Phase 2: Week 3--The Kitchen

(I spent three weeks working my way through my house to spring clean each room. I divided things up and kept myself motivated thanks to having to "blog" about it! Scroll to the very bottom and read up about my whole "experience.")

(Trumpets) (Drum Roll)


I have finished spring cleaning!!



I saved the best (?) for last. I did it for a few of reasons:

• The kitchen would get daily hard use and would look un-spring-cleaned in a short amount of time.
• I knew I'd finish just before Easter/birthday party day.
• I knew it would take a LOT longer than the other rooms.

I actually considered it the "best" because I was excited to get it in ultra-clean condition as I've been spending more time in it than ever. Thanks to my 1958 diet, I have been creating way more meals from scratch. I could see how a spiffied up work space would just enhance that experience.

The TIME IT TOOK, however, was even longer than I thought.

I spent 45 minutes on the dishwasher alone. I took the cover off of inside the door. Yuck. It took a while to get it off and then replace it.

I scrubbed inside all of the cabinets, too, taking out the items. I had already decluttered, so I didn't need to do that as I went. Everything had a place and everything was in its place.

I did forget to clean one thing. The overhead light. I always forget to look UP. I'll get that on Monday.

TOTAL time spent on the kitchen? Three and a half hours. I. Am. Tired.

But doesn't it look sparkly and clean?

Here is my final tally as to how long it took me to "Spring Clean" my house. (I didn't include the basement as it is the holding place for the yard sale items.)

Week One:

• Club Room: 57 min.
• Seating Area: 24 min.
• Den: 33 min.
• Powder room and small hall: 17 min.

Week Two:

• Upstairs bathroom, landing, and stairwell: 64 min.
• Our bedroom: 63 min.

Week Three:

• Son's bedroom: 30 min.
• Office: 53 min.
• Laundry/mud room: 47 min.
• Kitchen: 210 min.

TOTAL Spring Cleaning time? 598 minutes or two minutes shy of 10 hours.

Whew! 10 hours. If I had known that I might not have started it! Doing things in small, planned chunks makes all the difference for me.

Phase 2: Week 3--Laundry/Mud Room

Today's mission--the laundry/mud room. This room is very small yet it contained a TON of stuff. The picture below will attest to the many uses this little area receives.

The door from our garage comes into the tiny "mud" area. The concept of a mudroom is new to me. I grew up in Florida and had never heard that term. Now I wouldn't want to be without one!





To the left you see the garage door. You can see the arm of the couch that is in the "seating area."
















To the right you see the entrance to the laundry area. The boot tray is a staple in the mudroom.

The former owners of the house ran out of money before they finished tiling the area. They left the original linoleum in the laundry part. Perhaps in the "beautify" phase we can do something about that.














Another tight squeeze for taking a picture. My husband installed the window which brings lots of nice sunshine while I'm working in there. He also installed some little shelves between the washer and the little wall that separates it from the mudroom area.















Just to the left of the window is a little bitty area that we managed to make into a shoe and coat area.













It is now spring cleaned and ready for...Mud Season! In New England we have five seasons. The usual four and one that is really called "mud." After living here for almost 12 years, I am very familiar with that extra season.

Tomorrow, the FINAL ROOM OF PHASE 2!!

Again, go with the flow

I'm all about flexibility. Ever since I had my child I've found that flexibility is pretty much a necessity. Our son arrived in our 17th year of marriage. You can imagine how much my life changed! Seventeen years of everything being (and staying) where I put it. No regular interruptions to my sleep patterns or schedule.

That's OK. I can barely remember what life was like before he became a part of our lives. His presence has provided frustration, tears (mine), joy, pleasure, and a depth of love I never dreamed possible.

His birthday is this Sunday. He will turn 7. He has spent the last two weeks attempting to micro-manage the planning of his gift choices and party. We had some last minute things to get to so I decided to run the errands today. In the stores he saw many things to add to his list of "wants." After many discourses about being grateful for what he already has, being ready to receive with gratitude WHATEVER he may get, and considering his guests needs and tastes as well as his own, well, I'm tired.

So, I switched today and tomorrow. No spring cleaning today.

Besides, I have to get the taxes done. (Yay.) But at least I have a nice clean office in which to spread out all the tax papers! My husband commented that he could see the "clean" under all the paperwork stacks. I can feel it.

That's good because I need all the help I can get as I tackle the taxes!

Phase 2: Week 3--Office

I'm FINALLY getting to my office. The room is quite small. You'll see by the pictures that it was hard to get a good angle without suspending myself from the ceiling or something.

It took 53 minutes from taking everything out to putting it all back after cleaning. Small room--lots of stuff.

