Fast and Furious Fall Cleaning and Organizing - Day 3
Today we will be working on the eating area. This is a difficult thing to dictate what to clean because some have dining rooms and some don’t. Some use the dining room regularly and some don’t . So we are going to have differing levels of need for our eating areas today.
I have a dining room that we use every single day. Its the first room that anyone coming into the house sees, so I try to make sure it is always presentable and neat. Since we eat in it most every day, I also have to be sure to get it clean every day.
Here are some general cleaning recommendations for most any room, with a few suggestions thrown in here and there for the eating area. if you have suggestions of your own, feel free to post them!
First Things first:
De-clutter. Get everything out of the eating area that doesn’t belong there on a daily basis. If you have a real clutter problem, get out your 4 boxes, baskets or bags and label them like we did for the master bedroom. You will throw away some things, store some, put away some or give away some.
If you are having serious storage issues in your dining room/eating area and need help with that, check out Robin’s threads in the Organizational/Scheduling Help forum.
Clean out hutches, cabinets, clean off shelves, tables and chairs. Get everything out of this room but the furniture.
Move things off walls and off of all surfaces.
Anything that can be wet, go ahead and make a sink of hot soapy water and immerse it. Anything else, just sit it on the kitchen counter for now.
Now Start Moving Things Out Of Your Way
Take down curtains, toss in the wash if you can or air them outside.
Take up rugs, wash or air.
Take up chair pads, wash or air.
Get the chairs out of this area for now.
Get rid of cobwebs. use a towel on the end of a broom or other tool. Don’t use polish or cleaner for this you can streak your ceilings and walls!
The Nitty Gritty Cleaning Part
Make up a pan of hot soapy water or use whatever chemical you like.
Wash ceiling and walls if needed taking care with the kind of wall coverings or paint you have.
Wash down the door frames and window frames. Wash doors and baseboards. Dry if needed.
Wash windows.
If you can touch up paint in this room today, now is the time to do it.
Clean the furniture, wash and/or polish. Clean and polish chairs. Spend time cleaning and polishing the table.
Replace anything that truly goes in the storage areas of this room such as the hutch, cabinets, shelves, etc.
Sweep,vacuum and/or mop. Polish wood floors.
Bring chairs back into the room.
Spread out your tablecloth, if you are using one. Place a nice little arrangement on the table or a candle.
Replace curtains and rugs.
