)
     - Floor picked up (toys up and laundry picked up)
     - Dryer empty (folded and put away)
     - Pick up trash (brief sweep of the room to throw away unnecessary crap)
     - Kitchen clean (wiped down and leftovers away)

4) We need to buy a little handheld vac thingy for small messes. Part of the reason things got let go was due to having to lug out the big vacuum each time.

5) We've started doing disposable plates more often. No, not good for the environment or anything...but it's good for my sanity.


So, my biggest piece of advice? Enlist some help and get on top of things! Get your family involved!

Infrequently Cleaned

I realized last night that there are many surfaces in the common house that don't get cleaned as often as they probably should. So, I'm making a list!

• The outside of your toilet. You scrub the inside, I hope, but how often do you get down on your hands and knees and scrub the outside? 
• Bath Mats. Mold and other Yuck grows in wet, warm, and dark places. Can you guess what type of environment your bathroom becomes after a hot shower? Plus, if you have one of those U-Shaped mats around your toilet you should go right now and flip it over...there's probably a "pee ring" on the underside. Wash these with cold water AND DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE DRYER!!!
• Keyboards and Remotes. You sit and touch them all day. You eat and touch them. You change a diaper and touch them. You wipe your nose and touch them. And things GROW.
• Doorknobs. Check the above reason. How often do you disinfect doorknobs and handles?
• Toilet Handle. Think, what is one of the first things you touch after taking care of business? And how often do you clean it? 
• Toothbrush Caddy. Do you have one? Your mouth is the dirtiest part of your body (yes, dirtier than THOSE parts) and the same environment that grows mold grows bacteria. 
• Cell Phone. Have one? Give it a quick wipe with an alcohol moistened something. Especially if you let other people borrow the thing!!!

Grossed out yet? Go scrub something hidden!

New dining area, to do list, and a cute kid

Pretty, huh? It took my all morning because my apartment isn't level! Yes, I'm serious...*sigh* It looks pretty though.


My list isn't too bad today...

- Hang art (done!)
- Fold Diapers
- Laundry
- Dishes (done)
- Declutter Bar Area (also known as the catch all)
- Clean Master Bath

I'll probably do more things...but the baby is napping at the moment!

My son slept for 5 straight hours last night. Technically, that's sleeping through the night. I'm SO excited! And, I didn't wake up engorged and in pain so I guess it's time. He's so sweet.

Do you see that attitude? ADORABLE

If you think you're getting away I will prove you wrong

"Murder on the Dancefloor" by the way


Let's kick off Monday the right way!

The time change has SCREWED ME UP. It's almost 10am? No!!! My morning is almost over already. Stupid time change. Ben Franklin, this is a punishable sin.


Of course, we have the basic stuff to get done today:
- Dishes
- Laundry
- pick up baby toys
- Kitchen

I've also made "chore cards" for myself. I took a stack of index cards and put a chore on each one. It could be a basic chore (like one of the above), the name of a room (master bath, guest bedroom, etc...), or have a single task on it (wipe 5 surfaces, sweep, organize one drawer, declutter one room, go through one box in storage, etc...) Basically, anything that needs to be done in the house. I'm pretty much on top of the housework (for the first time in MONTHS) so I find myself standing around going, "Now what?" too often. That's where the cards come in. After getting the basics done ( or my list of MUST DO) I shuffle the cards and flip one over. After completing the task I either 1) Do another (if it was a short and simple one like sweep or dust) or 2) Take a short break (for longer tasks like organize a room) If I've already done it (a daily task) or can't do it for some reason (I can't declutter the guest room because I don't have the space in storage) then I flip the next card.

Go clean!

An Explanation...and Under the Sink

So...my son has been extra clingy and fussy as of late. It's very hard to put him down, let alone get anything done. By the time he does nap I'm emotionally drained and don't feel like doing much. So, my cleaning took a backseat and so did my blog.

I'll try to do better this week!

I'm going to just give out the rest of the steps for organizing under your sink...spread them out as you see fit.

