Quick Clean Up Ideas

Do you sometimes feel like you don't have time to do ANYTHING? Or you get overwhelmed at the thought of all the cleaning that needs to be done. I know I do! But if you really think about it there is so much you can get done in 10 minutes or less...or 5 minutes...or even 2 minutes. Really...there is...

You can get alot accomplished without ever really losing any time. In the time it takes to cook something in the microwave you could have knocked an item off of your to do list instead of watching the food hoping it will get done faster.

Here's some ideas:

2 minutes or lessUnload the dishwasher
Wipe down the kitchen counters (unless you have a really big kitchen)
Clean the faucet and mirror in one bathroom
Wipe a small spill in the refrigerator
Wipe down the washer and dryer
Clean the lint filter in the dryer
Wipe down your coffee pot
Wipe the switch plates in 1 room
Shake out door mats
Disinfect the door knobs in 1 room

See how much you can get done?

5 minutes or lessDust 1 room
Sort through mail
Take out the garbage
Clean the kitchen sink
Clean out expired or unwanted items from refrigerator
Make the bed in 1 room
Wipe the fronts of cabinets in the kitchen
Set the table for the next meal
Rinse out kid's lunch boxes
Spray air freshener throughout the house
Fold a load of laundry
Make tomorrow's to do list
Balance your checkbook
Check your cleaning supplies and make list of what you need

Now we are making progress !!!

10 minutes or lessSort through a junk drawer
Scrub the toilet, bath tub, and sink in 1 bathroom
Clean all the mirrors in your house
Vacuum 1 room (or more depending on the room sizes)
Sort dirty laundry
Load dishwasher
Organize 1 cabinet in the kitchen
Clean out your purse
Make a shopping list
Group all the clothes in your closet by category (pants, shirts, dresses...etc)

See how easy that was!!

By just taking a few minutes here and there throughout the day you can get so much done that you didn't think was possible! In just 10 minutes you could get 1, 2, or even 5 things marked off your to do list! If you are a fast worker you could possibly get even more done! The time for procrastination is gone...get up and get something done...now!!
Don't put off what you can do NOW!

I'm headed to unload and reload the dishwasher so that I can wake up to a clean kitchen in the morning! Hope everyone has had a great weekend!!
Ashley

Daily Cleaning

Before I begin I have to admit that I absolutely hate cleaning. Who doesn't right? Surely I'm not alone with that thought?? I feel like more time could be spent with my family if there wasn't so much cleaning. But let's face it...the house has to be clean presentable at all times...at least that's how I see it. There have been plenty of times though that some one stopped by my house unexpectedly and got to witness toys scattered, dishes in the sink, food on the floor, folded clothes on the couch, etc...you know what I mean. I got embarrassed at first but quickly realized that is part of having a family and kids. You can't expect perfection unless you are Martha Stewart and uhh...I'm not her nor do I wish to be.

So anyways I had decided that I needed to do just a little cleaning daily to keep the house presentable at all times. Of course there will always be toys everywhere because we have 4 soon to be 5 kids. I've tried different approaches to this "daily cleaning" but nothing ever stuck. I would do it a few days at a time then something would come up or we had early morning appointments and the cleaning got pushed to the side. For some reason I just can not get into cleaning after lunch time. I felt like if I hadn't done it by that point I wasn't getting it done...so I didn't.

Obviously that hasn't worked out too well for me. Plus with a family the size of ours we ALWAYS have something going on whether it be in the morning, afternoon, or evening so I had to figure out something that would work for me. This is one of my goals for the new year. To come up with a new cleaning schedule that worked...and stick to it! So far I've only come up with my daily cleaning schedule and I haven't really tested it out so we shall see!

I know you are bored so I'll quit rambling and give you my plan! About half is done in the morning while the rest would have to be done at night. If done according to plan the house should stay in a reasonably decent shape all the time.

Master Bathroom
This is where I start my day anyways so starting to clean here in the morning would be the most logical.  
-Put up anything that doesn't belong on top of counter
-Wipe counter and sinks with a wash rag
-Using only a toilet brush (no cleaner) clean the inside of toilet (just making it white)
-Check to see if trash needs taken out
-Take dirty clothes to laundry room

Master Bedroom
-Make bed
-Put away anything that belongs in the room
-Anything that doesn't belong in room goes into basket to be put up when I make it to that room

Kitchen
Morning
-Unload dishwasher
-Reload with dishes from breakfast (and again at lunch)
Night
-Load dishwasher and turn it on
-Handwash anything necessary
-Wipe counters and table
-Sweep floor
-Change rag and towel
**Nightly kitchen duties are done with the help of children so it may take a little longer than if I did it alone.

Living Room
-Pick up anything out of place. If it doesn't belong in there put it in the basket.

Kid's Rooms
Night as part of their chores
-Clean room (toys picked up, shoes in right place)
-Get out next day's clothes and set on dresser
-Any dirty clothes to laundry room

Kid's Bathroom
-Wipe counter and sink with rag
-Wipe inside of toilet with brush
-Check trash
-Kid's take dirty clothes to laundry room after bath time

**Basket with misplaced things will be emptied as I go through each room or after I have finished everything else.**

I'm going to try to do the morning chores first thing in the morning even if we have to go somewhere early that way when we get home it is done and I don't have to worry about it. I'm going to time it in the morning to see how long it takes me without rushing to complete everything and I will update when I know. The list seems kind of long but nothing should take more than a minute.

~As long as this works out for me I can cross this off my goal list!! ~

For a printable version of my cleaning list go here and download it!

 What is your daily cleaning schedule and how long does it take you to complete??

