Spring Cleaning

Spring is fast approaching (actually, I think it's already here, even though the temperatures in Louisville haven't been cooperating lately...), and many people are embarking on cleaning adventures in preparation. I hope you liked how I used the phrase "cleaning adventures." Doesn't that make it sound fun and less like a chore? Adventures in Cleaning! Woo hoo!









But honestly... the idea of spring cleaning doesn't sound like an adventure at all, does it? It sounds horrible! Let's let our houses sit and accumulate all sorts of dust and clutter and dirt, and then let's spend hours upon hours trying to undo the damage. Ugh. It seems so daunting!

I love a clean house (and yes, I'm a little OCD about it), but I don't always love the means to achieve that end. I work full time, and the last thing I feel like doing over the weekend is cleaning my apartment! But I'm so tired during the evenings in the week that I don't feel like it then, either. It's a vicious cycle, right? What's a girl to do?

I prefer the "damage control" approach to cleaning. I don't like to let things accumulate over a week (let alone over a season!), only to be left with a ton of work to do on the weekend, so I challenge myself to do two things each night to maintain cleanliness in my home. Two things! That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

This could be a typical week:

Monday: Do a load of laundry; dust the tops of the ceiling fans
Tuesday: Dust and vacuum the bedroom (this is where Roombie comes in handy -- he does the work for me!), do another load of laundry
Wednesday: Clorox the kitchen counter tops/sinks, vacuum the living room
Thursday: Wipe down the bathroom floor (hands and knees, friends -- it won't kill you, and you won't BELIEVE how much hair you'll wipe off the floor!), do another load of laundry
Friday: Dust the bookshelves (we have a lot of bookshelves, so that would be my only chore!)

I vary those nightly chores from week to week, but there are some things I do on a consistent schedule. For instance:

Every two weeks, I:

--Wash our towels (I prefer to wait and do one big load)
--Clean our shower (Maybe I should do this every week --what do you think?)
--Throw away old/expired food in the refrigerator and wipe it down

At the beginning of each new month, I:

--Change our sheets (My mom says this is gross and that I should change them every two weeks... oh well. I do, however, wash our pillow cases weekly, if that counts for anything)
--Wash our shower curtain liner

Every six months, I:

--Flip our mattress
--Completely strip our bed and wash everything (bed skirt, mattress pad cover, sheets, duvet, duvet cover)
--Clean the oven (I should probably do this more often... I hate cleaning the oven)

You get the idea. Some things are on a schedule; some things aren't. But the point is that by being consistent, I avoid a major seasonal overhaul that looms over my head. There are larger tasks that I can't accomplish in a weeknight (things like cleaning out/reorganizing the kitchen cabinets, clearing out drawers/closets and donating items to charity, etc.), and I usually do one "big task" every weekend. For instance, this past weekend my big task was to caulk and repaint all of our window sills. They look so much cleaner and brighter -- just in time for spring!

Another plus is that by doing little things here and there, I maintain an orderly household that I--and Wes--enjoy living in. He has said to me before, "I love knowing that at any point, I can invite people over for dinner and know that I don't have to worry about whether or not the house will be clean." I love it, too!

And please -- do NOT think I never let things get dirty, because I totally do. I get overwhelmed and exhausted and my house is not always picture perfect. I just try my best to keep on top of things... and I give myself grace when I fall behind.

But enough of me -- what about you? What are your cleaning tips and tricks? Do you have a schedule that works for you? Do you actually love spring cleaning and think I'm crazy? (Some people really enjoy an annual overhaul... I'm just not one of them!) Do tell. :)