Cleaning and organizing thread - October 2018

[midtnmama]

Here is this week's flylady tasks. Do 10-15 min daily on the daily missions. If you have extra time, move onto the deep cleaning:

Mon:Clean the entryway

Tues: Sweep front porch and clean your front door.

Wed:declutter the dining room

Thurs:15 minutes boogie fling--get rid of stuff in these areas

Fri: dust the baseboards and get the cobwebs in corners and ceilings





Detailed cleaning: If you have more time



Living Room/Family Room/Den Detailed Cleaning List

Clean cobwebs

Clean windows

Straighten bookcases

Wash ornaments and knick-knacks

Clean out end table

Straighten closets/ drawers

Wipe fingerprints from walls

Polish furniture

Clean out magazine racks

Clean phone

Clean under cushions

Clean out fireplace

Move furniture and vacuum

Shampoo carpet

If you have a family room, game room, sun porch, or other room that is used by the family for living purposes, then concentrate on decluttering one room each month (or as you find more time).

[susannah]

I cleaned out and organized the junk drawers yesterday (yes,junk drawers, plural - one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom). The bedroom junk drawer started out as a place for a few items that don't seem to belong in other drawers (we have a huge 10-drawer chest in the bedroom). But it's morphed into a holding tank for things that come in the mail and need to be filed downstairs...but I don't feel like going downstairs so it's in the drawer "temporarily". Judging by the postmark on a few of these thing, temporarily means three months. I'm happy to report the bedroom junk drawer is back to holding the few items that don't belong in other drawers but DO belong in the bedroom. And the kitchen junk drawer now holds only scissors, notebooks and pads of paper, rubber bands and paper clips (pens have their own area elsewhere).

Today - or most likely tomorrow because the endless drizzle seems to have left us for one day so I'm planning to be outside much of the day - I'm going to organize the rest of the drawers in the kitchen. The silverware drawer, the cooking utensils drawer, the potholder and other like items drawer. I mean, I can see where things are in those drawers, but they've become all jumbled together - like a big party must have gone on when I wasn't watching.

[midtnmama]

I'm doing a new 30 minute exercise routine in the morning. You take a minute between reps. I use that minute to dust, put things away. Got a lot of little things done!

Yesterday, I tried to work in the porches ala Flylady tasks. I disturbed what I thought was an old dead wasp nest! Luckily, I wasn't stung.

[midtnmama]

I don't use any aerosol sprays due to our allergies--and I think some of those chemicals are dangerous, if not carcinogenic. Before I dust or dustmop, I rub my damp hand over the rag so it picks up more dust if damp-you don't want it wet.
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I just realized that the tool I used to clean the dryer vents is long and bendy enough to get the cobwebs between my window and screens.

[lindy]

I've been doing very well decluttering and keeping my home in a state that I like. In the last few months though I've been heavily involved in elder care, and now my relative has moved into some assisted living and I have a whole bunch of "stuff" in my 650 sq foot apartment.
It's been very discouraging to look around and see boxes of files that I need to keep for her care and hwer house, until it sells. There are treasures that I have to distribute,and some to sell. About all I'm doing now is trying to keep it all corralled in one area.
I went through this when I was executor of my mothers estate and I still have to keep some of her paperwork for another 4 years. I did move the "stuff" along then,but it took almost a year to do so (the estate was finicky). My aunt hasn't died though; she's pretty healthy except for some dementia, so I anticipate having a lot of paperwork for years to come.
I dearly love my aunt, she was a godsend when my mother, her sister, was dying, and I took over care for her willingly. But, I don't know how to manage the new stuff,I'm finding it overwhelming.
Has anyone had to deal with something similar? How did you keep things in order?

[midtnmama]

Lindy: I wish I had some advice for you. My only advice would be to find storage that is accessible yet not in your way so that you get upset about having it in your way. Can you raise your bed and get underbed plastic storage? Under the center of the dining room table with a tablecloth over it?

This is something for all of us to think about. I, for one, plan to downsize (early enough that I am physically able to do it) that my kids don't have to change their lives to deal with stuff I've collected.

Maybe you could make a goal to put x number of items on craigslist each week, or distribute one treasure each week....

Let us know how you do.

On another note: Living in small spaces requires extra care. How do you do it without these extra things? Do you have a one in one out philosphy?

I'm trying to remind myself that each new piece of clothing requires same amount to go to goodwill. Today I'm getting boxes ready to take to goodwill.

