2015 Cleaning Challenge

[ejagno]

Living Room

[x] Clean Ceiling fans (2 light bulbs need replacing)
[x] Remove ashes from fireplace
[x] Electronics need cleaning
[x] Bench seats need clearing and a good vacuum
[x] Clear all of the clutter from the garage door entrance in living room
[x] Wash all 4 door drapes & replace
[x] Clean wall hangings
[ ] Clean all woodwork
[ ] Wipe down walls
[x] Hang new drape on door leading to craft room
[ ] Vacuum and mop concrete floor
[ ] Declutter, clean and organize bar cabinets, counters & shelves
[ ] Declutter, clean and organize inside bench seats
[ ] Clean windows

If my husband would remove his posterior from the recliner it would make cleaning the living room so much easier and nicer. I really detest working my tail off while someone sits and watches. Oh I did get some work done on the entrance as well. It was beautiful outside today so I cleared some stuff from the entrance.

 

[Puternut]

No need for any selling hassle or even mailing stuff,with e-bay. I have sold many things but I only use CL=craigs list, and so I sell to folks in my local area/neighborhood, they phone or e-mail me, come look and buy and take away. Easy, peasy! oh and P.S. pay cash!

 

[MinnieCo]

Things are crazy for me right now, so I'll probably be starting this, just not till mid February. I usually do it on my own anyways and will just jump in then. Good luck though everyone..I'll be here to see how you are all doing.

 

[happy2bme]

Another bad mood and negative energy got me moving this morning.

I cleaned everything in the living room!!

I just have to go through all the movies and see if there are any to get rid of.

 

[missjane]

I went through 1 1/2 of the fabric bins on the bookshelves in the living room while I was watching TV.

Mel, ugh!! I do not like going through movies...I can never seem to get rid of any. Go on with your bad self, girl!!! I thought I was the only one who was a "bad mood" cleaner.

 

[SparkleNana]

Hello, dear ones --- who are involved in our "2015 Cleaning Challenge"!!!! Our year-long adventure -- together!!! Our "suggested work area" -- for this week -- is the living room. (Remember…. we are incredibly flexible…. and each one of us "modifies" the plan - to suit ourselves! We just LIKE to work together!)

So…. I did about 15 minutes in the Living Room today. NO paperwork today! Laundry, grocery shopping -- getting ready for a "winter weather weekend"!!! I also did some work in the guest room/office…. emptying out a dresser that I have used as a "Christmas closet". Unfortunately… a lot of "other stuff" has gotten stored in there. So…. I am packing up the Christmas stuff -- into storage tubs --- and lining them up -- to be stored in the attic. It is an ongoing "work in progress"! AND… this thread is a great place…. to talk about "works in progress"!

 

[ejagno]

SN, it's all part of the New Year Cleaning Plan so you don't hesitate to celebrate a job well done.................regardless of which area of the home you are working in. I'm hoping to get back on my living room tomorrow.

 

[happy2bme]

Mel, ugh!! I do not like going through movies...I can never seem to get rid of any. Go on with your bad self, girl!!! I thought I was the only one who was a "bad mood" cleaner.

I hate going through the movies too. I will pick out all of the ones that we never watch, then the kids freak out and insist they will watch them, which they don't and then it starts all over again.

 

[SparkleNana]

Hello - fellow cleaners!!!!!! It is Monday morning…. and I have some inspiration to "bless my home" today!!!!! AND…. to continue with cleaning/decluttering/reorganizing!!!!! I did not buy anything over the weekend…. except food, newspapers, and health items at the drug store!!!!! No "new clutter" this weekend!!!!! (Even though I DID see…. a big 50% off Sale sign…. in the window of my favorite store!) People with children…. people with "new projects"…. there are so many times in life…. that we MUST buy "stuff". It is (now) a huge treat for me…. to go for a day or a weekend… NOT having to buy any "stuff".

Do you have any special plans for today? I want to do laundry (if "real life" doesn't get in the way).

 

[FrostyShimmer]

SparkleNana - Good for you! I find it so hard to walk by a 50% off sign. Even as a kid I loved clearance sales. I used to come home with odd little things and tell my Dad, "It was 75% off" and he'd get annoyed saying, "But you don't need it. If you saw a Cadillac 75% off would you buy that too?" (In retrospect, yes, resale value on the car would be worth it! )

My kids' rooms are sooo packed with toys. I really need to start weeding out the ones that don't get played with to donate.

I really need to clear off the futon in my family room which is covered in Christmas towels and blankets, etc. With DD1 teething I haven't been able to spend any time packing stuff in the storage room.

 

[SparkleNana]

Tuesday Morning!!!! I need to change our "Room Of The Week": I need to have it be "The Kitchen Week". BECAUSE… we are having two families over to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday….. and that means LOTS of food and drink need to be prepared!!!!!!

I worked in a lot of different rooms yesterday….. but I did one really messy job, of note, in the kitchen. I cleaned off a really high cabinet and the top of the refrigerator. A lot of stuff had been piled into both places and it was a mess! Even though it didn't take such a long time….. it was unpleasant… and I didn't want to do it!!! But…. I did it!

I guess I'll clean out the refrigerator. And start getting the counters… as emptied of stuff… as possible! For me…. "having guests"… is the best incentive to clean house!!!!

