Today is the last day of the Fast and Furious Fall Cleaning and Organizing Event!

I’m so glad its nearly over! But I’m so glad my house is sooooo clean and organized. I’ve organized cabinets and drawers and things that I’ve needed to do for months.

The living room or den is the room where a family does most of their, well…. living. Its a busy room and takes a lot of wear and tear. So, it can usually stand a good cleaning any time you want to give it one.

Begin by picking up the room and using your 4 bags/boxes/baskets like we have been doing all week. Get everything out of this room that doesn’t belong. Sometimes I place personal belongings in a basket and tell the children to come get their things in the next ten minutes or the things are leaving home

Be sure to check out Robin’s Organizational Thread at the T2CHK forum for ideas that will help you get all your living room belongings stored and put away nicely.

Make a pan of hot soapy water or use the kitchen sink.

Once you get the room emptied of stuff that doesn’t belong, take up nicnacs and decorative items.

Clean and wash picture frames and nicnacs, set them out to dry.

Take down the curtains and take up the rugs, wash them if possible or hang them out to air.

Take up tablecloths, doilies, all fabric coverings and pillows; wash and dry if you can or air dry.

Wash down the door frames, window frames, baseboards, all woodwork, ceilings and ceiling fans.

Wash windows

Clean off shelves, rearrange books, wipe down the shelves while they are empty.

Clean up work areas. Organize work materials.

Organize movies, cds and dvds, organize the whole tv/entertainment area

Dust all furniture, polish if needed

Move out furniture if possible, if not just clean around and under as best you can.

Vacuum upholstered furniture

Vacuum floors, sweep and mop, polish wood floors

Replace rugs and curtains

Replace furniture covers if using and pillows

Arrange magazines, papers, books that don’t have a shelf. A basket might be nice, or simply stack them up neatly.

Replace nicnacs and pictures…. do you need them all in this room?

Light some candles and relax. Sweetie, You Are DONE with the house!!

I hope you have enjoyed the FFFCO event this year. I have enjoyed leading you and getting my own house clean. Next week we will take some suggestions for cleaning other areas that we didn’t hit this week. Then we’ll take them at a more leisurely pace, perhaps three days or so on one room.

Are you tired yet?? I am! But there are two more rooms to go on my list: The Kitchen today and the Living Room Tomorrow.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is usually the hardest room to Fall or Spring Clean in because we use it so much and its hard to have it out of commission for a day in some families. So I suggest that you utilize your crock pot or other means of having supper tonight so that you can concentrate on cleaning instead of breaking to cook.

Take a good look at your kitchen….. does it need:
…to be majorly decluttered?
…to be degreased?
…to have structural work done?
…to be emptied out and started over? laugh.gif

You must choose what you need to do in your kitchen today. Do you have time to devote to this project? maybe you should not get in to a really deep, deep cleaning of the kitchen today. Perhaps you should do a medium clean. That’s what I am going to do. You just find your happy place and get in the groove, OK?

First Things First:
Take out trash.
Pick up countertops
Take everything out of the kitchen that doesn’t go in the kitchen… use your 4 bags/boxes/baskets!
Take down curtains - wash
Take up rugs - wash

The kitchen can become a catch-all if you’re not careful. If your family has a habit of depositing things in the kitchen, and you’re OK with that, try to have a receptacle for all their stuff. Baskets are great for keys, change, pocket contents.

Mail really clutters up kitchen counter tops! Try using a box or basket to hold mail, both outgoing and incoming.

Move out furniture and take everything off your countertops that you possibly can. I will use my living room to store these things while I am cleaning because I have just cleaned my dining room and I don’t want to mess it up!
I will use laundry baskets to hold everything.

I don’t recommend that you attempt to clean the frig and the oven today unless your kitchen just doesn’t need all that much concentrated cleaning elsewhere…that’s a lot of work that might not get finished if you’re not careful!
But if your frig needs it, feel free to tackle it!

Next
Sweep down cobwebs
Make a sink of hot soapy water or use your chemical cleaner. Get out your rags and start washing down
the ceiling if needed, door frames, window frames, baseboards and walls. Wash windows.

Take up your rugs and put them in to wash. Take down curtains and wash.

Put a load of dishes in to wash while you work, or go ahead and wash all the dishes by hand.