This room is a workhorse room. We pay bills, use the computers, run our business, and homeschool in this room. It's always the messiest room as a result.

To the right is my husband's "area." He likes to look out of the window when he's working. This view is from the door. The walls are actually a pale pink. The curtain material has pink roses on them.

This view is from the closet to the right of my husband's desk. Perhaps I should have gone IN to the closet to get the picture. That desk is "Command Central." The chairs are from my dining room set. I decided to use them rather than store them. The addition of the pillow makes it comfortable for working. On the wall is homeschooling stuff. My husband built a little desk (attached to the wall) for my son to use. There are times when all three of us are stuffed into this room working away.

This little shelf is tucked into the wall space next to husband's desk (closet directly on the right). It was originally for an encyclopedia set that my husband's grandparents had. The books were in bad shape, but I loved the shelf. Yes, that's my duster decorating the corner in an old milk bottle. Double duty. William Morris would be proud.

I am on the home stretch. Two more areas to go and I will be finished with Spring Cleaning! I'm really looking forward to the next phase which is "Beautify." For example, the curtain in my office is just a piece of fabric draped on a rod. A proper curtain will be formed from the material during the next phase.

Stand with me and admire my nice clean office. Can you feel the clean?

Phase 2: Week 3--Son's bedroom

Last week was definitely different from what I planned. That's how life goes, right?

I did indeed pinch something in my back. Thursday morning I did the hour on my bedroom which included moving some furniture. By Thursday afternoon I had some serious pain, numbness and tingling. It had eased by Friday and this morning (Monday) it seems to have pretty much behaved itself and calmed down. I am making sure to be careful as I do things, especially overhead, just to keep from irritating my nerves/muscles, etc.

I got my son's room done this morning, first thing. He was outside helping "Daddy" load his truck for work. That meant he was mostly running around the front yard kicking an empty milk jug around. The boy DOES have toys, but the milk jug must have had just the right sound when he kicked it.

I did not pull out any of the furniture. There are several heavy things in his room that will stay where they are until I decide to redecorate or we move! Because I was not hauling things around, the room too only 30 minutes. That means the upstairs is finished!!

The rooms I have left to do are small but detailed (eg the kitchen!). This is a good week to be cleaning the kitchen since Easter is Sunday.

My son's birthday is on Sunday, too. We're combining Easter dinner with his birthday party. Apparently we do our best to plan births near holidays in my family. My birthday was ON Thanksgiving this year and my niece's birthday is near Independence Day so we tend to do the party on the 4th. My older sister's birthday has landed on Mother's Day at times, my husband's birthday is the day after Election Day and my nephew's is ON Election Day. See what I mean?

Anyone else have a birthday on or near a holiday? Do you find it hard to balance the emphasis in celebrating both?

Phase 2: Week 2--Our bedroom

Whew! Who put all those pieces of furniture in my room? Those babies are heavy! The dust bunnies tried to gather together to form a union but I prevailed.

I am SO glad that I'm doing this one room at a time (with breaks if needed). I helped a friend last Saturday do a "spring clean" on her 2000sf condo. She moved to a new house, so the rooms were all empty. Good thing. It took three of us 3 hours to do all of it. I was SO sore and am still feeling the effects. I think I pinched a nerve or something in my neck/shoulder area.

So that proves one should do break projects into small pieces. It's better for one's health!

Last night it was so nice to KNOW that the bathroom was clean as I stepped into the shower. Even my husband commented on it when he got his shower. It's like a way to pamper yourself!

Tomorrow I will be doing my son's room. He has toys. Lots of toys. Perhaps there will be FEWER toys as I move things around to clean. I've been working with him to let go of some items as his birthday is in less than two weeks.

I have definitely found things easier to clean since I decluttered first. MUCH easier. I highly recommend it.

Just go with the flow

For all those who think I am capable of MORE than the normal woman, I will now produce proof that I am surely not.

Last week I didn't get to the spring cleaning of my office. I put it off until Monday. Oh, I had confidence that I could get to the office AND my bedroom in one day. Sure, it would be a little extra work but it was possible.

Monday came. My son's homeschool evaluation was coming up on Tuesday and I was NOT ready for it. I was going to do it on Sunday night but decided to watch a video with my husband instead.

On Monday, I had my regular housework, homeschooling, TWO spring cleaning rooms, and the gathering of the information to take to the evaluator. (We were traveling to her house an hour away and then staying to do some shopping.) I had also started a new diet (see HERE for how that's going!), and actually had to prepare three meals. I thought it would be wise to prepare Tuesday night's meal as much as I could since I would be gone all day.

Guess what got put off? Yes, the spring cleaning.

Tuesday I was gone ALL day. Tuesday night we had a lovely meal (see other blog for details). I cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed early. Notice that no spring cleaning got done on Tuesday.