 

[SparkleNana]

Good Morning: another new day!!!!! Yesterday…. I worked -- took breaks -- worked -- took more breaks. It didn't "feel" like I was getting a lot done. However -- when I got up and walked through the house…. I noticed that "things looked nice". Then… when I got into the kitchen -- WOW!!! It looked GOOD! (And -- my kitchen NEVER looks good!) Clearing off the counters made it look so much better: it looked like you COULD actually cook in there! (Tiny kitchen with very little counter space. When the counters are covered… it looks like it is NOT possible to cook in there)!

I filled up one bag to take to the Thrift Shop today. I'll try to pack up a few more bags of donations…. and drop them off today. (At least I can get them into the car today…. if "real life" interferes with my plans).

 

[missjane]

Good job, SN!! I hate counter top clutter, and I seem to always have it, too.

 

[SparkleNana]

Missjane…. sending love and prayers for your daughter, and you, as she faces her procedure this week. How wonderful it is -- that you will be with her!

Thursday morning -- plenty of "real life" things to do today…. in addition to our ongoing work on the 2015 Cleaning Challenge!!! Laundry, paying bills, buying beverages for our SuperBowl party, cooking and cleaning up afterwards. And…. in between… taking inspiration from our Holiday Grand Plan. Today is the day that we put out trash and recycling…. for pickup early tomorrow morning. I am filling an additional trash can this week! Funny…. the things that can excite us!!!!!!!!

 

[FrostyShimmer]

I'm hoping to clean my kitchen today. It's bread making day, but for some reason we didn't go through nearly what we normally do and I have almost two full loaves yet. Hoping the kids will play and let me take that hour for cleaning and organizing. The local radio station airs and hour of old programming on Thursday afternoon, and the radio is in the kitchen, so Thursday is always spent in the kitchen. I love when they place pieces from the 40s and 50s.

 

[SparkleNana]

Friday morning: yesterday…. for some unknown reason…. I started transferring my clothes…. into the newly-empty (bigger) dresser…. that is in the guest room/office. (My clothes are in the closet in that room, already). My plan is to give the entire dresser (that is in our bedroom) to dh, for his clothes. Meanwhile…. there is a pretty big pile of clothes…. on top of the bed in the guest room. (Somebody recently reminded us…. that "you have to make a BIGGER mess… while you "clean things up"). That is certainly true around here! And "seeing that bigger mess appear" is kind of scary. It "feels like"… we are going backwards. Sigh.

It is so much more fun…. to "buy new things"…. than it is to "deal with what you already have"!!!!!!! (Nice stores. Pretty things to look at.) Oh well…. we DO have the entire year…. to work together…. on our goals!!!!! THAT is so much more fun…. than "working all by ourselves"!!!

When you have time…. please let us know how you are doing!!!!! Remember… EVERY little bit helps!

 

[SparkleNana]

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning…. la lala lala. On we go. Saturday morning … the last day of January 2015! Yesterday…. I was able to achieve that state of: "Seeing your house through -- uh-oh, people-are-coming-over -- eyes". How will this look to…. other people! Lots of last-minute chores… moving things that didn't bother me… until I thought… people will need that whole space to put down a drink or a plate of food. That kind of thing.

Finished up those final things this morning. Dh ran the vacuum in the family room. (That is where we will be watching the SuperBowl). Then… he volunteered to come grocery shopping with me. There were lots of beautiful citrus fruits on sale…. so I will put a few platters of brightly-colored fresh fruit out…. maybe one on the kitchen counter, one in the living room and one on the big table i the family room. I hope dh bought Mexican beer… it was on sale and I bought fresh limes to go with it. Have you seen the bottles of beer -- caps off -- and a small wedge of lime stuck into the open bottle, on top of the beer? Some Mexican restaurants serve their beer that way.

I'll go through paperwork this afternoon. How about you?

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Little things

I cleaned out the drawer in my desk where I keep DVDs/CDs. New and used ones. I now have them all stacked nicely in a plastic box that can just slip out if needed. Next I will look at all the used ones, either print off photos or toss them. No need to keep them if they are printed (I have copies on an external back up drive). Some of them are the drivers for hardware, I probably can toss all of them since most are online.

Then I went to organize all the Wii and Xbox DVDs. I bagged all the extra Wii parts (extra controllers, batteries, cords and plastic covers). Now they are all easy to find. The Wii Sport came in a tiny paper folder so I put that in a plastic movie cover I had saved just for today.

 

[Lolwlias]

My dining room is pretty easy to do. I removed the clutter from the dining room table a couple weeks ago, so I had a head start. It has remained clear.
(Kitchen still needs work so I'll be going back to that.)

 

[SparkleNana]

Dining Room Week!!!! We don't HAVE a dining room. We do have a combined "family room/dining room". AND -- that is the space where we hosted the Super Bowl Party last night. So… there is lots of "party clean up" to do -- mostly in the kitchen. Other that that -- the "dining room" is in pretty good shape!!!!!

Which is OK -- because there is always lots of "real life stuff" to do!!! And -- lots of decluttering/cleaning/organizing -- in other rooms.

I CONTINUE to agree with that old saying: "If you want to have a clean house -- have "guests invited over" -- at least once a month! There is something different -- about the way YOU look at your house -- when you know that "other people" will be there -- getting a good look at your house, too!!!! True -- a lot of work goes into preparing/cleaning up from the "entertaining" itself. As far as "having a clean house" -- there is nothing like it -- for me! But -- I am NOT "naturally a cleanie". Maybe people who ARE "cleanies" -- don't need to use this monthly plan.