January 8, 2010

New year, clean house?

I'm in the midst of a New Year's organization urge combined with pre-baby nesting instinct. I've been putting away Christmas decorations, organizing our new combination office/guest room (complete with fabulous new built-in cabinets which just need the doors attached), brainstorming ideas for decorating the baby's room, and trying to rearrange our living/dining area to fit in C's (huge) new train table.

In short, I've been driving my husband nuts.

But with the organizing, of course, comes the cleaning. Inspired by Sab's post about January organizing, I've decided to try to sticking to a weekly cleaning list. I work part-time around my Hubby's shift work, so I can't stick to a "Monday is laundry day, Tuesday is errands day" kind of schedule, but maybe a checklist will help me keep on track (and keep my house cleaner)! I searched the Internet for various cleaning lists, and found some good additions on Newlywed Home.

I didn't bother with a daily list, but I drafted one for weekly, monthly and seasonal. Of course, some things will need to be done more often (like laundry and the never-ending basket of ironing), but here's what I have:

Weekly Cleaning Tasks:




Clean downstairs bathroom

Clean upstairs bathroom

Dust downstairs

Dust upstairs

Empty compost bin

Empty garbage bins before garbage day

Empty recycling bin

Ironing

Laundry

Meal planning

Recycle old flyers from magazine basket

Shine kitchen sink

Sort mail

Sweep downstairs (and mop tile when necessary)

Sweep upstairs

Tidy bedroom

Toss old leftovers and wipe fridge shelves

Vacuum downstairs (including stairs)

Vacuum upstairs

Wipe doorknobs and light switches

Wipe microwave

Wipe telephones

Monthly Cleaning Tasks:




Change sheets (twice a month)

Clean windows

Donate Salvation Army bags

Dust air vents

Hand wash delicate laundry

Mop floors

Retire children's clothes and pull out new clothes

Scrub shower

Scrub stovetop

Test smoke alarms

Tidy garage

Tidy storage room

Wash kitchen cabinets

Seasonal Cleaning Tasks:




Clean air exchanger filter

Dust or wash curtains

Vacuum furniture

Wash screens


Do you use lists to keep on top of housework? What are your biggest cleaning/organizing challenges?

3 comments:

Jenny said...

That is an awesome list! I've tried to make one before, but don't stick to it.

Sab said...

Ah, lists... how I love them! You look like you have a great list going! I love breaking down tasks into smaller ones... makes the lists look bigger, but you get to check more off daily too! :)

ANd I agree... laundry is a crazy thing!

Unknown said...

what a great list, I am all about them!!

your first paragraph is like me to a T, putting away, getting organized, thinking about the nursery, all of the above!!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
design by suckmylolly.com