Fall Cleaning

Unfortunately its that time of year again to deep clean the house and ready it for the long winter months ahead. I've tried those plans where you clean so much each week so you'll never have to do spring/fall cleaning again, and I've come to realize they just don't work for me. I'll stick to my twice a year feel good. Gram decided that she wanted the girls on Saturday so I decided to spend the morning getting stuff cleaned so that I could enjoy a guilt free afternoon of doing absolutely nothing in my quiet house. Thank you Gram!

In the afternoon I decided to catch up on some reading and magazines that have been sitting for a while. I pulled out one of my favorite books, Country Living Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life.  It's one of those simple reads full of tips for your home, and I while I was skimming through for cleaning tips I came upon an Order of Clean List. Who would have thought to make this thing? Martha Stewart probably. As I was reading I wondered why I had never done things in order like this before so I thought I would share this with you if you do a fall cleaning.

The Order of Clean

from  Country Living Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life

1. Remove anything that doesn't belong in the room

2. Put away objects that belong in the room but are out of place. Hang up clothes, return books to shelves, put away toys and crafts.

3. Gather up rugs, slipcovers, throws, table clothes, and anything else in the room that needs washing. Get a load of laundry going.

4. Start at the top. Dust overhead lighting fixture, ceiling fans, coffers and open beams, drapery rods and cornices.

5. Unless they are too heavy to handle, take art work, mirrors, pictures, and other ornaments off the walls. Put them in the center of the room .

6. Dust the window frames, door frames, and doors.

7. Dust the wall from the top to bottom. Hint: I've heard that you can use a Swiffer dry mop (like what you use on wood floors) with a dust cloth and wipe down the walls super fast.

8. By this time, your load of wash should be done. Transfer it to the dryer.

9. Return mirrors and pictures to the wall, dusting each one as you hang them up.

10. Dust the furniture, lamps, counter tops, and electronics in the room.

11. Pick one thing to do in the room that isn't absolutely necessary, such as straightening

drawers, washing the windows, or sorting through an old stack of magazines.

12. Dust the base boards

13. Vacuum upholstered furniture.

14. Vacuum the floor.

15. Open a widow to air out the room

16. Finish the room's laundry and return anything that's dry to the room.

17. Close the window and leave the door open.

Its a lot of work to do all this but it just makes the house feel so nice and refreshed. Happy Cleaning everyone!