Fall Cleaning: MY Plan of Action

MY PLAN of Action:

My Tools:

• Have a stack of cleaning cloths ready to go. I 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. I like Lemon, Lavendar, or Vanilla.
• 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.

My Order of Cleaning:

• Stand at the door and envision the result. (Take a deep breath--it helps.)
• 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. Anything that doesn't belong in that room, set outside, too.
• 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 after dusting baseboards.
• 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.
• Clean mirrors and the inside glass of the windows.
• Put everything back.
• Make sure to stop and admire the look and feel of this freshly cleaned room!

Fall Cleaning: The Club Room

Fall Cleaning: I'm so excited! The whole house feels different when I deep-clean like this.

The first room on the agenda is the "Club Room." It's actually my living room, but I waltzed the furniture around until my dining table and chairs were in front of the windows and two wing-back chairs were off to the side in a little grouping. It reminded me of the clubs for men only during Victorian times where they smoked, drank, played card games and caught up on the news of the day. This picture is of the interior of the Athenaeum Club in London.

Note the "manly" hunt colors and the leather. Here is a picture of MY "Club Room." I think they look similar...don't you? Minus the expensive carpeting, the leather, and the expensive stuff, of course. First, the dining area:

Then the chatting area:

Notice the walls. These are freshly painted (as of a month ago, anyway). They were originally a "latte" color, but we darkened them to a chocolate-y color. I'm pretending it's leather. Squinch your eyes and you'll see it, too.

Here's a "Before" picture for wall-color comparison:

Faded. Boring. Blah. I don't even want to look at it anymore. Scroll up to ease your eyes.

Soon, this room will be as clean as the Athenaeum servants would have kept it. Oh, yeah.