1. Get rid of things that don't belong. (This was covered in a previous post)
2. Get rid of expired products.
1. Almost everything has an expiration date. Vitamins are only good for so long. After they reach a certain age they stop being effective and, depending on the vitamin, can actually be dangerous. Same thing with anything containing chemicals (face creams, washes, soaps, etc...) Toss these items. I'm willing to bet that you'll throw away at least 5 items in the process.
3. If you haven't used it in the past 6 months reevaluate if you need it or not. If it's been more than a year, toss it!
1. This is a basic when you're decluttering. If you haven't used it in 6 months or more, you probably don't need it taking up space. The only exceptions are expensive products ($50 bottle of perfume that you only wear on special occasions) or products that you don't need right now (feminine products while you're pregnant or nursing)
4. Utilize storage you have.
1. Do you have a large bin that you can put all of your lotions in? Use it. Have a Rubbermaid that you can put all of your jewelry in? Use it. Large gift bag that a birthday/Christmas gift came in? I'm sure you can find a use for it.
5.  Make things easily accessable.
1. Try to put the products you use most often toward the front of the space. That lotion you use daily goes in front of the lotion you use on special occasions.

That's it. Those are the steps. Try to do one a day. Send me your before and after photos and I'll put them up on the blog!

Tackling Under The Sink Part 1

Okay, this week we're tackling that space under the bathroom sink. This will be a 5 part series. One step each day. This should make taking care of it less of a hassle.

Step one: Get rid of things that don't belong there.

For example: We had an ants issue right after we moved in. I realized that whatever spray the complex used wasn't good enough and, in frustration, used my flea spray. It worked like a charm so I kept it under the sink. Well, the ants are gone but the spray is not.


Take a look at all of the products under the sink. Do you use them 95% of the time in the bathroom only? Do you use the cleaning supplies more often in the kitchen? Put them there. Do you apply your lotion before bed in your bedroom? Why walk into the bathroom then?

See? Not that hard.

Project for the week Nov 9-14

Next week I'm starting a new segment of the blog. I'm calling it "Project Of The Week." Concept is easy: Take a "trouble spot" of your house and work on it in small bits all week long until it's fabulous!

What is our first project? Under The Bathroom Sink!! (dun dun dun)

Go look under your bathroom sink right now. No really, get up and walk in there. I'll wait....

....

Chances are it looks something like this:

 

 

"Who goes under the sink?? Why is THIS a project? Now, the entryway, THAT'S a project. Why under the sink?"

1) It's by special request of the owner of the top photo.

2) It's the little things that matter

3) There's probably stuff under there that you'll actually NEED at some point in time. So why not have it easy to access and neat?

4) I'm willing to bet half of you have no idea what all lives under your sink. Start pulling things out and I'll be hearing a chorus of "Oh, that's where that went" and "I own one of those?" Decluttering is good for the soul!

So, starting Monday we'll be tackling little parts of the space. We'll do it in baby steps. Get ready!

Special Request: Kitchen Pantry

Well, it's a bit empty right now. We buy minimally at the start of the month because, with bills, money is kind of tight. The second paycheck is when we throw down the most money. But, I can show you what I do right now.

This is right next to the stove (see the vent hood at the left?) I keep everything that I use regularly (read: each meal) right here so it's easy to grab. Olive Oil, lime juice (the lemon is too big to keep here or it would be there too), spices, rice, sugars, flour, and breadcrumbs live here. The rhyme is this: Things I use most often are on the bottom shelf. Easy, right?

This is the above cabinet between the fridge and the wall (see the fridge on the left?) Things I don't use THAT often sit here. Extra baking soda, peanut butter, chips, cornbread mix, extra salt (we're running out in the other one so this one is standing by), jello, etc... The only thing I use almost daily from here is the peanut butter. Usually one of Stefan's popcorn boxes lives here but it's not put away yet.

