Checklists Anyone!?!

UGH! I sometimes detest doing certain jobs...mostly because some jobs are dirty!

Cleaning is one such icky.

However, there are lots of great blogs and lists available to help you organize this particular part of your life. Some of them can help you achieve the kind of transformation I found on the web shown below.















Here are a few of my favorite:

www.cleanmama.net

www.aslobcomesclean.com

happycleaning.blogspot.com

Each of these ladies shares her tried and true methods and even a few funnies along the way.

As far as my checklist for you is concerned:

1. Pick some cleaning supplies that you really like. Don't go overboard getting 15 different things, get multipurpose items that you are going to use. The more things you have when you open the cabinet, the less likely you are to do your cleaning.

2. Make a small cleaning caddy and put it in each bathroom, laundry area, kitchen area, etc of your house. If you have to walk all the way to another end or another floor of your house to get things done, you are less likely to do it. (You know I'm telling the truth...)

3. Make it as brainless as possible. For example, if you don't like to clean the shower, put a command hook in there and hang up a bottle of your shower cleaner. Once you are clean, spray down the shower and go on with your life. You've gotten some cleaning done at the same time you did your Olympic stretch to get that little spot beside your ankle.

4. Don't tackle the whole house all at once. You are not going to clean the whole house in one day. It's just not going to happen. (Face the facts.) However, you may get one bathroom done and the hallway vacuumed and your bed made! Make each day's goals reasonable. Rotate the big things. For example, make one room the major focus for a month, on week 1 do the base boards, on week 2 do the molding, on week 3 do the heavy dusting and furniture rearranging, on week 4 do the "goodwill cleanout" as you keep doing that your home will continue to get better and better and you will not feel overwhelmed in the process.

Enjoy your home and find a way to enjoy cleaning it!!!

As a side note, let me just say that today's Memphis Tigers game versus St. Mary's was one for the record books! I prefer my wins a little more clear, but they managed to eek that one out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Go Tigers!

Simple Solution Sunday

Sometimes the only thing that prevents us from doing something is that we're not totally sure how to finish it. For example, today's simple solution is one such issue.

I have been wanting to clean out my linen closet for quite a long time. However, my biggest issue was finding somewhere for all the rejected linens to go! So, today's simple solution is more of a "duh" than an "oh cool".

With the help of my husband and a matter of about 1 hour we cleaned out the linen closet. First things first, I spread linens put in the hallway and the bathroom so that we had a good view of what linens we had. Then we selected what we wanted to keep and put it away, including putting king size sheets in our bed trunk in our bedroom and making Annie's bed. Finally I bagged up items to donate. As you can see from the after picture, I apologize for no before picture, the closet is tidy with room to spare, two giant bags are being donated and several lives will hopefully be positively effected by it.

This is my simple solution. When it is time to clean out closets, look around your city or your neighborhood and find an organization to donate the items to. If all else fails, take them to your local Goodwill. Their website, www.goodwill.com has some useful info on evaluating your items for donation. I highly recommend looking first at your church, school or work and supporting the efforts of others in your immediate circles, but if you don't know of such efforts, donation is an excellent next choice.

Love!