HGP 2020 - Living Room/Questions Week

[PamelaG]

This week in the Holiday Grand Plan, we're taking aim on holiday questions, as we clean and organize the living room.

Week Two? It's all about questions during Question Week in the Holiday Grand Plan!

During this week, we'll continue making lists and planning our holiday. We'll get in touch with our values through important questions.
In the cleaning component, we tackle the living room, decluttering and deep-cleaning to prepare for holiday entertaining.

HOLIDAY PREP
In the kitchen:

• Buy extra flour, sugar, shortening, etc.
• Make one extra meal for the freezer labeled HOLIDAY MEAL. This should be large enough to feed the family plus two people.

Browse Week:

• Develop ideas for gifts, decorations.
• Order Christmas cards and address labels.
• For your friends of other religions take the time to find out what their major holiday is and look for an appropriate card to send to them at that time.
• Divide gift responsibilities with other family members.

Ask these questions:

• Do I see Christmas time primarily as a time for entertaining friends and renewing long lost acquaintances or as a time for family?
• How much emphasis do our Christmas activities place on the spiritual side of Christmas?
• How involved is my family in the Christmas preparation?
• What activities are particularly important to our family at Christmas? To myself?
• Why do we observe the traditions we do in our house?
• How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about Christmas?
• What would my ideal Christmas be like?

CLEANING/ORGANIZING AREA: LIVING ROOM
This week's assignment, from Katie Leckey's Cleaning Grand Plan:

Begin by washing the outside of the windows in this room. You will appreciate being able to see outside when you sit down at the end of the week in your beautiful, clean, and organized living room!
Take everything off walls, dust it, and set it aside.
Dust or wash the wall, vacuum or dry-clean draperies and blinds. Get your favorite cobweb killer and sweep down ceilings, corners and tops of doorways
Take cushions off furniture. Vacuum thoroughly, replace cushions, spot treat any stains and shampoo if necessary.
Wooden furniture (and anything with drawers/shelves): Empty, sort and throw away what you really don't need. Put the rest where it belongs.
Dust/polish the piece you've finished with and repeat with other pieces. Don't forget the maintenance on piano.
Baseboards: depending on condition they're in, dust or wash them.
Coat closet: empty, sort clothes (by family member, season).
Remove any "off-season" items and decide whether to trash, donate, or store elsewhere. Replace only those items which should be in your coat closet.
Clean the TV screen (if you have a set in this room). Don't neglect the stereo items either. Re-organize tapes/records/videos as per your needs.
Clean/change the silk flower arrangements as per seasonal needs. Wash/trim any live plants in this room.
Other items needing attention if your room has them:

• Fireplace/mantel/chimney/glass doors
• Lamps (does the shade need dusting or replacing?)
• Electrical cords (check for frayed wires)
• Mirrors (items framed w/glass) get out the Windex
• Doorknobs/drawer-handles (are they clean?)

Now is a good time to measure furniture pieces and windows, to enter in your planner or Household Notebook and keep on hand for shopping for necessary items.
Stacks (of anything!): Take time now to use the sorting method of trash/donate/store elsewhere. Now put these new piles where they belong.
Vacuum the carpet and clean if necessary.
Hang the items back on walls, if you haven't already and take a good look around. It should look pretty good by now.
Take out camera and take pictures for inventory.

 

[Rose94]

My plans this week are to deep clean the full bath. DH has already cleaned the light fixture when he changed out a burned light bulb a couple days ago.

()clean shower/tub walls
()shower curtains
()walls
()under the sink
()vacuum/clean fan
()countertop
()sink/fixtures/toilet
()door to room
()ceiling

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

I am moving on to my loungeroom this week. Not a large room but it is the room where we most often congregate.
It is a very open room and I am waiting to try and make this room more cozy so will be working on that.

How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about Christmas?

How involved is my family in the Christmas preparation?

Interesting questions, I need to think about this...is it time to change how I have been celebrating Christmas. Do I need to do all that I do or can I simplify?

 

[Miss JoDee]

. Do I need to do all that I do or can I simplify?

Questions for me is do I want to do all that I do or should I simplify. I enjoy the Christmas prep and am not sure I want to change what I have done after making some changes the last couple of years.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

I enjoy the Christmas prep

I often enjoy the prep more than I enjoy the event. I love the finished look but am often exhausted by the thought of decorating etc.
Will consider how I want to proceed over the next few years.

 

[DebbiGall]

I finished up outside I washed the outside of the house and repainted the trim, going to take down the wall Knick knacks and clean them real good, the living room isn’t one we use much in the summer, so it’s on pretty good shape.