Ashley

Declutter Challenge Update and Deep Cleaning

DeClutter Challenge Update

I went through all of my holiday decorations and got rid of quite a few items that I don’t want to use anymore. I also cleaned off a book shelf that is in my room and packed up some stuff that I don’t have room for but don’t want to get rid of.

Time for a deep clean?

I feel like all I do is clean, clean, clean EVERY day. I never have time to just sit and relax. As this pregnancy is coming to end I need to be relaxing as much as possible…but I just can’t with a messy house. It is definitely time to enlist the aid of the husband!! I usually try to keep him out of cleaning because let’s face it…a man’s CLEAN is not a woman’s CLEAN…and I end up going back over whatever he does. I’m still in the process of decluttering and organizing the house but it just doesn’t seem like I’m making progress…in my eyes at least.

So I’m thinking there can’t be a better way to start off the new year than with a REALLY…and I MEAN REALLY clean house. Right? There are 6 of us…soon to be 7…living in a 3 bedroom house. There is no extra room for messiness around here. If one thing is out of place it throws the ENTIRE room off. 

I normally do each room’s cleaning on a certain day of the week. So sticking with that I am going to add DEEP cleaning to it this week. If I can get everything accomplished…with some help…then I can lay off a lot of the cleaning I do on a daily basis.

Do you want to join in on some New Year Deep Cleaning? Grab your cleaning bucket and let’s go…ok really we will start bright and early tomorrow morning.

Monday – Kitchen and dining area

Tuesday – Living room and laundry room/pantry

Wednesday – Bathrooms (2)

Thursday – Master bedroom and closet

Friday – Kid’s rooms

A detailed list of what I will be cleaning can be found HERE for you to use if you like!

Ashley

Wednesday Cleaning

Of course today is another cleaning day! When is it not?? Never around here!!

Today I will be in the Living Room.

First I am going to get out any clutter before I start to clean. You can't clean clutter, right? This room also has the most Christmas decorations but those are still waiting to be put up. There were quite a few decorations I didn't use this year so I am going to decide which ones I really like and which ones to give away. Then what I decide to keep will be packed up and sent back to the storage building!

Ok now the clutter is gone...what's next? The cleaning.

*Get my misplaced things basket and find anything that doesn't belong in the living room. Once I'm completely done with the living room I will take all the misplaced things to where they DO belong.

*Dust

*Vacuum

*Clean my desk off and organize everything...again...

That's another easy day right!! Shouldn't take any time!

Then of course there is another load of laundry...like always...

I better get started!! Have a good day!

Ashley

Tuesday Cleaning

It's Bathroom Day!!! YAY!....not... ***Update...I'm done with my cleaning! Yay!

*Clean inside and outside of toilets

*Scrub bathtubs and showers

*Windex mirrors

*Disinfect sinks and countertops

*Disinfect toothbrushes

*Wash rugs

*Sweep and mop floors

I will also be doing more laundry today…as always! I should only have about 2 loads to do today though. I finished quite a few yesterday. I was so tired last night that I didn’t clean the kitchen after supper so that will be done first thing!!**DONE!

I’m also going to be working on my next menu plan and grocery list!

Well there is my day…a lot easier than yesterday!!

Ashley

Monday Cleaning

Usually on the weekends I try to keep cleaning to a bare minimum. I do so much of during the week that by the time Friday afternoon rolls around I'm ready for a nice break! Of course with 4 kids and husband my job is NEVER done.

One of the goals that I will be working on this coming year is establishing a better cleaning routine and keeping it. Like I said, I clean every day but there really isn't any order to the way it gets done. Sometimes I will deep clean the kitchen twice and forget to wash sheets...that could also be pregnancy brain but who knows. Anyways I have come up with a plan and I hope that it will work out for me. I suppose if I keep my head in the game and stay focused anything could be possible!

So from now on Monday's will be my Kitchen Cleaning Day.
     *Sweep and mop floor
     *Disinfect countertops
     *Wash rugs
     *Clean out refrigerator; wipe everything down
     *Clean stove and microwave
     *Make sure inside of cabinets are in an orderly shape

Also since my pantry/laundry room opens up through my kitchen I will clean in there.
    *Sweep and mop floor
    *Make sure pantry shelves are organized
    *Wipe down washer and dryer

I will also be checking all of my cleaning supplies to see if I need to buy any this week.

Of course I will still be doing my daily cleaning to make sure the house is always in neat shape.
     *Wiping down bathrooms and changing hand towels
     *Picking up stray items and returning them to where they belong
     *Dishes
     *Laundry

This seems like alot to do in one day but really it isn't. Usually I can have all of this done before late morning. The kids will still be home this week from school so it might take me a little longer than normal! ****OK today this is kicking my butt...it's definitely harder to get all of it done with the kids home...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday morning!!

Ashley

Kids helping around the house

This is a constant battle at our house. Three of our four children are very well capable of helping clean our house. They don't like to think so. I believe what we ask them to do is quite reasonable and there is no reason for them to not help!

In my Home Management Binder each of the kids have their own Chore Chart. They are supposed to do the chores EVERY DAY but it doesn't always happen that way! We are working with them on it so they can learn to clean up after themselves.

The chores they are supposed to do are :
     -Make their bed (of course it doesn't have to be perfect...they are kids)
     -Take their dirty clothes to the laundry room
     -Make sure all toys are in the toy box
     -Put their shoes into the shoe bin in their room
     -Jackets and backpacks are hung up by the door
     -After each meal they are to put their dishes in the sink and wipe up their area at the table

That isn't a long list of things for them to do!! We just have some very stubborn children that have a mind of their own.....

Ashley