Reset Your House In 7 Days | And How To Keep It Clean

I have so many friends that are simply anal about housekeeping it just drives me crazy – makes me wonder if they too follow the “7 days to a clean house and keep it clean” routine.  Some clean their whole house in one day (as if), and some clean their entire homes twice a week (as if again). And believe it or not, these same friends have actually told me they enjoy cleaning their homes. Now I totally get the whole pride and joy thing of having a spotless home; it smells fresh, looks absolutely amazing, and its clean. But to really enjoy going thru the motions of actually cleaning it? Somehow I’ve never been able to get on board with that concept – I can easily come up with 101 more important things I could/should be doing instead.

With wall to wall carpeting (and who the hell puts carpeting in their kitchen?!?!), 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, MEN IN THE HOUSE, maybe now you get the gist as to why I despise housecleaning as much as I do. To me its a never ending battle, a vicious cycle to say the least. And even tho my husband has given me all the latest and greatest accessories to make my house cleaning duties a little less tasking (I love you too honey), I’d rather be hit with a wooden spoon that have to pick up a dust rag and a can of Endust or run my vacuum cleaner every day, or every other day, or even once a week for that matter. But non the less, I know it still has to be done.

Now don’t get me wrong, my house is not dirty or a pig sty. You won’t find a sink full of dirty dishes or food crumbs on my counters; soiled laundry piled high on the bathroom floors or dirty clothes just strewn around my house. You’ll not find disgusting rotting food in my refrigerator, garbage cans overflowing with crap, or disgusting toilets in the bathrooms. However, you may … on occasion (wink wink), find you’re able to write your name in the dust that lays across my furniture, or sometimes feel like your walking on the beach when instead your actually walking across my kitchen floor – (minor details I say).

And so I’ve analyzed why it is that I hate housework as much as I do and here’s what I’ve come up with: It’s all the pre-cleaning stuff that has to be done before I’m actually able to tackle the real cleaning part:

1. it’s all the going thru the papers, bills, articles, etc. and putting them into “keeper piles” or “toss piles” and then getting them to their proper spots;
2. it’s all the sorting of items that belong to each individual and getting them to their respective rooms;
3. it’s all the dancing around the house I do because of all my favorite 80’s songs that play on my stereo – (yes, I admit, I am a freaker by the speaker kind of chic);
4. or perhaps it’s ALL the other distractions that I encounter during my cleaning quest like the telephone, computer and FOOD !!!!

Do you now see why it takes me 6 freakin’ hours to clean only my kitchen? Uggh !!

Rather than just hire a housekeeper (which would be ideal, but not realistic; I once told my husband that I needed a maid, and his response was that I had it made), I decided that all I need is a system, a schedule, a plan that would make my housekeeping chores a little less overwhelming, something that could help me when it comes to keeping a spotless house. And lo and behold look at what I found – 7 Days To A Cleaner Home, by Sarah Brooks.  It’s a weekly schedule of what rooms to tackle, when to tackle them, and how to tackle them – PLUS, it even gives you a day of rest, (hmmm .. its a Friday, she must not be Catholic, lol). And according to Sarah, “before you know it, you’ll have a super-clean house within one week, plus be able to maintain it.”  Talk about music to my ears !!

So there you have it – my mission for the week all laid out for everyone to see. Let’s just hope this plan makes my life roll (in the housekeeping department) a heck of a lot easier than it has in the past. And check it – I’ve already tackled the organizing part, did that yesterday. And today … its all about the dusting.  NOTE TO SELF PRIOR TO DUSTING:  hide all wooden spoons before my boys wake up as they know waaaaay too much !!

Ciao 🙂

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A Tidy Home In 1 Week

Start tackling one chore at a time instead of all of them at once. Before you know it, you’ll have a super-clean house within one week, plus be able to maintain it!

Sunday: Get organized

We like to start our week off on Sundays — the day you grocery shop, meal plan and get organized for the week to come. This is the day to make sure all the laundry and dishes are done, you’re stocked on household essentials, the meals are planned and the kids are prepared for the upcoming week. Cleaning-wise, just make sure the house is picked up — toys are back in the kids’ rooms, shoes are put away and miscellaneous items are put in their appropriate spots. Don’t worry — we’re not going to suggest deep cleaning the bathroom on this day, as it’s already pretty packed!

Monday: Dust

It’s Monday, and we’re just getting back into “work mode” for the week. Dust all large surfaces throughout your home. This includes televisions, bookshelves, dressers, desks, nightstands and on top of the fridge. If you’re feeling extra energetic, dust the blinds, lamps and fans.

Tuesday: The bathrooms

As much as we hate dedicating an evening to cleaning bathrooms, it has to be done. If you do it weekly, it shouldn’t take longer than 10 to 15 minutes per bathroom. Spray the shower with bleach and give it a quick scrub, clean the sinks and countertops, put lotions and perfumes back in cabinets and give the toilet a deep-clean.

Tip: The trick with cleaning, especially bathrooms, is to do it often. Cleaning areas weekly prevents them from getting out of hand and becoming completely disorganized.

Wednesday: The kitchen

Kitchens are typically one of the highest-traffic areas of the house, so they can get pretty filthy! Wednesday is the day to get that mess in order. Give the fridge a wipe-down, throw out old leftovers and any food that’s expired, put back any spices you may have used during the week and wipe down the countertops. Just like with bathrooms, if you do this weekly (especially throwing out old food), the kitchen will never get out of hand and will always be easy to clean.

Thursday: The floors

This will probably be the most time-consuming of days, but it’s the best day to clean floors for a few reasons. First, the week’s winding down, so you do have that cocktail to look forward to tomorrow. Second, you want to clean the floors at night after the kids have gone to sleep and third, if you steam clean your carpets you’ll want to give them plenty of time to dry and not be walked on (Thursday night and all day Friday). So sweep, mop, vacuum and steam clean all the main room floors in the house (don’t worry about kids’ rooms if they’re sleeping). Time-consuming? Yes, but nothing says “clean” like a sparkling floor. It’s a great way to start your weekend!

Friday: Rest

Yes, you read that right. On Friday, simply rest. Don’t worry about cleaning as it’s probably been a long week. If you have children, it’s their time to take over. Have them clean their rooms as thoroughly as possible. Afterwards, serve their favorite meal for dinner and watch a movie of their choice. It will encourage them to get their rooms’ cleaned!

Saturday: Wash bedding and linens

Since Saturday provides a little more time for cleaning, it’s the perfect day to wash all the bedding and linens in the house. Luckily, it won’t be too time-consuming since the washer and dryer will be doing most of the work. In between cycles, get the closets organized (simply) by hanging up any out-of-place items or folding them and placing them back in the dresser.

Thank you 7 Days To A Cleaner Home by Sarah Brooks for the great information.