[lindy]

Well, I did come up with a solution for the paperwork. (whoever said that we're becoming a paperless society has never had to deal with eldercare and being executor or an estate). I saw a two drawer 24 inch wide horizontal filing cabinet at a business supply store. It's now serving as a night table,draped with a woven throw. One drawer for my files, the other for my mothers and aunts papers. This replaced a rickety night table that didn't have any storage.

The "stuff". Well for now most of it is in rubbermaid totes stacked four high. It's not pretty,but it looks better than when everything was in different sized boxes. I have informed those who are having something distributed to them, that I wanted everything picked up by end of November. If "you" can't pick it up, I'll be shipping it out and you'll be paying the cost for that from the money. That's motivation Everyone lives within 50 miles of me,so we're not talking about day long treks to my place. The things aren't bulky either, like furniture bulky. It's mostly smalls.

You asked how I manage in a small space. Well, it can be hard if I don't keep on top of things. I've had some good ideas from this forum, and other forums too. Flylady inspires me too. My queen sized bed has pullout plastic drawers on both sides, for winter/summer clothing. That helps. My coffee table is a chest with legs,and one of my end tables opens for storage too. I found that lots of open shelving is not my friend; because keeping open shelving neat is a never ending battle.

Something in, something out is a habit now. Actually for the last couple years I downsized ruthlessly,probably five things out for one thing in ruthless. I just did the purge drawer by drawer,box by box, shelf by shelf. One set of china which I use everyday, not two. Only 3 months supplies of toiletries,not six; things I don't wear? - out the door. I have about 500 books now that are precious to me, and disposed of about 1000 here and there. I use the library instead. I've tackled paperwork by throwing flyers etc straight into the recycling bin by our mailboxes. Stuff that needs shredding goes right into the shredding basket tucked into a corner,next to the shredder. When the basket is full and/or I am bored I shred the lot. I just remind myself that I don't want my executor to have to sort through mounds of old paperwork the way I've had too.

Not long ago I replaced four bathroom towels,and four washcloths with new ones. In the past I'd keep all the old ones,and the ones they replaced and so on. I measured almost three feet of older towels one day, saved to "use as rags someday",except that I never did use them all. Now,I have the nice ones in the bathroom to use, the replacements that are still in good shape are kept for the odd guest to use and one of them was cut into four,and put with the cleaning supplies. The rest plus the tired facecloths went to a dog rescue. The towels left are stacked on a shallower shelf,and now I have a nice empty shelf.

I don't buy ornaments anymore,and only kept those that really mean something to me,like a collection of blue ware from my dutch ancestors. I have a collection of cross stitches from my family going back 80 years. Some are not to my taste BUT after talking to a friend who is a decorator I had quite a few of them framed with simple identical frames. Mounted on a wall together they are there for anyone to look at, instead of taking up space in a drawer, and together they are a collection I like too.

Now, I do keep some stuff. I love to decorate my apartment for Christmas. It matters to me. I have 6 rubbermaid totes of Christmas stuff in my small apartment storage room. The key to this is using identical storage containers,that can be stacked. They take up less space that way.
I also enjoy making jams, jellies and pickles to give away. Even there though, I got rid of my third canner, and some questionable jars and supplies. And so on.

This was a rather long winded answer to you Midtnmamma, and of course some of my choices would not be right for you. I guess it comes down to ensuring that we have the space to store or use the things that matter to us,and get rid of what's not useful. (I would say that if I had one more bedroom I'd probably keep more stuff,but I don't, so I can't.

[midtnmama]

I don't know about you, but I need to get ready for Thanksgiving family crowds. I'll be deep cleaning the guest bedrooms and guest bath. I want to put up new blinds in at least one of those.

Fly lady tasks for the week of 10-14-18

Do 10-15 min a day on the daily tasks. Move to the detailed cleaning list if you have more time.
Mon:In bathroom: clean the base and behind the toilet. In another room, throw away trash for 5 min.
Tues:In bathroom:Clean the bathroom trash bin . In another room, spend 5 min gathering donation box items.
Wed: In the bathroom,throw away medicines past expiration dates . In another room: spend 5 minutes gathering things that need to be put away somewhere else.
Thurs: In the bathroom: clean the sink and vanity. In another room: spend 5 minutes gathering more thing to recycle or trash.
Fri:in the bathroom: Mop the floor. In another room: Do a 27 boogie fling getting rid of things that need to be donated, trashed or put away.

