Hello readers! Today I want to share with you something that is dear, but not so near my heart. : )
I love the feeling of a clean home. I love walking in the door and being at ease knowing the house is clean...it makes me tense to walk into a dirty house. Maybe because I grew up with an obsessively clean father who banned all sponges, threw away every scrap of important homework, legal documents, bills clutter in the whole house, and scrubbed the house including the toilets and windowsills before we could even THINK of leaving on vacation.
**Flashback to sitting in the car waiting for dad to finished washing the base boards so we could leave for Disneyland**
That being said it is hard for me to motivate myself to clean. When the task seems overwhelming I would rather run away from the mess than tackle it. It makes a very stressed out person out of me. As I mentioned in previous post it is hard for me to clean and organize with out clear guidelines and tools. I am going to share my "Cleaning Agenda" with you in hope that it will inspire you to get into the habit of having a clean home whether or not company is coming over...come on folks I know we all do it! : )
First of all credit where credit is due I got my cleaning agenda from the wonderful Mrs. Flylady, and adapted it for my needs. Like I have no children so doing laundry once a week suits me just fine!
Monday
- Change linens (I try to do this every OTHER monday)
- Do laundry
- Vacuum every room
- Sweep + mop bathroom(s) and kitchen
- Clean all windows, mirrors, and doors
- Water plants
- Clean stove top and oven
- Dust
- Empty all trashcans (like I said, adapted to my life...my trash gets picked up on Wednesdays)
- Clean out fridge/cupboards
- Write thank you cards, letters, emails, etc.
- Work on weekly menus and shopping lists
- Errand day!
- Check to bank (every other week)
- Target run, Trader Joes and Safeway shopping
- Deep clean house. 15-20 minute clean in each room if needed. Or sometimes I focus on deep cleaning one room each week and do the daily 5 minute clean of each room.
- Check car fluids( once a month)
- Clean out car
Tired yet?!
Daily
- Make bed as soon as you get up
- 5 minute "mini clean" of each room.
- Stay on top of dishes by washing as you go and filling the dishwasher slowly over the whole day or few days to a) have a place to put those dirty dishes you don't want to wash and b) save water by not running it everytime you have a meal.
- Don't go to bed until all sinks are empty and shiny!
This list of course is not exhaustive, there are different needs for different families. But I hope this is a good generic guide for you to go off of to jump start cleaning habits! I slip up, and actually need to be better about following my own advice! A clean home is a happy home, and a happy home means a happy momma and wife! : )
my cleaning routine or strategies involve lots of coffee, opening the windows and turning up the music. works every time! xoxo
ReplyDeleteI love that you have a schedule as opposed to a "clean it all in one day" pile that I tend to run on. I can't handle how it is just my husband, my one year old and I, and I never seem to stop cleaning and doing laundry. Ever. The biggest thing I have discovered lately is that ALL the laundry does not have to be done in one day. Whoo! And that keeping the vacuum on hand for after every meal with the little lady helps keep me from going crazy with all the crumbs, beans and chunks of food stuck/flung/smeared everywhere. I love that thing. Thanks for sharing your schedule!
ReplyDeleteI love your strategy!! In my home things get messy quick!!! with a 1 1/2 year old and a fluffy fluffy cat I need to be on top of things but I hate cleaning!! SO I made a task sheet for me and my Husband and the task sheet has four weeks and each week has all the things we need to do to keep the house clean on a weekly bases. We have things like laundry, vacuum, Change the cat litter, and so on. Each thing is in a separate column and whoever does that task for the week puts their initials in that column and in the end whoever has the most initials for the month gets treated to a special prize or gets to have whatever date night wanted at the end of the month..
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to write out a daily breakdown of chores for like 2 weeks and havent done it! Now its done for me :) Thanks Sav!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your cleaning routines! My cleaning endeavors include ample amounts of coffee and music too Chrissy!
ReplyDeleteHappy cleaning ladies!
Hehe, your dad sounds almost exactly like mine! Except that instead of throwing out stuff he "puts them away" in places where the rest of us can never find them again!
ReplyDeletethis post came at the PERFECT time--now to start adapting! thanks Sav!
ReplyDelete