We're skipping the top shelf of the bottom cabinet for right now. These are shelves two and three. Shelf two is where I keep all the canned goods. I try to put the newer stuff behind the older stuff. Most of the stores goes here. I put the potatoes here too because if I put them on the bottom sometimes I forget about them! Shelf three is where the extra stores goes. Extra mustard and ketchup are down here. Cornstarch too. And, the big 10lb bag of rice I need to separate out. (I put it into gallon ziplocs because it's easier to handle that way)

Okay, shelf One of the bottom cabinet. Things we use fairly often go here. Cereal, Ramen, and the baking mix are in the back. Stefan's Mac-N-Cheese is here. I also keep all of the Pesto mixes on this shelf. I keep one can of each of our canned goods here for easy removal. When I use a can of corn, for example, I take the one from this shelf and pull one up from shelf two. That way I can look and immediately assess what my choices are if I'm grabbing a veggie quick for dinner. I don't have to dig around or anything.

I keep the bread in the shelf above the microwave (where the bags and glasses are) I'm not sure why it ended up there...it just did. That works best for us.

Kitchen Catastrophe

I use my kitchen A LOT. I'm trying to learn to make more things homemade. (Pasta dough, pasta sauce, chicken stock, etc...) A large portion of our meals are from scratch. The kitchen is where I spent most of my time (when I'm not playing with the baby...but there are times when he'll play happily on a pad on the kitchen floor while I do whatever) So, when it came time to start really organizing I chose the kitchen first.

I had a bunch of Rubbermaid containers in the cabinets. These were frustrating because I was always hunting for the lid that matched whichever container I needed. Half the time I couldn't find it. My solution?

I bought a couple of storage containers from Walmart (I think the big one was $6 and the smaller one was $2) I put the lids in the smaller one and the actual containers in the larger one. I put them in a lower cabinet instead. Voila! Easy, organized, and kid friendly. I put the glassware baking dishes up where the containers used to live:

Now they're out of kid reach and easy to grab!

I also found a neat way to store plastic grocery bags. It's called Grocery Bag Origami and it's really easy. Now my bags look like this:

 

So much better than a mass under the sink. And now I can use that space effectively! (I put the blender there)

Other tips to keeping a clean kitchen:

- When making dinner make sure that your dishwasher is empty or running. Keep a sink full of hot, soapy water. That way you just have to drop dishes in and they immediately start soaking. While dinner is actually cooking you can load the dishwasher with some of these dishes.

- Put everything away each night. That way you don't have to clean up right before starting to cook again. (It was frustrating me to have to clean seconds before dirtying things up again)

- Make it a habit to do SOMETHING every single time you enter the kitchen. Got 5 minutes? Spray and wipe down the surfaces (counters, handles, etc...) Got 10 minutes? Unload and load the dishwasher. Did you just heat up a mug of water for tea or hot chocolate? Take a second to wipe the inside of the microwave. (the steam will help loosen the stuff inside)

Little changes are what matter. Don't feel like you have to change everything at once; you won't stick to it. Vow to make 1 or 2 changes this week and go from there.

Tidy Tuesday (How I Get Things Done)

Okay, first of all here are a couple of my favorite blogs:
http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/
http://thehappyatheisthomemaker.blogspot.com/

Don't get caught up in reading all day! Set a timer and read for a set period of time (an hour?)


Some tips:
- Set a schedule.
Don't overwhelm yourself. Only do a few things a day. I have a Daily Three Load of Dishes, Load of Laundry, Load of Diapers I try to get those three things done each and every day (well, sometimes I can only do diapers every 2 days..but you get the idea) If nothing else, I get THAT done! and I try to clean the kitchen every day (because it's the most used room in the house)

- Pick a Daily Task.
This is the one I'm trying to get used to...My week looks like this:
Monday
Master Bath

Tuesday
Kitchen Appliances

Wednesday
Master Bedroom
Kid Bath

Thursday
Guest Bath/Room

Friday
Living/Dining Room

Saturday
Sweep/Vacuum House
Shopping
Kid Bath

Sunday
Light Cleaning

If I don't get that goal done for the day (like, I didn't clean the bathroom) I just move on and do it when/if I have time. OR I wait until it rolls around again.

-Don't do it all at once
I do it in chunks. I set timers, give myself goals, or just work as long as the kid will play on the floor. Put on 15-30mins worth of your favorite music and get started. Just pick a point (maids will tell you work top to bottom, left to right but do whatever works for you) and go! Or, set a goal like: I will clean off the dining table, or gather all the laundry/dishes, or clean X corner of the room. When you're done be DONE for a while. If you look at your house and go "It must all be done TODAY" you'll get overwhelmed and talk yourself out of it.