For more Flylady: www.flylady.net/c/lp.php


Bathroom detailed cleaning list
Wash area rugs
Scrub/wax floor
Straighten drawers/ cabinets
Clean shower stall/ wax (not the floor!)
Wash shower door
Clean medicine cabinet
Clean scale
Throw away empty bottles
Extra bedroom detailed cleaning list
Polish furniture
Straighten drawers/closet
Clean cobwebs
Wash mattress pad/dust rug
Flip mattress
Wash curtains
Wash windows
Clean window
Clean bath tub
Clean top of sewing machine
Straighten bookcase
Straighten computer desk
Clean out the closet
Put away stray items
Fertilize plants

Children’s bathroom detailed cleaning list
Wash area rugs
Sweep/scrub/wax floor
Straighten drawers/cabinets
Clean shower/tub stall
Wash shower door
Scrub bath toys
Wash down outside of toilet
Throw away empty bottles
Children’s bedrooms detailed cleaning list
Polish furniture
Straighten drawers/closet
Clean cobwebs
Wash mattress pad/dust rug
Flip mattresses
Wash curtains
Clean window
Straighten toy shelves
Clean under the bed
Clean out the closet
Put away stray items
Sort out-grown clothes
Vacuum under bed/closets
Dust baseboards
Clean fingerprints off door/walls
Rearrange videos/games/books

Office detailed cleaning list
Clear off the surface of your desk
Throw away pens that don’t work
Sharpen pencils
Throw out all the trash
Put items to keep in a pending file for Wednesday (desk day)
Do not stop to pay bills
Straighten one drawer at a time
Toss out old receipts from over 7 years
Clean off the monitor screen
Fill printer caddy with paper
Establish a place for current bills
Vacuum under desk and the whole room
Dust furniture
Clean windows
Remove cobwebs
Check supplies of paper and printer cartridges
Stamps and envelopes
Laundry room detailed cleaning list
Wipe down the top of the washer and dryer
Clean the gunk from under the washer lid
Throw out empty bottles and boxes
Empty the garbage can
Check supplies of laundry detergent, softener, spot remover
Sweep and mop the floor
Remove the cobwebs
Put away all clothes
Look behind appliances for odd socks

[lindy]

Well I used yesterday to do a real flylady bathroom clean including the walls, ceiling,emptied and cleaned the cabinet under the sink. I believe I touched every inch of the room. I've always kept the bathroom clean but now it's super clean! I also did set the timer and do two 15 minute cleaning/tidying bursts sessions around the apartment. Stopped when the timer went off, then reset it for the second round. A person can get a lot done in 15 minutes.

Today, my goal is to do four 15 minute cleaning sessions. That should get me well back on track, and still leave time for that new Dan Brown mystery sitting on my coffee table...next to a bag of cheese popcorn which fell into my shopping cart on Friday.

Oh, further up I talked about my somewhat frustration around having more "stuff" in my house. Well, telling people that I'd be shipping their items,paid for out of their share of money,if stuff wasn't picked up by a certain date, seems to have provided motivation. Yesterday three tubs worth of belongings were picked up by two relatives to distribute within their families. Three tubs didn't make a huge dent in the pile, but it was a good start.

[Deleted]

I have always seen and heard of people cleaning one room or one section at a time. Last year I read a book on getting organized and it sort of changed my life. Even though I have a baby and a 2 year old toddler, our home is the cleanest it's been since I got married 11 years ago. I'm sure this is obvious information to most, but to me it was eye opening. Instead of cleaning room by room or space by space, it suggested cleaning by categories. So books one day, clothes another, shoes another. Three boxes. Keep, donate, and trash. When you're done cleaning you have to take the "donate" and "trash" trash bags/boxes and put them in the trunk of you car. Then drop/trash it the next time you go out.

I furthermore just added minimizing to it which a lot of people seem to do when they want to get and stay organized. My kids literally only have two sets of pjs each. I rotate them so they both get equal amounts of use but there is a spare in case one gets wet/dirty so they can still wear one to bed. Everyone's categories are different. I'm sure most people have magazines. The only magazines we get are the subscription we have for our son. He reads then puts the finished one in recycling so I never have to worry about those. Homeschool books and books in general we have so many. So those were separate categories for us.

The book said when you do a category, figure out a place that item will always go to. If everything you keep has a home then all you have to do is remember to put it in that spot every time.

