HGP 2020 - Master Bath

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PamelaG

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This week in the Holiday Grand Plan, we're headed to the master bathroom. Create a space for rest and renewal during the busy holiday season.

Week Five sees us into the master bathroom and linen closets for Master Bathroom Week at the Holiday Grand Plan!

We'll clean and organize personal care and linen storage areas, and continue working on seasonal clothing plans.

Holiday prep continues to move forward on to-make and to-buy gifts, and includes a wardrobe check for kids.

HOLIDAY PREP
  • Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
  • Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
  • Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
  • Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
  • Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
  • Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
  • Take toys and books that are outgrown, clean them up and prepare them for donation to toy drives.
  • Make list of toys and books that children would enjoy and that would fit in their rooms and that would work with what they have. Keep it hand for telling family what they would like.
  • Inventory clothing and have another list of clothing items needed. Measure the children and put measurements on this list.
CLEANING/ORGANIZING AREA: MASTER BATHROOM AND LINEN CLOSET

This week's assignment, from Katie Leckey's Cleaning Grand Plan:
Go through the medicine chest. Do you really store medicine in here? It is not a good idea to store your medications here as the steam and heat of the showers can affect them. Consider finding a new place. While you rearrange them, throw away the horrible tasting stuff that you do not use and the expired items.
Check your first aid supplies. Do you have enough Peroxide, band-aids, gauze pads, antibacterial ointment? Find a printable first-aid checklist here.
Just look at those towels! Are they torn? In need of replacement? You needed some new rags anyway! Put it on your list to replace. Reorganize the ones you have.
Clean off handles, knobs, light switches. Does anything need replacing?
How about the bathroom mat or carpet? Does it need some spot remover while you go on? Does it need to be replaced?
Clean from high to low. Take down the curtains or blinds and clean them. Vacuum the screens in the windows. Clean the windowsill and wash any knickknacks
Clean the entire bowl. Spray with a good disinfectant. How is your bowl brush? Does it need replacing? A sponge brush works better than a bristle brush here.
Polish all the metal fixtures make them gleam. Get around the bowl and clean spots you have not seen in a while! Open the window while you spray a good mold remover if you need to. Scour sinks and bathtubs, and showers.
Do you need a new soap dish? A decorative hand soap dispenser
Get under the sink. Look at those three bottles of hair spray. Do you need and use all that stuff under there?
Consider purchasing some under the cabinet organizers to give you more storage space and allow you to get things easier. Wipe out the bottom of the cabinet.
Don't stop there. Time to get the drawers now too. Throw away what you have not used.
Does the shower curtain need replacing? Is it really moldy?
Wash out the wastebasket and let it sanitize.
The bathroom scale hasn't been scrubbed in a while. Do it now! Get the baseboards and wipe them down, spray the tile with a good tile cleaner while you are doing the baseboard then wipe the tile down after it had a chance to sit.
Take note and replace, repair all items that need attention.
 

Miss JoDee

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I got the bathroom and linen closet done. Spent about 41/2 hours working on it. That's a lot considering the fact that the room is not wider than the tub or longer than the short side of the tub + pestle sink and toilet. Spent a lot of time removing icky caulk. I would like to tape around where the caulk should go with the hope to redo it smoothly unlike the old caulk. This may be where I say to DH ."your hovering". Tomorrow I have a chiropractic appt. Shifted my pelvis when I was pulling the staples from the wood floor a couple of weeks ago this is a check to make sure things stayed in place. Since my adjustment on Saturday I have cleaned the garage and cleaned the bath. The rest of the week I will work on Christmas planning.
 

Lori K

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Hoping to get this week back on track. I'm declaring my intentions here, in the hopes that it keeps me accountable to someone! I have two bathrooms upstairs (master and guest), so will attempt to do both. It's just me, so the guest bathroom gets very little use and cleaning the extra bathroom should go quickly.
  • dust around ceiling and light fixtures -- DONE
  • clean toilet (bowl and thoroughly around the sides and tank) -- DONE
  • thoroughly clean tub, including bleaching the jets -- DONE
  • organize under sink storage and inventory supplies -- DONE
  • scrub floor and baseboards -- DONE
  • wash rugs -- DONE
  • clean shower glass -- DONE
  • go through medicine cabinet and check expiration dates on meds, replace as necessary -- DONE
  • fix toilet paper holder in Master
 
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missjane

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Does anyone have suggestions on cleaning blinds? Our new house has 2 1/2 blinds in most of the windows...thought some of you may know a quick tip! lol
 
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sweetpumkinpye

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MissJane, what material are the blinds made from?
 
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sweetpumkinpye

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I have done both of the bathrooms. It took all day but they are done. Our ensuite is the same size as our family bathroom so a fair bit of work. I also check the line closet to see what our towels and bathmats are like and are pleased that we are OK for now. Maintenance between now and Christmas will help keeping these areas clean.
 
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missjane

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sweetpumkinpye

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They look wood textured, are white, and are a good quality plastic.
I am wondering if you can find a manufacturers name on the blinds anywhere, maybe you can then contact them for advice.
 

missjane

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They're Bali. Hadn't thought about looking online. Thanks, Katrina.
 

AuntJamelle

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It's been hit or miss this week on master bath tasks - vanity drawers and under sink areas done. Still need to do normal cleaning + deep clean of tile floor and the shower...
 

Rose94

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Ended up doing the sewing/craft room this week. It was a mess after doing a bunch of paper crafting and sewing projects.
I also pulled all the fabrics together for some quilt tops that was spread through out the closet and pulled yarn for a couple projects that was at the back of closet to the front. Room is ready for next round of sewing.
 

missjane

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I've been attempting to get the old caulk off the tub. I'm about to a point that I want to just caulk where I've managed to get it off so far. Of course, I'll be mad at myself if I don't do it as it should be and re-do all of it.
 
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Miss JoDee

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I've been attempting to get the old caulk off the tub. I'm about to a point that I want to just caulk where I've managed to get it off so far. Of course, I'll be mad at myself if I don't do it as it should be and re-do all of it.
Jane, I just did this around the bottom of the bathroom window. where DH over caulk. A razor knife and putty knife along with pure determination got the job done. I need to do the tub hard to do with one bath shower and getting everything dried out before caulking. Do you have any caulking tips on smoothing it out?
 
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missjane

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Jody, I'll try the razor knife. I bought a tool at Home Depot (it's plastic and not very sturdy) that's supposed to help with getting the caulk off. It did if the caulk was already coming loose, as some of it was, but it bent under pressure. One end is supposed to help smooth the caulk, but since I haven't reached that stage, I don't know how well it will help.
 
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Miss JoDee

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I bought a tool at Home Depot (it's plastic and not very sturdy) that's supposed to help with getting the caulk off. It did if the caulk was already coming loose, as some of it was, but it bent under pressure. One end is supposed to help smooth the caulk, but since I haven't reached that stage, I don't know how well it will help.
I think DH has that tool. If he used it correctly it didn't work well. The suggestion Diedra posted is what I was thinking of doing. The other I heard was to apply then wet your finger and slide it across the caulk.
 
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missjane

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I used this for tips when I did our tub.

Good to know about this kind of caulk not being water soluble. Makes sense as it's waterproof, but probably wouldn't have put "two and two together" until I had it all over my fingers. Very good information. Thanks for posting it, Diedra!
 
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luludou

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Deep cleaned basement bathroom. Main bathroom was done this spring. I will redo cabinet and drawers at some point.
 

missjane

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DH is supposed to be checking at the hardware store to see of they have the solvent to soften the caulk. Fingers crossed. I want to get that done.