When there's nothing left to do...

[velochic]

Let's say your house is clean as a whistle. You've decluttered everything that needs to be. You've deep cleaned from attic to basement. Your house is just *clean* and *uncluttered*. What might be other areas that you haven't thought about that need some attention?

[candycat]

Yourself.

Go take a long bath or something. Or have a muffin. Or read a book. Or whatever. RELAX. If the house is perfect, GOOD! Enjoy it. Then later on when it gets messy again or needs cleaning, THEN you can worry about doing the upkeep.

[crunchy_mommy]

Although I agree with candycat, I can think of a few places that could've been missed:

-the yard
-the cars
-shed
-storage unit
-computer (organize files, discard unneeded ones, defrag, etc.)
-family photos

...yeah that's about all I can come up with. If your house is perfect though, why not relax & enjoy it? Declutter your mind!!

[bcblondie]

Look up. Most people don't look up. Chances are you have exposed pipes or wires in your unfinished laundry room collecting 20 years worth of dust.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by bcblondie

Look up. Most people don't look up. Chances are you have exposed pipes or wires in your unfinished laundry room collecting 20 years worth of dust.

Good one. I hadn't thought of that.

Of course, not everything is "perfect". I could always repaint or do some such thing. Just thinking of some deep cleaning I may have not thought of doing.

[bcblondie]

Yeah I cleaned these at my MIL's houes. That's why I thought of it. lol.

Also you could get all your air vents cleaned. I forget what that's called. My son's allergist recommended it. I think it costs like 300 bucks?

[larablue]

When you have done all of the suggestions above, look at your relationships.
Are there any so-called friends you don´t really like anymore?

Go through your adresses and really think about it.
Do you want to write letters to good friends and close family?

Do you need to let go of adresses of former friends?

When everything is done (or maybe even earlier), try learning something new: A language, singing, silk painting, whatever floats your boat :-).

[zoebird]

have the house inspected. see what the inspector finds that can be small fixes now, rather than waiting for a pipe to burst, or the roof to leak, or what have you.

i agree also with having the vents cleaned. it can be expensive depending upon the size of your house. we used a company where the 'first vent" which was the first direction of was $100. after that--and we had two "turns"--it was another $100 per "turn." so, it cost us $300, but it cost my parents much more because their house was much, much larger (ours was less than 1300, theirs was about 3200 sq ft). so, that depends upon the size of the house.

definitely clean and organize the computer! make sure virus protection and everything is up to date, and any programs that you don't use, take them off the computer so they don't take up space, and make back ups of what you have, but don't need immediately (eg, financial records from 5-7 years ago).

after that, definitely do the internal work.

[DTmama1]

I would vote for heading outside. Make it a place that you love to spend time as well. Do you want some raised beds for next spring, to put some trees in, anything like that? Things are cheap right now since its heading towards winter.

[sunnysandiegan]

I agree with everything stated already, but I sense you are looking for ideas on places you may have missed.

Here's my two cents with that in mind:
~ ceilings (edges, corners, fans) / tops of cabinets / bookcases / anything up high
~ baseboards / behind toilets / cabinets / anything down low
~ front door / porch / walkway
~ dryer vent (in the dryer, sure, but also the one that goes through the wall to the outside)
~ inside closets, especially the ones not used frequently
~ lampshades
~ banisters
~ shed / garage / basement / attic
~ windows / sliding doors / screens
~ plants (washing their leaves, topping off soil, cleaning outsides of pots)
~ corkboards / message boards
~ outside of fridge (all four sides plus top and bottom, if it is accessible)
~ blinds/curtains
~ computers (all those cables get DUSTY; towers open up and WHOA MAMA )
~ under beds
~ inside cabinets, especially the ones by themselves and/or outside the kitchen (look up underneath all sinks, too)
~ behind doors, especially if your house is an "open door" type house
~ telephones / keyboards / wall switch plates / door knobs
~ microwave / toaster / toaster oven / other small appliances (wash all pieces - trays & racks - and clean the inside 5 surfaces + door inside and out + outside 5 surfaces)

Projects:
~ photographs
~ magazines
~ mementos
~ emergency preparedness

Here's one of my faves:
Go outside your house with a clipboard and pen. Walk up to the house pretending you are a potential buyer or real estate agent or appraiser (you get the idea). Jot down any and every little detail you notice with your "new persona" that could use a little tweak. Come on inside and do the same thing in each room. Be sure to hit the backyard and all the little annexes to your home. I have a nice little list of small details to attend to over time along with a few doozies.

Hope this helps...

[Usually Curious]

come to my house.

[velochic]

Great ideas! Thank you all so much.

[proudmomof4]

Count your blessings!

[bcblondie]

I dunno how many people do this. So maybe in your deep cleaning it's been done. But bust off a few keyboard letters and see what's underneath. If you have pets it's probably pretty gross.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by bcblondie

I dunno how many people do this. So maybe in your deep cleaning it's been done. But bust off a few keyboard letters and see what's underneath. If you have pets it's probably pretty gross.

No pets. I have very, very severe allergies. The computer is clean.

Some things that I did this weekend, all thanks to suggestions from you lovely ladies:

lampshades
plant leaves
oven - I hadn't cleaned my oven for a while!
went through old shoes

Such great ideas! I have written it all down.

[shelley4]

freezer and pantry.. discard any old/out of date food, make a complete inventory of your freezer and pantry... so much easier to pull together a quick meal when you know what you have

clean your gutters

... take a nap?

[bcblondie]

Oh man. I need to defrost my freezer so bad.

[sunnysandiegan]

Great job Velochic!

We tackled our pantry and fridge today in honor of school starting tomorrow. All sides of the fridge and pantry were scrubbed and everything inside removed and wiped down. Whew! What a job! Looks super fantastic now...

[Devaskyla]

I didn't see anyone mention cleaning your shower head & your sink aerators.

[Malva]

Originally Posted by Devaskyla

I didn't see anyone mention cleaning your shower head & your sink aerators.

That's funny, it didn't come to mind yet it's the first thing I've always done when moving in a new space.

You could also clean out your emails and bookmarks.