Days 9 & 10-Spring clean your bedrooms

Days 9 & 10 : Bedrooms-Do this to all of them.

Take down any cobwebs-use a Webster or a broom with a rag on the end. Wash or dust light fixtures. Wash down walls-wipe outlets & light switches and baseboards. 10 minutes

Clean the blinds, wash curtains, wash windows, clean out window tracks and sills 10-30 minutes.

Dust & wipe down furniture (pull out and dust shelves and books of bookshelves) pull out drawers and clean the drawer rollers, go through drawers and take out stuff that doesn’t fit or you don’t like and fold and put away neatly.  Move all furniture and vacuum and steam clean under it (take the crevice tool of your vacuum and run it along the edge of the baseboards, wipe down baseboards.30-60 minutes

Declutter rest of the room besides the closet (shelves, nighttables, etc).  Then attack the closet, go through and take out anything that doesn’t fit (try it on), you don’t love, etc.  make a list of pieces you need to keep an eye out for. Clean that shelf above the clothing, wipe down & dust the closet, declutter everything else you store in your closet. Go through your shoes, belts, accessories, etc.  Everything else turn around  the hanger of. When you wear it, turn the hangers back around. Anything still backwards after a year, donate. 40-100 minutes.

In the kids’ room, see what you have of the next size and if they need to switch over to the next biggest size do it now. If they have some time, note what they have and what you need to keep a look out for on sale or at garage sales or online.  25-50 minutes

Declutter anything hiding under the bed.  Flip the mattress, change the sheets, wash the pillows and throw them in the dryer with a tennis ball or if they are flat, get new ones. 10-30 minutes.

Vacuum the rest of carpet and steam clean or schedule steam cleaning for it. 10-30 minutes.

Day 8-Formal living room

Day 8: Formal living room or living room without kids’ stuff (see playroom clean out for kid’s stuff)

Take down any cobwebs-use a Webster or a broom with a rag on the end. Wash down walls-wipe outlets & light switches and baseboards. 10 minutes

Clean the blinds, wash curtains, wash windows, clean out window tracks and sills 10-30 minutes.

Dust & wipe down furniture (pull out and dust shelves and books of bookshelves) and fireplace and mantle (clean out fireplace if necessary or schedule someone to come do it for you). If you can steam or spot clean upholstery or schedule to have it cleaned with carpets. Declutter as you go. 30-60 minutes

Vacuum the carpet and steam clean or schedule steam cleaning for it. 10-30 minutes.

Day 7-Laundry & Entry

Day 7: Laundry room and entry way

First, get your duster ready.  Laundry rooms can be notoriously dusty. Start at the top by running a duster over the fan or if it’s easy to take down wash it.  Dust/wash the light fixtures, dust/wash shelving and declutter the shelf stuff, I got rid of about ½ a bin of stuff! 10-15 minutes.

Then wipe down your machines and the floor in front of them.  Pull the machines out and wash the walls behind as well as the floor and sides of machines.  Put away any treasures you find (you know there’s SOMETHING you’ve been missing back there!) Pull out the dryer vent and vacuum it out.  This is a great way to prevent your house from catching on fire!  Reattach and replug in appliances if necessary.  10-15 minutes.

If you have a window in your laundry room clean the blinds, window, sill, window track etc. as we have been doing. Wash any curtains.  5-15 minutes.

Wash down any cabinetry, wash out any waste bins or laundry bins.  Check your supplies of stain remover, soap, etc. Sweep and washdown the floor, take out the trash.  10 minutes.

Move on to the entry way.  Wash down any walls, pull down any cob webs, wash any light fixtures (we have a very tall entry way, so this requires a ladder).  While you are up there replace any bulbs that need replacing.  Evaluate any artwork or décor. Dust any furniture and declutter any drawers or drop off bins. 10-25 minutes

The front closet or coat hanger.  Go through your coats, be merciless. Make sure each member has a raincoat and winter coat and anything else is up for decluttering.  This time of year you’ll also go through gloves, snow pants, etc. etc.  So declutter the closet, then wipe it down, including the floor and figure out what needs to go back in and the best way to do that.  My favorite way to organize the front closet is coats by family member (smallest on left, largest on right) and an over the door organizer. I shove hats mittens,  gloves, etc in one for winter. In the summer it changes to sunglasses, sunscreen, sunhats, etc.  I also have a bin for things that don’t fit in the closet organizer like snowpants and for umbrellas. Our boots and shoes are kept in a basket by the door (we have a VERY tiny front closet) Go through shoes and boots making sure they are size and season appropriate.  If you have room consider having a drop off spot for keys, cell and wallet so you always know where they are and/or a box for stuff that needs to leave your house-library books, that thing you borrowed from your neighbor, etc. 15 minutes -2 hours

Wash down the floors, door and any windows (don’t forget the blinds) and it’s beautiful and welcoming. 15 minutes-45 minutes.

