It's almost Spring time! It's almost here! The birds are singing, the sky is blue; life is good! Winter is nearly over...wait, I live in Alberta and we just got 10 cm of snow last weekend. Nevermind! Nevertheless, it's the time of year when people start getting antsy about being stuck inside and start thinking ahead to Spring Cleaning. Do those words chill you to the bone? Would you rather get a root canal than tackle the mess and clutter in your home? HAVE NO FEAR! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! When I first started thinking about all of the cleaning that I needed to do, I was ready to throw in the towel and just move. However, once I sat down and started to organize what needed to be done (everything!) and when I had time to do it (approximately 4 years from now), the task seemed a bit less daunting. And of course, when all else fails, check for a solution at Pinterest.com! Seriously, I am mildly addicted to Pinterest, and could very happily lose myself there for hours!! But I digress.
Let's get organized! First of all, you are going to make a list. If you've been following my Blog or if you know me at all, you know how CRAZY I am for lists! They make my world go 'round, and they make me a much more organized (and thereby much happier!) Mama and Wife.
Please keep in mind as we go through this that my house has not been THOROUGHLY cleaned since we moved in 3 years ago. Before you panic and don a Hazmat suit, this does NOT mean that I don't clean my house. I vacuum daily and clean bathrooms 2-3 times per week, do laundry and dishes daily etc. The purpose of this Spring Cleaning event for me is to give the house a real deep clean, to get those areas that are often neglected (like under furniture and washing baseboards/walls). This is probably FAR more extreme than what most folks will want to do, but I want to be thorough. I figure, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it well. I've been REALLY struggling with the clutter and "stuff" in my house, so this is a great way to purge old, unwanted things while you clean. Again, I digress. Back to your list!
Now on your list, you are going to break your home down into rooms or areas. Here's mine:
This list is on two pages, and unfortunately doesn't even cover my whole house. Missing from here are the Laundry Room, the downstairs bathroom, the Playroom and hubby's office. But that's another list for another day. With this round of cleaning, I decided to tackle upstairs, as this is our main living area, and thus are the areas that need the most work. If you are anal about your lists, you may want to do a page for each room that you plan to clean. That way, you'll have more room when you (inevitably) forget something. I'm not super worried about it, though, although now that I am looking at it, I'm definitely considering it :)
Once you have your list in hand, go through every room that you plan to clean and take note of what needs to be done. Let's look at the heading "Spare Room". In that room, we have a credenza that is FULL of my Pampered Chef information, we have a bed, two small dressers and a closet that is used for storage. There is also a bookshelf full of movies, and a window with venetian blinds. So just from taking a look at my Spare Room, I can see that I have at least 8 jobs to do in that room, not including washing baseboards/walls. So I am making notes on my list of what I want to do. Now go through each room that you are cleaning and continue making note of what you want to do. If you only want to spruce things up a bit, then you don't need to be this detailed. If you want to do it all and paint the house at the same time, you may want to go into a bit more detail.
Once you have a list made (and after your heart palpitations stop), now is the time to start assigning these tasks to specific days. I don't often do one room all at once. I find that if I break it up into different rooms, then I am MUCH more likely to complete everything. If I am stuck in one room for hours on end, I am likely to get bored and just shove everything under the bed in an attempt to create more room. However, then the job just sits there waiting for me, and it seems to quadruple in size before I get a chance to get back to it. So by getting small jobs done one-at-a-time, chances are, you'll get things done more efficiently and completely.
This is the point where you are going to want to pull out your calendar and assign things to specific days. And be reasonable when you are doing this step. If you are rushed or have other distractions, you are probably going to give up on the chore you are completing and it will just sit there, undone and mocking you. Take a look at what you have going on, and assign from there. Don't try to do more than one or two tasks in one day if you have something else going on (like a meeting outside of the house, a party to attend or taking kids to/from school). You'll only get rushed and frustrated. At our house, I know that on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays Jellybean has school, so I don't plan anything super time-intensive or super laborious on those days. I also have a 15-month-old that I baby-sit, so I know that I don't want to do anything involving chemicals or things that will distract me from keeping an eye on her while she's here. So take a look at what you and your family have going on, and go from there. This may take you a few weeks to complete, but that's OK. The point is that you are doing it, and creating a healthier, cleaner home for your family! Don't get discouraged. Even if you only do a few things on your list, it's all good :)
I was on (you guessed it) Pinterest, and came across a webpage called A Pair of Pears, and they had an AWESOME to-do list with a free Printable. This is completely a superfluous step, but I love how pretty and organized it is :)
The days that Jellybean has school are really simple, non-labor-intensive jobs that I can take on throughout the day while BabyL naps, and even that I can do with her "help". I really had thought that I would tackle everything at once, but that was SO intimidating, I wanted to quit before I had even started! So I am taking it one day at a time, inspired by the Spring Cleaning Challenge. I can do this at my own pace when I have time, and it doesn't seem like such a big job when it's arranged this way. My sister-in-law actually gave me a great idea to use a board in each room with sticky notes of each chore that needs to be done in each room, and then as you complete each task, you recycle the sticky note. I think that would be hugely motivating to see the sticky notes disappear!
However, that's another blog for another day :) Happy cleaning, everyone!!
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