 

[Lori K]

I look at this time as my opportunity to do some deep cleaning. Throughout much of the rest of the year (and because I'm a single-person household), I surface clean. This is the time when I get my baseboards done, along with the cracks, crevices, and other repairs that I've been putting off done. For this week, I'm planning on doing the following, though I"m not sure I'll get to it all.

Windows washed (interior; supposed to rain all week)
Artwork dusted -- DONE
Dust walls and crown moulding
Lamp shades / check those with 3-way bulbs -- DONE
Dust furniture -- DONE
Cocktail and end table drawers -- DONE
Buffet drawers cleaned out and organized -- DONE
Vacuum couches and Fabreeze
Wash couch blanket used by the pup
Baseboards wiped down
Floors cleaned
Meet with window repairman (Thurs.) about Front door window seals -- ??? [he may have come while
I was getting my hair cut, not sure; need to double-check with them, since he didn't show while I was here]
Bring in bin of autumn decor from garage
Stow straggling 4th of July serving pieces

Other --
Pay taxes (thought they were due Oct. 15, but no. Due Sept 15, so will have to pay in person) -- DONE
Take Mom grocery shopping and have dinner with her -- DONE
Lunch with brother-in-law, before he leaves for his winter home
Haircut -- DONE
Shop for new planters (2) for Peace Lily plants -- DONE, but returned (plants didn't fit)

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Other --
Pay taxes (thought they were due Oct. 15, but no. Due Sept 15, so will have to pay in person)

If you have a calendar in your phone put in a repeating reminder about the taxes. I've been finding this very useful for me.

 

[AuntJamelle]

QUESTIONS WEEK

• Do I see Christmas time primarily as a time for entertaining friends and renewing long lost acquaintances or as a time for family?

I've always seen it as BOTH. Still pondering alternative options for connecting during this year's season.

• How involved is my family in the Christmas preparation?

Usually not a whole lot - hoping to change that some this year. The pressure will be off to hurry up and get all the decorating done in one whirlwind Thanksgiving marathon. We won't be having a party the first weekend in December - so no rush to finish. I know DS will want to help with the tree and hope to get DH involved as well, snap some photos, pop some popcorn (on the stove!), make hot cocoa and watch a Christmas movie!

I also plan to shop online with DS for gifts for DH - then I will have DS participate in the wrapping and hiding of gifts - he'll love it! I'm going to brainstorm ideas for some simple gifts he could make for his dad - then give him the choice of what he wants to do. He likes to create things so I think he'll go for it!

I'd also like to get both boys to help put up outside decorations. I think we are going to need every bit of Christmas cheer we can scrounge up this year!

• What activities are particularly important to our family at Christmas? To myself?

Time spent with family and friends. Not sure how that will look yet outside of immediate family in our home. I have a plan started for a "COVID Christmas" - things we're skipping, things we're tweaking, etc.

• How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about Christmas?

Pretty important - although I wouldn't use the word "elaborate" for our decor - I think making things look festive and fun - the lights in the dark gloomy days - is all part of the feel of the holidays. I'm a cook/baker and show love via food - so I look forward to and enjoy a time of year when I can go all out. Not sure how that will work this year but working on a plan...

• What would my ideal Christmas be like?

Having all family from across the country in town - as many staying with us as possible. Me cooking LOTS of food and baking TONS. As that will NOT be happening this year - my ideal will be that we stay safe, stay cozy and focus on the little things.

Living Room/Hallway Cleaning Tasks:

• Vacuum dog beds
• Vacuum couch including under cushions - DONE
• Bring in tall ladder
  • Clean large arched window
  • Dust ceiling for cobwebs - DONE
• Dust ceiling fans
• Clean large mirror
• Arrange books so ends are even with edge of shelf
• Dust book tops
• Clean glass in antique cabinet, inside and out
• Oil antique cabinet wood
• Dust (picture frames, entertainment center, book tops, etc.)
• Clean TV screen
• Dust blinds
• Spot clean blinds as necessary
• Clean windows/sills
• Recaulk windows as needed/Touch up trim paint as needed
• Touch up wall paint as needed
• Clean light switches
• Vacuum/Wash the floor
  • Tile areas (Dawn and water)
  • Wood Flooring (use diluted Murphy’s Soap and get down and scrub it!)
  • Get underneath the kitchen cabinets/island
• Clean the rugs (Bissell) - (grab rug from DS room as well)
• Clean white outside lights (outside French doors leading off living room)

Holiday Prep Tasks:

• Buy extra grocery items from non-perishable part of Master Grocery List
• Research Halloween costume for DS(Size? $?) - Not sure on this one this year
• Make two freezer meals or meal components - DONE!
• Buy at least 1 stocking stuffer
• NEW **Order return address labels for Christmas cards!!!**
• Craft (focus on Christmas gifts) - In Progress

 

[Lori K]

If you have a calendar in your phone put in a repeating reminder about the taxes. I've been finding this very useful for me.