At the end of the day let's be honest, I have toys strewn about and other things if my toddler gets into them. I try not to stress about those times. I figure one day the house will be spic and span and I will miss the mess. Till then I try to balance the line between not stressing the small stuff while also maintaining a livable, cozy home that we all look forward to coming home to. I am incredibly blessed to have a 9 year old who cheerfully and lovingly does SO much to help every single day, and a spouse that pitches in as well.

[susannah]

midtnmama , Thanksgiving is one of the times that I don't have to worry about the house being company-ready. While we have lots and lots of company in late spring, summer and fall, November through March it's usually only my son and family who visit - and one niece who truly enjoys the cold weather along with the quiet beauty of the northwoods in winter. So I have to motivate myself to keep the house company clean. I do this mainly by reminding myself of how much I love my house and how much better it looks when there's no clutter to distract me.

We've been gone much of the past two weeks so today is going to be a stay at home day. The past two days have been gorgeous so we've been doing a lot of outside work. There's still some to be done, but it's not quite so nice outside so I can probably talk myself into at least an hour of intensive indoor cleaning.

[manygoatsnmore]

lindy, those darned bags of cheese popcorn really have poor balance, don't they? They fall off the shelf into my cart regularly, lol!😊
@rachelmcmurtrie, that's an interesting option for cleaning and organizing. I'm not sure if I could be as minimalistic as you are with PJs, though...one bad flu or stomach bug and my kids would have been sleeping in one of my t-shirts. If it works for you, though, great! Each of us has our own situation, and what works for each of us is what counts. 😀

When I was a young sahm, I used the Sidetracked Home Executives system. Their motto was that they changed lives with 3x5s. They used a card file with different colored 3x5 cards depending on how often a task needed done. One task was written on each card and filed in the box on front of dividers marked 1-31 for the days of the month. There were daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal tasks. I could lay out the tasks for the day on my kitchen counter and just start in doing the tasks, refiling the cards for the next time they were scheduled as I went along. I had a day to pay bills and handle correspondence, a day for groceries and errands, a couple light housework days and a heavy housework day. I knew my plants would live because they got watered weekly. My car got washed and cleaned out weekly. My windows got washed on a schedule. Best of all, my house was neat and tidy in less than an hour in the morning and then ready for drop in company all day, and I knew what I was making for dinner! Now that I'm retired, I should probably make myself a new set of cards and "get back in the box". I'm a lot more slap dash these days, and it shows.

[midtnmama]

@rachelmcmurtrie,: I agree. I know people whose home are incredibly organized and clean but there is a lot of strife in their home making everyone perform perfectly. When our kids were at home, on Saturdays we used to do a five minute clean up of the kitchen, diningroom, living room, guest bathroom and office--four or five people working quickly can get a lot done in five minutes per room. After 30 minutes the house was company ready.

susannah,: I've always said that the reason why people like to go to bed and breakfasts is that they were clean and pretty. That is what my home should be, a constant staycation.

@rachelmcmurtrie,: I just don't see how you could expect to have the toys picked up with a toddler at home. But, I always reminded myself that they manage to get kids to pick up their messes at preschool, so why not at home?

manygoatsnmore,: Darn! I was hoping my home would be totally organized and all the extra stuff donated.

[Deleted]

manygoatsnmore, well for things we spend a lot of time in like underwear, pjs, sheets etc, I like to buy organic. So since those are expensive we usually only have two of everything. With the pjs though I have never had issues as of yet. Both sets are always cleaned since I do cloth diaper laundry every day, I throw them in with those. So even if one gets peed on like the toddler does sometimes, there is a fresh set to swap into. I haven't had vomit or stomach flu type sickness yet though, so I can see what you mean. If that were to happen, they would just get into their day clothes or church clothes.

midtnmama, true it is hard to keep everything picked up with the toddler, but my 9 year old son is good about picking up all the toys after she goes to bed. Which is usually an hour before his, so then it stays clean till morning lol.

[midtnmama]

I've been traveling, working extra hours and was getting over the stomach flu, so....I'm behind here. Fortunately, flylady has made it easy to get back on track.

We trimmed trees and deadheaded the garden.
Plan to work a little each day on the garage.
Lots (I mean LOTS) of guests thanksgiving week, so a lot of extra effort putting up extra beds, changing sheets...
I'll be purchasing new throw rugs for the doors to freshen up the kitchen and front door.
Hope to tackle the spider webs between my windows and screens. Found that my tool that cleans the dryer hose will flex and turn to get these spider webs, hopefully.
Have started working on cleaning the frig--one area at a time.