2012 Spring Cleaning

It is that time of year...SPRING CLEANING!

I'm not a big clean top to bottom every spring kind of gal. I use to clean like that at least once a month then life got in the way. Now I have no time for that. I can keep things tidy and clean but just don't open the drawers or closets. I just have too much stuff. I have been purging here and there but I still do not have a place for everything and everything does not have a place. It will happen.

Anyway, back to spring cleaning. My goal is to deep clean each room over the next four weeks. I will not be doing this to the bedrooms though. I am just not up for that. I will shampoo the carpets but that is about as far as it is going to go, I think.

I am starting in the living room and dining room. They go hand and hand because they are really the same room. I used to not like this, and I do dream of a large dining room one day, but I have grown to like it. It
keeps everyone together. It is nice. Anyway, I will start tomorrow and plan to finish over the course of a week. We will see.

Missy

Purging My Closet

My closet has been over run by clothes and junk! OK, mostly clothes. Michael is in the process of losing weight so he has a full range of clothes. As he loses weight, I have been donating his too big clothes to Goodwill. I usually freecycle, but being overweight myself I know how hard it is to find big clothes at a resale shop. I figure my little donation will make some man smile when he is able to find something that fits and not have to spend major bucks.

My side of the closet is not any better, but my problem is I just started my weight loss journey so my full range of clothes have been there for a long time. Well, I decided enough is enough. I went through them and got rid of alot of clothes as you can see from the empty hangers.

I kept the clothes that fit right now, and a couple shirts, skirts, jeans, and capris that are a little snug.

When I hung the clothes back up I turned the hangers backwards like this.

As I wear something I will hang it up normal and hopefully be able to give it away over the next year as I lose weight. Never the less, this time next year I will give away all the clothing that is still hanging backwards.

I figure that I needed some sort of system and I believe this will work best for me.

Do you like to hang on to your old clothes?

**I am linking up to A Slop Comes Clean Extreme Decluttering post.

Spring Cleaning-Bathroom Cabinets

Before

After

Before

After

OK, my spring cleaning has actually turned into spring organizing. My time is so limited right now (who's isn't), so I decided to concentrate on getting rid of some of the clutter instead of heavy duty cleaning. I finally got back to reorganizing the bathroom cabinet that I was going to start a couple weeks ago. Looking at the pictures you wouldn't know, but I actually put more stuff in the cabinets then what was in there originally. It is just in order now. And yes, I did know what was in there. ;o)

Spring Cleaning - Coat Closet

A couple years ago Michael built shelves in the coat closet because we really needed the storage space. It is really nice having a spot for our library, church, school, and sport bags. Well, it is really nice until winter comes. It then turns back into a coat closet, and all the bags end up back in a corner of the livingroom. Hhmmm, I think I will invest in a coat rack next year and see how that works out.

Anyway, last week I moved the coats out and put the shelves back in. Well, wouldn't you know we had a cold front come through! I had no idea we were suppose to get a cold front on the first day of spring, and of course I didn't remember where I had put our coats. That was last week! We never found DJs, but I'm sure we will find it after the cool weather passes. That is usually how it works around here.

Spring Cleaning -Garage, Part 1

The garage has been a burden for me. It started when we moved out of our four bedroom house with large closets, and long story short, now live in our current house with three bedrooms and small closets. Not sure how that happened, I think I stopped thinking when I saw the huge backyard and started imagining the gatherings we would have there. Not only are we short one bedroom now, the extra room is now a school room and Michael's office. (Michael does a lot of work out of the house)

This wasn't really a big deal when we first moved in, because I had every intention of going through things and getting rid of the junk, but then allergies kicked in. I never had a major problem with allergies until we moved into this house. Michael offered to go through the boxes himself, but no way was that going to happen! he would chunk them! He hates clutter, so I think we consciously decided to avoid the whole garage issue to avoid one of us having to actually sleep in it!

Anyway, my goal for the day was to clear out a couple boxes, but the neighbor kids came out to play so DJ was occupied, and the weather was nice so I decided to tackle it head on. I cleared out many boxes, threw away a bunch of stuff, and packed up more to take to the local charity. I didn't finish because my five year old niece came over, and I was helpless at trying to be productive and entertain her at the same time. She did go home this morning so I will try tackling it again tomorrow.

Homemade Window Cleaner

Today has started out to be a beautiful day, but I really do not want to be outdoors. Because of this, I decided to clean the inside of my windows. This was a nice compromise. I enjoyed the morning sunshine but didn't have to be in it. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I made and used a homemade window cleaner for the first time today. I mixed 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar, and 1/4 cup of water. I tried cleaning the windows using newspaper and the homemade cleaner, but it left streaks so I ended up using paper towels. Yes I know, not very 'green' of me but I do have clean windows on the inside! ;o)

Slow Start With The Spring Cleaning

I really need storage space for my stockpile of food and toiletries, so I figured my first job would be to reorganize my cabinets and pantry. Between teaching DJ's homeschool classes and having to finish my own homework for my evening class, I only had a hour of free time to do this. I could do it!

As I gathered the items I knew I was going to put in the bathroom cabinet, DJ needed help with a school assignment. No biggy. Back to task, I started to clear out the cabinet. Then I discovered a puddle! As I was cleaning it up I was hoping it was spilt cleaner, but no such luck. It was water from a leaking pipe. Then DJ needed more help. Teaching is my number one day job so no complaints here. I still had time to clear out the other bathroom cabinet, but then my husband called to inform me I was suppose to vote today. What?! I thought it was still early voting! So, needless to say, I scratched the whole spring cleaning gig for the day and went off to vote!

Do You Spring Clean?

March is here and it's time for me to get my spring cleaning on. I'm not much of a 'clean every nook and cranny every spring' spring cleaner, but the sun is shining and the breeze is just right so I'm ready to open the windows and get that fresh feeling inside! I have been cooped up way too long!

I will be listing my accomplishments to keep me on task and motivated. Let me know if you care to join me in spring cleaning. We can keep each other going!