It's Wednesday now. I've decided to "go with the flow" and readjust my spring clean plan. It's my plan, I can do that!

So, today I cleaned the upstairs bathroom and the adjoining hall and stairs. The bathroom took 53 minutes. Bathrooms take longer as it is, but we have white beadboard on which the shower steam has managed to stick every piece of dust, fuzz, and loose hair in the entire house. Well, it seemed that way. Here's a picture after I emptied out everything:


The hall and stairs were far easier. They took 11 minutes. We have a tiny linen closet (I use it mostly for toiletries) that my husband added. The tiny wall is the side of my son's closet. His closet was w i d e, but not very deep. My husband "borrowed" the space to the right of my son's door, built a wall, cut a hole in the hallway, and voila! A tiny, useful closet. Another one of my favorite spots in the house.


As I've told some of you, the ONLY reason I'm getting as much done as I am is because I'm blogging about it! That "accountability" helps to motivate me to stick to it rather than procrastinating.

That means it's really Y'ALL that are the ones making this happen for me! So,



THANK YOU!

Phase 2--Week 1--Powder Room, Small Hall

I'm all about being flexible when it comes to the schedule. That's why I've had to be so rigid about making a schedule and blogging about it. If I didn't, I would just blow it off when "life" happens.

Thursday I was supposed to spring clean the office. I was gone from the house from 8am to 9:30pm. I figured that I would do it on Friday.

On Friday, the weather was actually WARM! It was so nice that I decided to do the powder room and small hall instead. I could do the office on Saturday. After homeschooling we blew off the rest of the housework and headed to the park.

Last night I glanced at my calendar. I had promised a friend that I would help her clean her condo on Saturday while the movers moved her belongings to her new house. I got back at 4:30.

I will be cleaning the office on Monday. I can't look the broom in the face right now.

Since I DID get the power room done, I'll post my stats and pics for that. Below is a "before" picture. You can tell that because I didn't empty the garbage before taking the picture. I love this room. My husband and I renovated it together. The short list is that we put up beadboard, did a faux finish on the walls, swapped painting for some leftover Pergo for the floor, and put in new toilet and sink fixtures.




Here's my best effort at taking a picture of the faux finish. My husband painted the whole wall in tinted semi-gloss. (He said that helped the tape to release when he taped for the stripes.) Next he measured and taped where he wanted the stripes to be and painted those in a flat finish tinted the same color. That's it!


This and the small hall adjoining it took 17 minutes. My goal is to do the office on Monday PLUS whatever else I had planned. Maybe. I'll just go with the flow if it's different from my plans!

Phase 2: Week 1--Den

It is a sunny day today! We've heard rumors that we may get as high as 50 degrees. I never thought I'd see the day where a high of 50 degrees would bring delight. Having grown up in Florida, we used to puzzle about the "snow birds" running around in shorts when it was a chilly 60 degrees. All the Floridians were wearing coats.

Well, I understand now.

Anyway, I completed the spring clean for the den. My pictures are all strange because of the sunshine. It's a small room, but it is our "entertainment" area, so it has books, games, videos, homeschool books (not pictured), etc., so it's a little crowded. Just a little. I've already decluttered down to the things we are going to keep. We used have about EIGHT times that many books!

Yes, that's a greenhouse. Normally a wing chair goes there (it's currently in the basement). I thought I'd try growing plants for transplant. I have a black thumb. I don't think it's going to happen. The trays are empty because I have them in direct sunshine in the "Club Room." It's been a week now. The dirt looks nice and healthy.

To the left of the lonely greenhouse is the little gas stove. I deliberately put the TV in the opposite corner so that the couch could face BOTH areas. I don't want everything pointed at the TV. As you can see, I need some more decorating "oomph" in that corner.

The couch is covered in the curtains that USED to hang at windows. I did the "upholstery." The blue material on the footstools and in the curtains have little cream stars on them. The wall color I love. It's a buttery, colonial cream that my husband tinted (he's a professional paint contractor).

This room took 33 minutes. Tomorrow, the office!

Phase 2: Week 1-- The "Seating Area"

I am in Lemon Heaven.

My cleaner has lemon essential oils as well as my furniture polish. I think I'll continue with lemon throughout the whole spring cleaning time. In the fall I used lavender. I've toyed with the idea of ginger (Christmas cleaning), and berry (summer cleaning).

Two rooms have now been completed. Today's room was named the "Seating Area" because it is across from the kitchen counter. It gives a place for folks to sit and be able to talk to the person who is in the kitchen. It's also a nice place to cozy up with a book and be able to see into the backyard.

The furnishings are very simple: couch, coffee table, and small china hutch (in corner to the left of the couch). My son does his homeschool work on the coffee table at times, especially if I'm working in the kitchen.

