Spring Cleaning
Yeah, I know…it is nearly fall, but this is when I finally had time to do it. So there.
I had this brilliant idea the other whilst talking to a friend who does in home daycare. I have had a hard time catching up on household stuff since Lily was born and the shoulder surgery exacerbated that situation considerably. So, I thought, why don’t I just hire this friend for a few mornings and get this house CLEAN. For once.
So, I dropped Ms. Lily off this morning. She was so cute! She said, “Mama?? Buh bye!!” and then cried just a bit as I walked out the door. I rushed right home, had a little breakfast with Matt, and then started the annihilation of dirt in the basement.
First up was to pull out furniture and vacuum. Let me tell you. This was a vile eye opener as to why one should do this on a more regular basis. Especially when one owns pets. The fur under and behind the couch could have made up an entirely new animal. There were an assortment of small toys, a pencil, some hair accessories and a few bits of popcorn too. Ugh. It was SO cathartic to clean it all up and know that it is clean back there, even if I’m the only one who knows. I also moved the sub-woofer. That thing hasn’t been moved since we moved in, 4 1/2 years ago. Enough said about that.
Then I remember that I should really be cleaning from the top on down, so I vacuumed the fan blades on the ceiling fan, and dry dusted all of the furniture and built in shelves. This is really my best tip for deep cleaning: use the heck out of your vacuum! Those attachments are there for a reason! Then it was time to really clean the hearth. Again, another thing I haven’t really tackled much since we moved in. So, I thoroughly cleaned all of the tile work, the glass doors and everything.
Then I moved on to the windows. (Again…never been done.) I’m pathetic.
I also wiped down the walls, baseboards and the stair ledges. I cleaned the leather chair, and cleaned the base. Then I vacuumed the floor and moved on to the office. The office is the catch all for crap. I bagged 3 lawn and leaf bags full with donations of clothes, blankets, pillows and toys that Lily has outgrown.
Since Matt was working in the office, I decided to move on to the laundry room. I cleaned the linoleum in the closet where one of the cat boxes resides. I vacuumed the cobwebs from the ceilings and the lint off of the dryer and floors. Then I wiped down the appliances, threw in a load of towels, and scrubbed the laundry sink.
I am SOOO proud of what I accomplished in 3 hours!
I also find that starting a deep cleaning project inspires me to tackle other stuff I’ve been putting off, so later in the day I cleaned out the junk drawer in the kitchen, and when Matt was feeding the baby and out of the office, I dusted his desk and went through some papers.
I will be at it again on Friday, and think I will tackle the kitchen that day. The following Thursday, I am having the carpets, tile and couch professionally cleaned, so I want to have everything done by then.
