Thursday, March 15, 2012

Keeping a Clean House, Is it an unattainable Dream?




Say Aye if your house is far from clean and organized. “Aye” I shout.

Oh boy is my home far from clean and organized.  I don’t know when or where things went awry.  All I know is that I am doing my best to not become overwhelmed by the mess.  I have attempted a few approaches to being organized, but my ADD mind just keeps jumping from one place to the next, never completing a single task, and thus I end up with half cleaned messes all over the house that equals still messy.

In one of my facebook comments I mentioned my desire to clean house and how my ADD negatively affects it. In response a dear friend shared her approach to daily cleaning, Thank You Jennifer Wojcik.  This list will soon revolutionize the way I clean… Why, you ask? Because it takes into account the fact that cleaning is not a onetime thing, and that there are things that one may not consider when cleaning, but are very important. It also triggered a deep cleaning list idea in my brain that will get me to the point of maintenance that Jennifer looks at in her list.  I will share Jennifer's list in my next post, this post is about deep cleaning.

So, if you feel drowned in a messy house, and need to get down and dirty, and then want to find a way to maintain that not so messy house, join me in my two week deep house cleaning approach followed by the maintenance list.

My list, is of course just a suggestion, as I have tailored it for the areas in my home that need a lot of help, but I hope it will be a jumping off point for you. A trigger, much as Jennifer's list triggered my thoughts. I have also only included 4 week days in my list as those are the days I can do deep cleaning with out considering my husband in the picture, as much as I love him, he distracts me more than my ADD.

My first task was to walk thorough my home and look at what was out of place, things that never seemed to be put away or areas that just never managed to stay clean.  I then evaluated what the reason for that was.  1. It never had a home in the first place. 2. It was my toddlers and he needs to learn that it has a home and be put away. 3. The home it had was not convenient or organized. These are my main issues, and number 3 seems to be a big one, as I tend to leave it out because of this.

Once the problem areas are identified and reasons given, I go to my handy dandy excel spreadsheet and transfer the list there according to each room in the house.  (I love spreadsheets if you do not, feel free to find the best way this works for you and share in comments for other readers)  I like using spreadsheets because I can type my list and then select the cell and drag it around to organize my list.


Living room Issues
Reason For Issue
1
Coat Closet
Not organized, things just stuffed in randomly
2
Desk
Not organized Things just randomly stuffed
3
Ronin’s Toys
Never put away
4
Coffee table
Always cluttered with random objects
5
Couches
Always have toys’ blankets and crumbs
6
Floors
Always crumby and random papers all over the place
7
Book shelf
Dump spot, nothing gets put away.



Kitchen
Reason for Issue
1
Built in Hutch
Always cluttered, dump spot, Medicine always out.
2
Sink/dishwasher counter
Dishes always pilled, Dishwasher always full of clean dishes.. always playing catch up
3
Kitchen Table
Dump spot… never gets put away
4
Pantry
Things put away in a jumble, no organization, leads to things being left on kitchen table or folding counter
5
Folding counter
Dump spot for none laundry items.
6
Shelves under counter
Things just shoved in that I want to deal with later. Disorganized. Bins have designations but are very disorganized.



Laundry Room

1
Sewing table
Unorganized dump spot for sewing related items
2
Floor
Potty training pads cause mess. Socks seem to gather there and never get picked up. Lint gathers and never gets cleaned….
3
Top of washer dryer and related counter
Piles of other items that have no home. Disorganized



Bathroom

1
Floor
Small area, Towels and cloths pile in corners, qtips never make it into trash
2
Counter
Again, small area, little storage so everything gets left on counter
3
Medicine cabinate and drawers
Things get shoved in with little to no organization. Nothing has a place that it belongs.
4
Hall closet
Same issue as bathroom, small, things just shoved in.


You get the idea. . . I am leaving out the bedrooms, as they will be the last thing I do since they are really not that bad. They just need to be maintained.

Next step, make a schedule to attack each area.  Choose your goal of how long you want to accomplish this in, and then make that schedule.  Remember, you will still want to maintain dishes and laundry and pick up the clutter as it accumulates.  I know that my cleaning tolerance is short.  I need to do it in bursts or I get overwhelmed and give up.  I also realize that I need to spread it out over a few weeks, doing a little each day, or once again I get overwhelmed and give up.  

Week One:
Monday

Put Ronin’s Toy’s in his room

Clean out desk, place all items on Folding table and organize. Return Items to desk.

Clean Floor and Couches of clutter and also place on folding table or other locations as necessary

Vaccum Couches and Floor

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run

Go over budget and pay bills


Tuesday

Clean out Coat Closet and place all items that don’t hang on folding table

Check for mold and clean

Clean off book shelf.

Menu Plan

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run


Wednesday

Remove all clutter from Hutch and place on folding table, organize

Organize hall closet

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run


Thursday

Take all things that are not where they belong and put on folding table

Organize pantry

Put all items away that are on the folding table

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run

Week Two
Monday

Organize inside of bins under folding counter

Put sewing items on sewing table away

Clean kitchen and laundry room floors

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run

Go over budget and pay bills


Tuesday

Tackle counter above washer and dryer

Clean windows thoroughly of mold issues

Clean off book shelf.

Menu Plan

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run


Wednesday

Clean bathroom floors

Remove all items from bathroom counters and cupboards and place on folding table

Get rid of things not used and return to cupboards

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run


Thursday

Clean Toilet

Clean Tub and Sink

Clean floors

Gather Laundry and Start Loads Put away

Unload and Load Dishwasher, run

This is a rough idea of how I plan on tackling my home. It is still a work in progress but I will be printing this out and putting it on my fridge, and marking it off as I go. And then I will feel much better about moving on to maintaining my home.

Followers