Of course since I decided we should do Spring Cleaning, I made a nice, detailed list of what to do in each room. Unfortunately, even though we've tackled most items in most rooms, with two pets and a pair of muddy boots, the house doesn't stay super clean for very long. Especially the living room. Here's the only before/after photos from inside the house. It's just too gross to show. Before: And after! Just know that until all of the dust/fur accumulates again, every spot in the house looks like this:PS- we have no carpet. Supposedly it's good for allergies, but it's really not good for people with animals. I can only imagine trying to keep this place clean with a baby crawling around on the floors. Gross!

Bean made a HUGE contribution to Spring Cleaning. The garage had boxes and junk in it from when we moved in- over 2 years ago. Then when his company started a branch here, lots of extra work junk got tossed into the mix. Here are a few before pictures:

Read More

...is well underway.

We are getting back to the basics- getting rid of the multiple 'junk' drawers, cleaning out the closet, and moving all of the furniture to do a 3-step clean on the floors. First, I sweep up the major dust bunnies/pet hair, then I vaccum to make sure I got all the dirt, then I use our steam mop to make sure it's spotless.

Last Friday I did our bedroom and bath. There was over half a trash-bag full of junk to throw away! I even got all of the pet hair off of our blinds.

Last Saturday I did our living room, which included ordering a new ottoman/coffee table storage thing to hide some of our stuff, and also included the entryway and stairs. And those junk drawers. I even washed and ironed the curtains.

Today I tackled the kitchen- including cabinets, powder bath, and dining room. It's really amazing how quickly pet hair accumulates in a place with no carpet, especially since all of our furniture has legs that the air can just flow around and carry the hair with it.

I don't know now long the cleanliness will last until we have to do it again, but it feels really good knowing it's been done. Next week I'll get to the upstairs. My goal is to have it done before I go to Houston for Liz's Wedding.

Read More

The first week of Operation: Clean House went excellent. It felt really good to take care of the daily things. I could feel my stress level drop. I was much more fun to be around.

This is Week 2. We added on the once-a-week chores on top of the daily chores. Monday, I came home from a 12 hour day and we happily swept and vacummed the downstairs, cooked dinner, ate and cleaned the kitchen. Tuesday, I came home from another 12 hour workday, and I happily cleaned all 3 toilets while Bean cleaned the sinks and shower downstairs.

That's right, he cleaned the shower a day early!

Wednesday was not as good. We didn't do anything. I don't know why.

Thursday, Bean did take out (some) of the trash. I did not move the recycling to the big bin because it was raining. But he did teach me how to do his billing for work so I can help relieve some of his stress.

Today, I swept/vacummed upstairs, straightened up the office and took out the trash from up here. I have confidence that we can stay on top of this cleaning issue. Except for the pan we left in the sink last night and the shirt that was left on a table downstairs. Why is there a shirt on a table downstairs?!

I guess it's a work in progress, and we did pretty well so far, so I won't sweat the small stuff.

Last weekend we also made some improvements to the house including 2 large pieces of artwork and a new table for the entryway. I am so excited to come home at the end of the day now because it's now a place to relax, not a place to stress out about cleaning to be done.

Except for the garage... now that's a different story.

Read More

So Bean and I are working through some things right now, one of them being keeping this house clean. I don't know what his experience was growing up, but we had June, a lady who came to our house every 2 weeks and cleaned everything. The bathrooms, mopped the floors, changed the sheets, vaccumed, cleaned the kitchen...everything you can think of, June cleaned it. I used to love coming home after June was there because the house smelled deliciously Pine-Sol-y and was spotless.

June and my Granny were the best of friends. Everytime Granny came to visit, she and June would clean together and smoke cigarettes on the back porch. Granny LOVED to do laundry. I really think she lived for it. She would ask me if I had anything else to wash in the one or two loads she managed to come up with every single day. She was good at it.

As a result of this, I never learned how to clean. I never had chores. My dad had a certain way of cleaning the kitchen after Connie cooked, so we never cleaned up. At some point, Connie told Dad that we didn't need June to come clean the house, that she would take care of it. I still didn't have to vaccum or sweep or mop, I rarely cooked, and I rarely set the table.

When I got my first apartment that didn't come with a roommate in college, I kept it fairly clean. I don't remember cleaning, but I always had the dishes done every night, and I vaccummed every now and then.

So now we have this house with no carpet and the dust and pet fur seems to collect everywhere. Somewhere in our pre-marital counseling we (I) decided that if one of us cooks (meaning when I cook) the other of us should clean (meaning Bean should clean the kitchen every night). Bean agreed to that, because his dad cooks and his mom cleans the kitchen. He probably thought he would cook most nights and I would clean. So we came to a standstill. I would cook, he wouldn't clean. He would cook, I wouldn't clean because he didn't clean last time. So which came first, the chicken or the egg? The dirty kitchen or the dishes?

Not to mention the bathrooms. The whiskers on the sink. The fact that these bathroom sinks have ugly curves that are hard to clean. The all-glass shower that never looks good. The toilets.

Then there's the laundry. Since Bean wears 2 shirts to work everyday and sweats through them from working so hard, the laundry piles up. Not to mention that I go through several pairs of workout clothes a week and sweat through them from walking 4-7 miles a day...which will only increase as the time goes by, which means the sweat will only increase. And the laundry will only increase. I dread thinking about the cloth diapers we will be washing in a couple of years!

On top of all of that, there is the junk mail that constantly comes in and covers all of our surfaces- kitchen counters, the drawers by the front door, the catalogs on the coffee table, the bills that need to be paid.

I've had enough!!

So we hashed it out. The first thing we are going to be working on in our marriage is the cleaning. We are starting from square one.

This week we are practicing the daily issues- cleaning the kitchen/doing dishes, keeping up with the laundry, and the mail. So far every night this week, the dishes have been washed and put away the day after the dishwasher is run. The kitchen counters are wiped down and look excellent before we eat dinner. Any laundry we've done has been put away the same evening, not just left on the dining room table until someone comes over. And the mail has been taken care of when it comes into the house.

Next week we will start tackling the cleaning that needs to be done, but never is. So here is our schedule:
Daily- Finish all of the aforementioned items (including all aspects of the kitchen).

Monday- Sweep/vaccum downstairs, take out the trash/recycling
Tuesday- Clean the toilets, litterboxes, and bathroom sinks
Wednesday- Clean the shower, tub, and mirrors in downstairs bathrooms
Thursday- Take out trash (if needed), move any recycling outside to big bin, pay Blake for mowing the yard :)
Friday- Sweep/vaccum upstairs, do any paperwork and filing in the office
Saturday- Wipe down surfaces/dust as needed
Sunday- NOTHING.

Monthly- Wash the couch cushions, wash/change the sheets, mop the floors

So the question is: what am I missing? Is once a month on changing the sheets gross? What is your favorite method for keeping the house clean? Any tricks or shortcuts? We can do this, right? I'm not crazy for making a schedule, right? Don't answer that. But answer the other ones, please.

Read More

Read More

I NEVER EVER thought I would say this, but given the proper tools, cleaning can be kinda fun. This is the Ergo Rapido, my little orange bullet. It's lightweight, swivels so easily, and has a detachable dust buster:

Read More