Day 6 of spring cleaning-Bathrooms

Day 6: Bathrooms

Do this for all ¾ and full bathrooms you have, I’ll do the ½ bath & laundry room tomorrow.

Start by throwing some toilet cleaner in the toilet and letting it go. If you use a product like Scrubbing Bubbles spray down the tub.  Start up high, wash the walls-especially the often neglected little edge of the top of the shower, it’s usually pretty dusty up there. Dust/ wash the light fixtures, wash or dust the overhead fan. 8 minutes

Take down the shower curtain, throw away the nasty liner and replace it (they are as cheap as $2 each at the store) and send your outside curtain through a wash cycle.  If your liner looks pretty good (the one in the bathroom the kids only take baths in did) you can put it with the shower curtains in a gentle cycle. Anything more than that and it will be ripped to shreds especially if you have a top loading washing machine.  5 minutes

Scrub the tub, Magic Eraser is amazing on soap scum but can take some elbow grease. I only used vinegar and an eraser on my tub, I pretty much destroyed the eraser, but the tub looks amazing!  Take out all beauty products and wash them down to take off soap, etc. and wash down any product holders.  I have a tension rod for the corner and one shelf had some light rust, the eraser got rid of it. For serious rust, take it outside, spray paint it with something that covers metal like Rustoleum and you can get another few months out of it before you need to replace it. If you have little ones, go through the bathtoys. Anything that’s gross or they’re too old for, get rid of, sanitize the rest in a diluted bleach solution. Replace any batteries in any toys that take them.  10-20 minutes.

Tackle that toilet.  You may need to take the toilet seat completely off the bolts to really get in there, lots of the scent is due to urine hiding in spots like the seat bolts-esp if you have boys in your house. Wash it all down, maybe even see if there’s some easy clean up in the tank.  I’m in love with those bleach tablets you drop in the tank. I have heard that they are hard on the plumbing inside your tank but I love how they extend that clean toilet look.  If you have some harder staining, you may need a pumice stick to scrub them out of the toilet.  Use a toothbrush especially around the base where it meets the floor and the bolts that keep the toilet attached to the floor.  10 minutes

Now that the yuckiest parts are done, let’s wash down the mirror and the countertops, as you wash down the countertops (use a toothbrush around the fixtures and edge of the sink) declutter what is on the counter.  A clean counter is a peaceful counter so only keep things you use every day that would spill if they were in a drawer and some soap if possible. 10 minutes

Wash the outside of the cabinet or the pedestal of your sink.  Take everything out of the medicine cabinet and under the sink.  Scrub it out and declutter-get rid of expired meds (which probably shouldn’t be stored in the bathroom anyways-it’s too hot and humid in there), go through your nail polish (I tried on a few colors that were similar and only kept my favorites, your makeup (threw out old eye makeup and gave myself permission to pick up some new at the store!) etc. etc.  Any product you tried and hate get rid of.  If you have trial sizes either keep them together for travel, plan to use them at home or give them to a homeless shelter, they are a pain to store.  Make sure there’s extra TP in the bathroom and note any supplies you have an abundance of or lack of and keep them in mind for your next shopping trip. Put everything back under, neatly.15-30 minutes

If you have a window, wash any curtain, wash the blinds (see kitchen for how to do this) wash the window and the window track, wash your towel rack down and the toilet paper holder down, wash down the door inside and out and any full-length mirror that may be on it. Put any laundry in the hamper if you have a scale, wipe it down. Soak & wash the wastebasket, replace the liner. 5-15 minutes

Hang fresh towels then scrub the floor using regular cleaner working from away from the door towards the door. Do it by hand and also catch the outside of the tub if you only washed the inside of the tub and shower earlier.  Plan to take a bath to relax and admire your clean bathroom this evening. 5 minutes.