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A Real Mom's Declutter/House Cleaning Challenge!!!

post #1 of 48
9/30/04 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
I keep reading about people decluttering, or deep cleaning their house. I want a clean house, too, but w/ a toddler it seems impossible. I have also had morning sickness for 5 months, and it's just now going away (at 22 weeks UGH!). Needless to say, my house is a MESS!!! I read the Flylady website, and a few others. I don't think they will work for me, so I took the ideas I got, and made my own plan. I work at home, and have a toddler, and am PG (and tired :P ). The only commitment I made was to do *something* everyday! I am starting w/ my kitchen, the room that bothers me the most. It is very small, so I have to organize, and downsize quite a bit. My goal is to be done by Sunday! Here is my list of things to do:

Clean cabinet fronts
Clean out top, bottom, and oak cabinets
Clean ref., stove, and dishwasher (including underneath, behind, on top, ect.!)
Wash food splatters off all walls
Clean floor by hand
Vaccuum all crevices, and inside vents
Wash windows, and window coverings
Polish all oak surfaces

I started on Sunday, and here is a list of what I have accomplished every day so far:

Sunday: Cleaned most of stove (everything except the drawer and beneath)
Monday: Finished stove, and did cabinet fronts
Tuesday: Dishwasher, and outside, under, and shelves of fridge (had a spill, so had to do even MORE, rewash fronts of some cabinets, fridge, and dishwasher )
Wednesday: The inside door of fridge, and part of freezer
Thursday: All upper cabinets washed, and re-organzied (got rid of some stuff), Oak cabinet cleaned out, too!


Okay, so I have worked 2 days on my fridge, and it's still not done My toddler has enjoyed eating all kinds of stuff, and I have gotten rid of alot of stuff (well, have it ready to get rid of. I hope to get most of the rest done tomorrow, and Saturday finish up!

Would anyone like to join me in cleaning up/decluttering? If you would, just make up your To Do list, and tell us how you are doing!
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post #2 of 48
9/30/04 at 8:06pm
Count me in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just found out yesterday baby #3 may be early. So much to still do! What to start with.......my room!
Today: Finish and put away all laundry! Start packing for hospital
Friday: Pack one box/bag of give away; everything else off the floor; finish packing for hospital
Saturday: Clean off desk and dresser
Sunday: Sweep and mop floor

That's all I'm planning for now. Don't know if baby will come before that.

Free Thinker....congrats on what you have accomplished! I will keep yoiu posted on what I get done! Don't forget to rest too!
post #3 of 48
9/30/04 at 8:13pm
I'm in...
OK...sometime tonight I will:
1)clean bathroom thoroughly and throw away 1/2 used bottles of whatever I haven't used in a year...
2)Pack up 1/2 my books and take them to attick
3)organize and clean computer area
Tomorrow I will...
1)dust and vaccume living room(couch and chairs too!)
2)find 20 things (anything) to throw away
3)dust toddler's room...
Somebody, please chastise me in some way if none of this gets done!
post #4 of 48
9/30/04 at 8:32pm
We can do it ladies..........................................if I ever get off of the computer!
post #5 of 48
9/30/04 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
Wow, Kelly! You sound ambitious for one night Maybe if you get it all done you can *reward* yourself (with something like ice cream or popcorn!)
post #6 of 48
9/30/04 at 9:33pm
That's what I was thinking too! Yeah.....Kelly.........reward me too!
I haven't dano anything on my list but I am scrubbing the tub and cleaning the upstairs bathroom. Can anyone say nesting?
post #7 of 48
10/1/04 at 2:20am
What a great thread! I too am working on decluttering. I'm planning a garage sale for Saturday. Getting rid of LOTS of kid's toys and clothes and craft things. So next week, I can start the deep cleaning of the house. Everyone be sure to post updates for me to keep me motivated. And lists too, so I have ideas of what to do exactly.
post #8 of 48
10/1/04 at 4:05am
Ok..........working on laundry and almost finished scrubbing bathroom. I'm slow moving like a turtle! Problem? It is 204AM and I can't sleep..................I just keep cleaning!
post #9 of 48
10/1/04 at 12:19pm
I have tidied most of my house except for the office (a constant project) and the downstairs bedroom. The BR seems to be the landing place for everything that I take out of other rooms, but I do go through it so it doesn't get worse, it just stays the same. Right now my nightmare I need to go through is all this fabric and patterns I bought and haven't touched for over 4 years. My style has changed and I'm now a nursing mom so 90% of the stuff I was going to make won't work. I would like to go through it outfit by outfit and decide if I'm still interested in making anything, but then I wonder when I'll ever have time to sew. So I'm kind of stuck at the moment.

The thing I love (and use most) from Flylady is Babysteps, Babysteps. You can only take little steps and you're not going to change your life overnight. She has a lot of great ideas - control journal, etc. - but you don't have to implement them all at once, just when and if you decide they would be useful to you. Right now I'm contemplating getting her calendar, but I need to come up with the $$ first. I think it would save me a whole lot of frustration, so I need to just do it.
post #10 of 48
10/1/04 at 2:18pm
I need to join. I will report back when I complish something!!!
post #11 of 48
10/2/04 at 12:54am
How is everyone doing? Come on mommies.........you can do it! I am proud of all of you. Visit and post your accomplishments.......no matter how little......they count!