After two days of this, I wanted to add some things I'd not listed:

• Don't forget the light fixtures. Spiders like light fixtures.
• Don't forget BEHIND the mirrors and pictures. Spiders like those places, too.
• Little surfaces collect dust, too. The tops of the pictures and mirrors. The legs and sides of furniture. Spiders don't need to like those areas. They have the other areas.

I took a picture of my supplies.

I love my cleaning bucket. The shape is great for my scrub brush for doing the floor. It's pretty, too. Does anyone use something besides plastic as their cleaning bucket? If you take a picture, let me know.

I also love my telescoping ceiling brush. I can reach the cobwebs in my stairwell with this baby!

There's a wall space above my counter which probably COULD have been filled with a wider cabinet. It wasn't. The previous owner put up these little shelves. Here's how I've decorated them:

Vignettes of beauty. Those areas make me smile.

Phase 2: Week 1--"Club Room"

I know, it's a funny name. This is how it happened: My dining room is TINY. We've been here 9 years and I was tired of being pinned into the corner when we had more than two people dining together. I had an epiphany one day and decided to SWITCH rooms.

My couch and coffee table were moved into the dining area (across from the kitchen). I now call that the "Seating Area" (tomorrow's spring clean focus).




I moved the dining table and chairs to the front of the living room under the windows









I moved the two wingback chairs to the large wall to the right of the dining area and grouped them with a table.

Then I stepped back and decided it looked like a "Men's Club" from the 1890s LOL! They could lounge in the wing chair wearing their smoking jacket, resting their pipe on the table. Perhaps perusing a newspaper or arguing politics with the gentleman in the other chair. The dining table looked like a gaming table.

And so was born, "The Club Room." Son loves the name and corrects me if I slip and call it the living room.

It is now beautifully fresh and spring-cleaned. Spiders have been put out of commission, the walls are ready for paint, and the carpet for some serious shampooing after the "Beautify" phase is complete.

I like spring-cleaning one room a day like this. It's so attainable and doesn't overwhelm me. This room took about 30 minutes.

Phase 2: Spring Cleaning My Way

I have been SO waiting for this phase! I "fall cleaned" just before Thanksgiving and loved it.

Here's my plan:

• Have a stack of cleaning cloths ready to go. I just got mine at Costco per Copperswife's suggestion. Love them!
• Have a lovely pan in which to put the cleaner. Use a cleaner with lots of lovely scent. My favorite is lemon. My second favorite is Lavender. The third would be vanilla. Mmmmm. Aromatherapy Cleaning.
• Use HOT water.
• Assemble the other cleaning tools. Mine are my broom, ceiling duster broom, wall edge broom, duster, and vacuum.
• Assemble other cleaners like window cleaner, disinfectant, etc. HERE are my recipes.

The order of things as I do it:

• Stand at the door and envision the result. Take a picture just in case you want to use it on your blog.
• Remove small things from your room. Remove garbage cans, footstools, pillows, anything that isn't furniture. Set them outside of the room out of your way. Put away anything that is out of place but belongs in that room.
• Throw away trash.
• Take anything out that can be washed in the kitchen sink, dishwasher or washing machine.
• Clean the cobwebs from the ceiling and wall.
• Dust furniture (don't forget legs and rails).
• Pull furniture away from wall.
• Pull dust and debris away from the wall edge.
• Vacuum upholstery (lift cushions, please).
• Vacuum or sweep floor.
• Now for that lovely bucket with the aroma-cleaning water. Starting at the top (eg top edge of doors) and work your way down and around the room wiping around door handles, light switches, baseboards, etc. Don't forget the trim around the doors and windows. I have shutters on some of my windows. Those are part of the "trim."
• If you have uncarpeted floors, wipe where the baseboard and flooring meet.
• Mop whole floor if appropriate.
• Polish furniture with your favorite polish, or use my recipe.
• Clean mirrors and the inside glass of the windows.
• Put everything back.
• Make sure to stop and admire the look and feel of this spring-cleaned room!

I am working my way through the house in two weeks. Here is my schedule. I'll post pictures as I go.

Week 1:

• Monday--"Club room"
• Tuesday--"Seating Area"
• Wednesday--Den
• Thursday--Office
• Friday--Powder room and small hall

Week 2:

• Monday--Upstairs bathroom, landing, and stairs
• Tuesday--Our bedroom
• Wednesday--Son's bedroom
• Thursday--Laundry room
• Friday--Kitchen

Anyone with me for a two week cleaning spree? Divide your house into 10 areas and let me know. I'll list anyone who is committing to this task on the sidebar.

C'mon--I Double-Dog Dare you!