Ready, Set, CLEAN!!!

Okay, I openly admit that one of my favourite things about spring is SPRING CLEANING!!! Broken and un-used items get thrown out, rooms get organized, the dirt and grim of a long (long, long, long winter here in Alberta!!!) gets wiped, scrubbed, polished and disinfected from top to bottom. Windows that have long been left closed get opened and things get aired out and smells like grass and families barbequing takes you back to the lovely days of summers past.

Now I know that I love to clean more than most, and I may even derive more pleasure from a clean and tidy house than many...but come on...no one can admit that after a long day of spring cleaning you don't feel the victory of accomplishment, the physical satisfaction of a hard days work and a sense of peace in your newly cleaned home!

Now comes the second admission, no one in my family likes to clean near as much as I do…okay, that isn’t quiet honest…no one likes to clean in my family period, so to try and fool them I try to break some of it up a bit – outside one weekend, garage another weekend, and so on. My end goal though is to have ALL of my cleaning done within a month.

So here is my challenge, for the next month, each Monday, I will post a Spring Cleaning task and we can all do it together…we will dust, scrub, de-clutter and organize our homes and our lives. Are we ready???

Week One:

Get Three bins:
Bin One – Move (for all items that belong in your house – just not in the place you found them). Bin Two – Garbage (for all items in your house that are well…garbage).
Bin Three – Get rid off (for all items in your house that you are going to donate, give away to some one else, or sell).

Adult Bedrooms
-Replace winter bedding with summer bedding
-Launder or dry-clean blankets
-Empty closets and dust shelves and vacuum and/or wash floors
-Remove all clothes from dressers and closets that are no longer in good condition, no longer fit, or are out of style (if it has not been worn for the past two years it falls into this category) and put into bins (move, garbage, get rid off)

Kid Bedrooms
-Replace winter bedding with summer bedding
-Launder or dry-clean blankets
-Empty closets and dust shelves and vacuum and/or wash floors
-Take books off shelves, dust: remove all books that your child is no longer interested in or are damaged and put removed books into bin (move, garbage, get rid off)
-Take clothes out of dresser: remove all damaged, too small or unseasonable clothing and but into bins (move, garbage, get rid off) – remove all items that do not belong and put in their rightful place or throw away
-Go through desk: remove all crayons, markers, pencils, loose paper, notes, garbage that have been shoved in for safe keeping, put back only what is necessary and in good condition, put all else into bins (move, garbage, get rid off)
-Empty all toy boxes and storage areas: remove toys that your child is no longer interested in, all broken toys or toys with missing vital parts, put back only what is age appropriate and in good condition, put all else in bins (move, garbage, get rid off)
-Vacuum and wipe down all walls, shelves, and furniture

Have fun,
Christine