Need Advice - Whole House Cleaning Plan? - UPDATE (see Posts 14, 19, 20)

[lizzywednesday]

Bumping and updating with daily progress reports!

As of Monday, the 2nd floor hallway & DD's room have been cleaned out & mostly put to rights. I still have some sorting & put-away tasks to do, but those can be done on Friday or Saturday. (Post #14)

As of Tuesday, I have a place to store my holiday decorations (Halloween & Christmas) and I've started the shovel-out of the dining room. (Post #17)

As of Wednesday, I've shoveled out 4 years' worth of crap from our 3rd floor. It's still messy, but it just needs a bit of tidying now. (Post #20)

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ORIGINAL POST:
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OK, so I'll be the first to admit that I am not a "home-keeper" and have rebelled at the idea that my first duty as a woman was to keep my home neat and clean.

It bothers me that DH will sit for HOURS on weekends to watch football and eff around on the computer ... while making snide and pointed remarks about my lack of homekeeping "skill," often comparing the state of our home to his parents' house while he was growing up.

I have b!tched on more than one occasion about this, but I'm not looking to do that here.

After hoarding my 28 PTO days all year, I have 8 left. With the way holidays fall this year, it actually works out to be 2 weeks (!) starting on 12/17.

We depart for a week out in AZ on 12/25.

I intend on spending the week of 12/17 cleaning. I can do this because we are keeping DD in daycare that week rather than pulling her out and keeping her home because I won't be working.

I'd like to clean and organize my house before we host my family for our annual pre-Christmas-Christmas get-together on 12/23.

Are there any plans online for this kind of cleaning? I have 5 days, 3 floors and a lot of clutter to get through.

On my list are the following non-negotiables:

* 1.5 bathrooms to COMPLETELY deep-clean & sanitize
* 1 living/dining room combo to de-clutter, clean/sanitize AND decorate
* 1 kitchen, half of which needs its floor scrubbed/sanitized
* 1 staircase & hallway to be decluttered, vacuumed & organized

Extras that would be REALLY nice:

* 1 3rd-floor "catch-all" that would be a lovely area for my DD and nephews to have for playing
* 1 landing "catch all" that would be really nice to have clean/clutter-free so the 3rd floor is accessible
* 1 DD's bedroom to be organized (and her bed FINALLY set up!)

Where do I go for a plan for the week I'm off?

AND

Is there anything I can do in the weeks leading up to my week off work that will make the cleanout easier?

[legaleagle]

Wow, I can see how that would be overwhelming. I don't have any links to plans but for leading up, I'd try to do at least 15 minutes in one area a day, 2 15 minutes in 2 areas if you can. I find setting a timer really helpful - I mean, you can do 15 minutes of anything. For longer projects, esp semi-mindless sorting, I like to listen to This American Life episodes. They're an hour, so a good chunk, and interesting.

Personally, I would start with the staircase and hallways. Not having to navigate a cluttered hallway & staircase while working on the other rooms will help them go faster, plus they're more visible and you can't close the door on them.

Good luck!

[lizzywednesday]

Thanks!

Reminding myself that I can accomplish quite a bit in 15 minute bursts is a good one. I did a lot with our kitchen table the other day in 15 minutes before mixing up cookie doughs - I needed the space for cooling racks.

Also, I love the tip about listening to something I enjoy on a podcast or whatever - that will work out much better than switching on the TV like I usually do! I'll have to check out what's free on iTunes and other favorite sites. There's 'Lexicon Valley' on Slate that I really like, too, so maybe that will be a good one to play!

[BDKmom]

I would recommend doing a quick sort first, to get rid of as much stuff as you can quickly. If you have to think about it, set it aside and just trash the things you know you don't need. It may help you feel like you are making progress more quickly, which can be a good motivator to keep going. Then go back through and work on the stuff that takes more thought.

I also try to be methodical in my cleaning, so I usually start on one side of the house and work my way across, and start at the top of the room and work my way down (although if you have a lot of clutter, you may have to start with floors first, in which case I would go left to right or something like that). I find if I don't do it this way, I just wind up bouncing from project to project or area to area and don't really get any momentum going.

Good luck!

[Gracemom]

I think you have a great plan! I would make sure you have all your supplies ready, including boxes to sort trash, donations, and stuff to keep. Turn on a timer for 1 hour chunks, then take a short break. I would finish the non-negotiables so you can feel good about that, then move on to the lower priorities. I love listening to NPR while cleaning. There are a ton of podcasts to choose from. Try to reward yourself every day with a hot bath, special drink or something that you look forward to. You deserve it for getting so much done!

[queenmama]

I need to do this, too. Great suggestions here!

Lara

[niccig]

Put aside things that can be done in front of the TV at night. Eg. as you go if have tonne of papers that need to be filed, put together and do that night in front of the TV.

Organize for a pick-up by Goodwill, Salvation Army etc. Give a time/day and you have to have everything in bags on you porch for when they come by.

Don't get caught up on details...yes you could spend another 2 hours making it perfect, but you could have something else finished by then too.


That's my first week of Winter Break. I have so many things to get caught on around the house. I do need some down time (mostly catching up sleep), but I could do this with you. It would fill so good to start the holidays with things crossed off my list.

[lizzywednesday]

Thanks again, everyone!

I'll take an inventory of my current cleaning supplies stash - I think I need more rubber gloves (seriously; my bathrooms are pretty nasty) and maybe another mop.

We have a good supply of trash bags, though I'll need a shredding bin for things I shouldn't stick in the regular trash.

The timer idea is BRILLIANT ... it's never occurred to me to use it before, but I think I will now.

I feel much more confident about this project now - thank you all for your advice and tips!!

[legaleagle]

Do you a big stack of microfiber auto towels? They are so great for cleaning, ESP getting dust off things (just slightly dampen) and if you have a lot, you can just wipe and go without thinking about it. I know Costco sells a huge bag for cheap.

[lizzywednesday]

Do you a big stack of microfiber auto towels? They are so great for cleaning, ESP getting dust off things (just slightly dampen) and if you have a lot, you can just wipe and go without thinking about it. I know Costco sells a huge bag for cheap.

No, but I've considered getting them from the auto section at Target. For most of my dusting, though, I tend to favor Swiffer dusters because the electrostatic is just sticky enough for the dust not to kick back and aggravate my allergies. I use 3M brand microfiber dust cloths with Method "Wood for Good" for cleaning wood & leather.

We are not Costco members and I let my BJ's membership expire when I realized we weren't using it as much as I thought we would for diapers and things - DD's butt was just too sensitive!!! (If we'd had a Costco nearby, though, I'd be a member in a heartbeat - she does fine with Kirkland diapers!!!)