Sunday 26 September 2010

Spring Cleaning

15:24    2 comments

We're almost over with the first month of spring but I haven't really done any spring cleaning. Just a routine weekly cleaning that is. I reckon, good enough is good enough. But just in case, this is worth sharing (from housekeeping.about.com) the 15 minute bedroom cleanup:

Grab your supplies.
Few of us have supplies to clean the bedroom actually stored in our bedroom. Gathering all supplies together before beginning the job will keep you from getting distracted and failing to complete the job.

Grab all dirty clothing and put it in a hamper.
Since you're in a hurry, don't worry about unrolling socks, and pulling shirts right side out. These tasks are easier to do while sorting the laundry. Just grab all of the dirty clothes and place them in the hamper.

Grab all clean clothes and refold or re-hang.
If you have a significant amount of clean clothing lying around waiting to be folded and hung, skip this step and place the clean clothing semi-neatly on your bed after you complete Step 5. You can hold your bed hostage and remind yourself to take a few minutes to put away the clothing before bed.

Grab all trash and put in the trashcan.
This is not the time to determine if you're ready to trash old copies of magazines, or that pair of shoes you've needed repaired for two years. We're throwing away obvious trash, not sorting through boxes and closets. Save the major trash sweep for when you have more time.

Make the bed.
Yes, I know there is a major debate about whether or not to make the bed. You are just going to get back into it in a few hours. But if we used that argument for other areas of our home, we would never have clean floors, dishes, or laundry. Why wash something when it's just going to get used again? Making the bed changes the look of a room. It makes a room more inviting and uncluttered looking.

Pickup all the misplaced items on the floor, bed, desk, etc.
Put them in a basket, box, or bag. These are items that belong in another room in the house. Don't try to take them back one at a time. Just put them all in one location for now and move on.


Straighten surfaces.
If it has been a long time since you have cleaned in here, you may have large accumulations of your stuff that belongs in your room but is not in its proper place. Take a brief survey of this "stuff". If in a minute or less you can put it all away, do so. If not place it all in a container so that you can go through it and organize it later.

Sweep and mop or vacuum.
Don't move furniture to sweep or vacuum. Just do a quick run through.

Put away your supplies
Allow yourself to reflect on how much nicer this briefly cleaned room is. If you keep up this regime regularly on your room, you'll always be able to find your bed. And isn't that what we all want.

Really, for me this will take almost 30 minutes. I have lots of nooks, crannies and corners to check. And if there's a little monster that litters (with name tags, etc) the place that you just cleaned up, it's no easy feat.

*****