2.17.2015

40 Days of Deep Cleaning and De-Cluttering

vintage-cleaning
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With a one year-old and a two year-old, I don't really have time for more than surface cleaning. On a normal week, my cleaning schedule looks like:

Monday: Vacuum
Tuesday: Kitchen
Wednesday: Bathroom
Thursday: Vacuum
Friday: Catch-up, ironing, sheets, once in a while deep-cleaning something I notice is really gross

So, we've been living in our rental home for just shy of a year and I've never dusted the baseboards or the ceiling fan blades or anything like that. I plan to spend Lent tackling these kind of things, room by room, decluttering as I go. Here's what I'm thinking:

Week One (February 18-22): Kitchen
Week Two (February 23-March 1): Playroom and living room
Week Three (March 2-8): Bedrooms and linen closet
Week Four (March 9-15): Hall bathroom
Week Five (March 16-22): Main bathroom
Week Six (March 23-29): Garage

I assigned the bathrooms to two really busy weeks - my sister is coming to visit and we're going to Portland one week and the next week my brother is coming to visit and Adam's going with him to Pittsburgh, plus we're celebrating Claire's third birthday in there too.

I didn't assign anything to Holy Week because I'd like to sew the girls a little something for Easter and make hot cross buns and just generally take things slower.

I think it will be really good for me because I'll have to spend most of nap time cleaning, when I usually avoid any chores all together during that chunk of the afternoon. I would much rather be blogging or reading than cleaning out the fridge, which is why our fridge looks like it does...

I'm getting started with the kitchen tomorrow afternoon. My to-do list is:

- Clean the fridge and freezer
- Clean the dishwasher and microwave
- Clean the stove top, including the burner grates
- Scour the sink and flush the drain
- Move everything off the counters and wipe thoroughly
- Move everything out of the cabinets and wipe thoroughly, including doors 
- Move everything out of the pantry and wipe thoroughly, including doors
- Wipe the walls in the breakfast area and behind the stove
- Wash the garbage can, compost bin, and recycling box
- Thoroughly wipe the table and chairs, particularly the high chairs
- Dust the baseboards and windowsill
- Touch up paint
- Declutter as I go
- Vacuum and mop

Thankfully, we just got a new oven a few weeks ago, so I won't have to clean that or clean behind it.  As part of the whole decluttering process, we'll be trying to eat from the pantry and freezer as much as possible. We'll donate the extra funds usually allocated to our grocery budget.

Hopefully I'm not the only one who goes a whole year without really dusting?

2 comments:

  1. Great idea! And you're not the only one... This is the first time I have lived anywhere for more than a year since I left for college (and weve been here almost 3 years now!) and I was a little surprised when I had to buy a duster sometime after the one year mark for the cobwebs popping up in the ceilings corners! Ha.

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  2. I hope to do some deep/spring cleaning during Lent as well! I dust maybe three times a year ... so, yeah. :)

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You are awesome.