Clean the top of the refrigerator, the stove exhaust hood, all large appliances. Go ahead and spray cleaner in the oven if you’re adventurous. Take out the drip pans and put them in a pan of hot soapy water to soak.

Clean of shelves and inside cabinets. Wash them down. Order and organize your pantry food and your pots and pans.

Wash inside your cabinets while they are empty.

Re-line cabinets if needed. Did you know that in the “old days” we used to use newspaper for this??

Replace everything that goes in the cabinets, washing and dusting off as you go.

Wash down the outside of the cabinets, use de-greaser if needed or a wood soap. Dry them and then polish them with lemon oil if they are finished wood. This is going to be the really hard, arm-breaking scrubby part for me today. My cabinets just need a really good deep scrub. But when its done, it will make the whole kitchen look better!

Don’t forget the areas over the stove!

Change your wash water if needed.

Wash down all the bottles, canisters, containers, etc. that sit on your counter tops.

Scrub the counter tops. Wash and replace the drip pans.

Sweep the floor. Make up your mop water and get to scrubbing. I will use a scrub brush this morning and scrub under the stove and all around the cabinets. Then I’ll mop the rest of the floor.

Can you move the stove and clean under it? That would probably be a good idea.

Consider setting up a Baking Center if you cook and bake a lot. I sat mine up in one of my cabinets. I put these items in the Baking Center:

Mixer
Food processor
Flours
Yeast
Baking powder and soda
Salt
Cornmeal
Shortening
Oil
Spices

You could put more in it, like measuring spoons and mixing bowls. It really is a time saver for me!

Finally…

Put all your curtains and dry rugs back down when the floor is dry. Give the appliances one more look and a polish.

Rearrange all your counter top things.

Check out Robin’s thread for ideas regarding kitchen storage and organization.

Light yourself some candles, make some tea and enjoy your kitchen!

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.

Today we will tackle the BATHROOM.. The master bath or family bath, children’s bath or guest bath….matters not to me. Which ever one needs your attention the most. We just have one so I guess that’s where I’ll be cleaning today!

Today is the day you might want to don your “bleach-wear” At least wear some socks so you won’t track up the floor when you’re washing it.

First Things:
Pick up the room. Take out all dirty laundry and towels.

Take down the shower curtain. Put the plastic one in to wash.

Wash the cloth one if you have one.

Take down curtains. Prepare them to wash or just air them outside.

Take out the trash, fill the trash can with cleaner and water to soak of needed, if not give it a quick rinse and set it outside to air while you clean.

Second Things:
Get yourself a box or basket. Pick up all the nicnacs, soaps, lotions, etc that are sitting on the counter-top and tub, put them in the basket.

Sweep the floor, shake out rugs and take them to the laundry or air outside.

If you use spray cleaner, go ahead and spray the tub and sink and commode to let it sit a while.

If you use commode cleaner of some kind, go ahead and put some in the commode to let it soak.

Pull everything out of the linen closet and under the sink area. Go through it carefully and throw away what is out of date or old or unused. Find yourself some storage containers like baskets or small plastic trays to keep your bathroom items in. Try using a medium sized basket to put blow-dryers, curling irons, etc, in.

Take everything out of the medicine cabinet too and go through it ruthlessly! Throw stuff away that is expired and truly useless.

Put your linens out on the dining room table while you work.

Make yourself a sink of hot soapy water or hot water with your cleaner of choice in it. Get your rags ready.

Now the Nitty Gritty Cleaning!

Wash the inside of the cabinets and shelves in the linen closet. This is a good time to line them! Don’t forget the floor of the closet. Refold the linens and replace them in the closet. Consider spraying them with some nice lavender water or other light scent.

Wash out the medicine cabinet.

Wash down walls and window frames, door frames and tile if you have it.

Take down blinds if they are dirty and soak them in the tub in warm water and dish soap while you clean.

Wash the ceiling if it needs it.

Wash the walls. Use caution if your walls are papered or painted, be gentle.

Wash the baseboards or the area where the floor and wall meet.

Scrub the tub if you’re not using it to soak the blinds. If you are, just wait on this. A scotch brite is great for cleaning the tub if your tub is not resurfaced porcelain.

Scrub the counter tops, commode tank and outside of the commode.

Scrub the floor.

Scrub the shower. Don’t forget the walls of the shower or tub area.

Change your wash water if needed.

Scrub your blinds with a brush, rinse them and take them outside to dry while you clean the tub, inside and out.