Oh, almost done with all of my laundry. Got all cdiaps washes so I can pack them for the hospital.
post #12 of 48
10/2/04 at 9:08am

We all could use

http://www.flylady.net

Flylady is the best! She sends you missions, and reminds us all to take "baby steps".
post #13 of 48
10/4/04 at 3:56pm
Update...!!!!
OK...I accomplished almost everything on the list.
Didn't dust the babie's room, but I cleaned some other things that were simple filthier.
I actually washed the baseboards! And I hadn't even noticed before that they were dirty!(I thought they were painted peachy-grey...We've only lived here a few months...I think there might be mold or something in the house?). Then I noticed the dust on the doors, and then the cobwebs in the corners.
Weird how easy it is to ignore those things till you're in the right frame of mind to deal with them.
I had a little extra motivation, though...Sunday (yesterday) was the baby's first B'day party, so I knew the ILs were coming over.
So...now I need to go through the "junk drawers"...
*shudder*
It's so hard to figure out if it's OK to throw something away when you're not quite sure what it actually is to begin with....
How's every one else coming along?
post #14 of 48
10/4/04 at 7:42pm
Thread Starter 
It looks like some of us are getting some things done! I fell behind b/c I had MS come back Thrusday and Friday. I did accomplish alot this weekend, though! I finished cleaning out all cabinets, polished all the oak except the table, and washed down all the walls!!! Still on my To Do list for the kitchen:

Clean/Polish table and chairs
Wash all windows and screen doors
vaccuum out crevices and vents
Clean the floors

Not bad! This is only Monday, so I'm hoping to be done w/ this all by Wednesday! Wish me luck!!! I am working really hard on keeping the kitchen clean, too. I also am getting caught up on laundry, and I've had to keep the rest of the house picked up, just not deep cleaned

Let's keep ourselves motivated!!!!!!

And a quick question Should my next project be the living room (next to kitchen, but decluttered for the most part, needs deep cleaning, ect, but not as big a project) or the bathroom (needs lots of re-organization, but isn't really that dirty, just cluttered up, and is really small, so it wouldn't take long to deep clean). I'm not sure if I should go in a particular order in the house, or attack the most cluttered places first? Do I need to give myself a week to recover, or just keep attacking everything?
post #15 of 48
10/4/04 at 8:09pm
hey, can I get in on this? I have got to do SOMETHING about the clutter that is overtaking my house. It just never stops. I get Flylady's emails and love to read them, but it rarely translates to DOING them. I don't have time to post more right now, but later tonight or tomorrow I'm going to post a list of what I want to accomplish this week. This is a great idea!
post #16 of 48
10/4/04 at 8:16pm
I'd say keep on keepin' on while the inclination is there...
I'd suggest getting the bathroom first, since there's something uniquely satisfying about having a really, really clean bathroom...
BTW...
You can wash walls??? OMG!!! What do you use?
Also, I saw a PBS special once where there was this guy that showed how to make all these natural cleaning solutions with stuff like vinegar and baking soda...
Does anyone know the recipies for any of those?
post #17 of 48
10/5/04 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 
I use Shaklee products for 90% of my cleaning. I used Basic G on a rag to wash down all the walls in the kitchen. This kid likes to throw food sometimes, and they just get dingy looking if you don't wash them down once or twice a year. I don't have all the recipies for the vinager washes, but I do put straight baking soda on the cabinet, then spray on white vinegar and watch it bubble.
post #18 of 48
10/5/04 at 2:34pm
I still haven't done anything! We're taking this week of from "school" type stuff, so I should have tons of time, but it's just not working out that way. Here's what I had hoped to accomplish this week:

Clean out front hall closet (years of accumulated outgrown shoes, sports equipment, coats, etc. literally stacked several feet high)

Clean out downstairs storage closet (overflowing with bulky toys that I don't want sitting out all the time, luggage, 2 vacuums, etc.)

Catch up on ALL laundry, including towels and bed linens

I'm sure there's more but I doubt I'll be able to even get to that this week.
post #19 of 48
10/5/04 at 6:26pm
Thread Starter 
Deb, it's great that you have at least made up a list That counts Maybe you should just stick w/ one item this week, to see how much you can get done, since you are having a hard time getting started Will have worked on my kitchen about 2 weeks by the time I get it all done. I had to clean out cabinets, drawers, ect. and it just takes a while (not to mention you have to have a place to get rid of all this junk at, and actually haul it there :LOL ). Could your girls take a study week to manage their/your time better? I think we could all learn how to better manage our time! What a great lesson! I wish I could do a better job at that.

Oh, and I picked my kitchen b/c it is the place in the house that stays the messiest. I am hoping that by getting it completely cleaned, that it will help me to stay on top of the dishes better, and just keep it in better shape.

Good Luck! BTW, I am working on my windows today, so hopefully I will be done w/ that, and working on the finishing touches tomorrow (the floor!)
post #20 of 48
10/5/04 at 7:44pm
TwinMom...
In my city you can call the local charity thrift store and they'll come out to your house and pick up your donations...
If that's an option in your area, maybe you could call them in advance and tell them to come out, say, Friday or Monday to pick up a load. That will force you to deal with it by then, or face the consequences of having to call them to postpone it...???
Free thinker..
So you didn't wash all the walls in your whole house?
I was about to start feeling very, very inept at housekeeping...
Edited to add: What do you guys use to clean in your ovens?
I've never actually cleaned in a oven before...lol...but I think it's about time...I'm thinking about using Simple Green...
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