Thanks for the suggestion. The due date has changed from previous years. I went back and looked and they've been moving it up over the past couple of years. I had it in my bills notebook as Oct. 15, date transferred from previous years; last year, it was changed to Oct. 1, but I didn't make that change when updating my notebook. This year, it's moved up by 2 weeks to Sept. 15. This is for a piece of property in an area frequented by many out-of-state 2nd home owners and they have steep late fees. I suspect that they've changed the date due to lost revenue caused by Covid and in hopes of getting funds earlier and/or more late-fee revenue.

 

[AuntJamelle]

I've been doing a little here and there - dusting, including all the blinds, miles and miles of blinds, spot cleaning them as necessary. Got the bookcase in the hall sorted and dusted, took paperbacks downstairs.

AND I got all the fall decorating done - which I should have had on the Holiday Prep list of tasks

Biggest jobs left are finishing the windows - there a ton in this space - and deep cleaning the wood floor AND getting out the carpet cleaner to do all the rugs...

I need a nap.

 

[Rose94]

I ended up doing the living room after all. All except the windows. Will take care of them on the window week. I have the week of our Thanksgiving marked as window week. I do nothing but the windows that week—final time before it’s to cold out to do they again till late spring.
Will do the full bathroom next wee.

 

[AuntJamelle]

Windows week! I like that!

I purchased a couple of stocking stuffers so can cross that off my holiday tasks list!

Will work on more cleaning today and tomorrow!

 

[Miss JoDee]

I hope to do 2 rooms this weekend. Office and Living Room. I need to paint the closets in the Office room and Living Room so hope to clean those out tonight before I go to bed and have everything set up and ready to paint first thing in the morning. I just need DH to stay out of my way. May have to send him to his room lol. It's interesting with how I am, he can be home and not bothering me at all when I am painting or cleaning but if he lingers at all to see what I am doing I think he is looking for something to criticize and he is critical! It's just in my head. Wish I could get past all of that. It has been with me for as long as I can remember. My mom was critical about how we did and do things and if it wasn't to her liking it had to be done over. So she must be in my head. I prefer to work alone and have DH come in and say what a lovely job I did. Crazy I know.

 

[AuntJamelle]

Good luck with your painting session, Jody! Hopefully all goes smoothly!

I buckled down and just finished all 3 million windows - and huge mirror in hallway - and the French doors, in and out AND the side door and storm door - inside and out - all glass top to bottom - and add in puppy noses - just UGH

If I never see another bottle of Windex again it will be too soon.

Will check forecast for this weekend and see if I can work in cleaning the rugs - and then wash the floor - THAT is a big job...

 

[AuntJamelle]

It's as done as it is going to be!

UPDATE Living Room/Hallway Cleaning Tasks:

• Vacuum dog beds - Why? They will just get dirty again
• Vacuum couch including under cushions - DONE
• Bring in tall ladder
  • Clean large arched window - Skipping, it's so high up no one can see it anyway
  • Dust ceiling for cobwebs - DONE
• Dust ceiling fans - Will do when I decorate for Christmas, I took ladder downstairs too soon and I am not hauling it back up again
• Clean large mirror - DONE
• Arrange books so ends are even with edge of shelf - DONE
• Dust book tops - DONE
• Clean glass in antique cabinet, inside and out - Skipping, it's a dark corner, no one can tell
• Oil antique cabinet wood - Have to buy more Pledge, we're out
• Dust (picture frames, entertainment center, book tops, etc.) - DONE
• Clean TV screen - DONE
• Dust blinds - DONE
• Spot clean blinds as necessary - DONE
• Clean windows/sills - DONE except for 3 windows DH got with overwash from power sprayer yesterday - he's promised to redo them
• Recaulk windows as needed/Touch up trim paint as needed - N/A
• Touch up wall paint as needed- N/A
• Clean light switches - Pending
• Vacuum/Wash the floor
  • Tile areas (Dawn and water) - DONE
  • Wood Flooring (use diluted Murphy’s Soap and get down and scrub it!) - DONE
  • Get underneath the kitchen cabinets/island - DONE
• Clean the rugs (Bissell) - (grab rug from DS room as well) - DONE
• Clean white outside lights (outside French doors leading off living room) - DONE

Holiday Prep Tasks:

• Buy extra grocery items from non-perishable part of Master Grocery List - DONE
• Research Halloween costume for DS(Size? $?) - Not sure on this one this year
• Make two freezer meals or meal components - DONE!
• Buy at least 1 stocking stuffer - DONE
• NEW **Order return address labels for Christmas cards!!!** - Skipping
• Craft (focus on Christmas gifts) - DONE