-Assign chores if you can.
Split things up with your husband if you both work. I'm a stay at home wife/mother so taking care of the house IS my job. If you both work then assign chores. Example: If your daily chores are dishes and laundry split it up. Person A unloads the dishwasher and gathers laundry and handles transferring it to the dryer. Person B loads dishwasher and folds laundry. (My husband and I split up the laundry. He hates folding so the deal is he puts stuff on hangers and I fold everything else. Cuts it in half for both of us) Stefan's family has a rule: The person that cooks doesn't do dishes. Maybe that can apply in your house too?


I am NOT superwoman LOL I should upload photos of how cluttered my house is right now. There's clean laundry (folded) to my left, an empty chip bag/Sonic bag/bowl to my right, and a bin of clean (unfolded) laundry behind me. My kitchen looks amazing, though!

Tidy Tuesday Product Recommendation

I LOVE the product Bar Keepers Friend! It is the BEST cleanser and polisher I've ever come across. I don't have any personal before and after pictures...but I found some (and yes, I've seen it do this on my personal pots and pans)

Click

Amazing, right?


I only have a minute so this is a quick post. I'm going to send you here to read more!

Tidy Tuesday #1

From http://www.realsimple.com/

Daily Quick Cleaning Checklist

Kitchen

• 
  
  
  
  Clear out and wipe down the sink (5 minutes). No piles of dirty dishes! Move them into the dishwasher, and wipe the sink with a sponge.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Wipe down countertops and stove (1 minute). Clean splatters and spills with a damp cloth or sponge and an all-purpose cleanser.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Wipe problem spots on the floor (2 minutes). You can save a full-floor mop for the weekend, but use the same cloth (once you’ve finished with the countertops) to quickly clean any spills or sticky spots, which will attract dirt and get more noticeable if left alone.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Fold or hang dish towels (30 seconds). Even if they’re clean, a jumble of dish towels on the counter can look messy. Take a few moments to fold or hang them.
  
  
  

Bathroom

• 
  
  
  
  Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). If you use a premoistened cloth to wipe your face, swipe the sink bowl and faucet handles with it, too. Or use a washcloth, paper towel, or a product like Windex Glass and Surface Wipes, which don’t leave streaks on chrome or mirror.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Clean splatters off the mirror (15 seconds). Got foamy toothpaste spray on the mirror? Do a quick swipe with the same cloth you used on the sink.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds). Same cloth! Just do the toilet last.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds). If you see a ring, give it a quick scrub.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds). Wipe down glass doors to remove water droplets that can cause spotting. No squeegee? Use a dry towel.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Spray the shower and curtain liner with a shower mist (15 seconds). A quick spray with a daily cleanser will reduce buildup of mildew and soap scum.
  
  
  

Bedroom

• 
  
  
  
  Make your bed (2 minutes). Even a fluffy down comforter pulled up over messy sheets will look polished.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Fold or hang clothes and put away jewelry (4 minutes). Even better: Resist the urge to toss them somewhere in the first place! Put them away as you take them off.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds). Take last night’s water glass to the kitchen, stow your reading glasses in a drawer, and straighten books or magazines.
  
  
  

Living Room

• 
  
  
  
  Tidy the sofa (2 minutes). It’s likely the focus of the room, so neaten it. Fluff the pillows and fold the throws.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Pick up crumbs with a handheld vacuum (1 minute). Concentrate on surfaces in plain sight: sofa cushions, coffee table, and rugs in the middle of the room. Look for dust bunnies, too.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Wipe tables and spot-clean cabinets where you see fingerprints (1 minute). Use a microfiber cloth or a Swiffer cloth to pick up dust. If the surfaces are streaked or sticky, use a moist cloth.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Straighten coffee table books and magazines (2 minutes). Toss old newspapers and corral the remote controls into one place (a drawer, if possible).
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Clear major clutter (5 minutes). Stash video games, toys, and anything else you might trip over.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I love this list! It's so useful when you only have a few minutes.