Wash the windows and mirrors using glass cleaner. Check my blog for homemade recipes.

Wipe down shelves and inside cabinets, cabinet tops.

Wash the sink.

If you are going to use bleach, this is the time to do it. Bleach isn’t a cleaner, its a disinfectant. So all the cleaning has to be done first, then we use bleach to kill the germs that may be left behind and to brighten up some of the bathroom fixtures.

I use bleach all over my floor because I have tile with grout that gets yellowed. I open the window and pour bleach over the grout, spread it with my sponge mop, close the door and let it sit for about 20 minutes.
Then I go in and mop it up with water and dry it with a towel.

I also bleach around the commode and around the tub. Its an old tub and needs some bleach now and then to keep it nice and white. If your tub area has mildew problems, consider pouring a little bleach around the tub surround. Be careful with the bleach and don’t inhale it!

Please be careful with bleach. Don’t let me hear that you have mixed bleach with other household chemicals and cleaners, I may have to come and discipline you severely!

Get your rugs washed and dried and back in the room.

Replace your nicnacs and notions, lotions, potions. Wash the bottles with a cleaning rag before putting them up.

Rehang the shower curtains, rehang window curtains.

Light a candle and just look at that clean bathroom!

Today begins our Fast and Furious Fall Cleaning! (FFFC/O)

If you’re like me, you have been anticipating this event because there are things that just really need to be done in the house and you need some motivation.

I hope I can provide just that!

You might have better success today if you print this out and take it with you. Then, just come back during the day when you are taking a break to read and see what everyone else is doing. If you are participating in the FFFC/O, try to stay away from the computer today unless you are breaking or of course unless you are done! You might also want to print out the natural cleaner formulas if you will be using them.

To make your own Natural Cleaners check HERE.

Remember that this kind of cleaning isn’t for everyone. Its for those who are physically able to move about and work fast and furiously. If you can’t keep up, please don’t feel badly. Just do what you can and feel good about it! Root for the rest of the ladies, and clean as you are able! We will cheer you on, too!

DISCLAIMER: I have to tell you….I don’t know what is in your home, don’t know what your furniture, rugs, curtains, floors are made of….. so you will have to take responsibility for making decisions about what methods to use to clean some of these things. If I say wash your curtains and your fall apart… you probably should have read the label! laugh.gif

The Master Bedroom

Now, you may have other things that need to be done in your bedroom, but these are the essentials of a thorough cleaning and decluttered/organized bedroom.

First - Take down curtains and wash them if you are able. If you cannot wash them, hang them outside to air. Be sure not to hang them in full sun if you think they may fade.

Second - Strip the bed linens and put them in to wash or in the laundry room.

Third - Hang up and put away all clothes or laundry. Yes….. I can see in your bedroom today! If there are clothes that need to be put in someone else’s room, do it. If there are clothes that need to be stored, store them. If there are clothes that need to go to GoodWill, take them!

If you just don’t have any way to store those clothes, get rid of some of them! Let’s also see if anyone has some good ideas for impromptu storage techniques… If you do, speak up while we clean this room.

Fourth - Get yourself three baskets, boxes or bags. Label these containers:

Throw Away
Give Away
Put Away

Walk around your room and put everything that you don’t want in the room in one of these boxes.
When this is done…

Find a fourth box…. put all your trinkets, doo-dads and nicnacs that you are going to keep in this box (think about getting rid of some of these! ). Put your alarm clock, pictures, wall decor, everything that will stay in the room. Place this box in the dining room or kitchen. You can enlist a child to dust and clean these items or save this for yourself for later.

Fifth - Pull everything out of the closet. Oh yes, the closet. Pull it all OUT. All of it. Everything. Now go through it quickly and put each item in one of your four boxes. Hang up clothes and sort them into the boxes quickly. Don’t take too much time with this. If you have not worn the item in 2 years, toss it or give it away.

If an item you pull out of your closet does not belong in the closet, if the closet is not where you really should store it, then move it to its rightful place. If you don’t have anywhere else for this item, then its rightful place is the closet. Only you know.

Dust, sweep and clean the inside of the closet. Rehang the clothes. Arrange the contents of the closet that are going back in it, correctly and neatly. Robin will probably have some ideas for storage and organizational issues…

Sixth - Clean out from under the bed. Pull it all out, divide the under-bed contents into your four boxes. Sweep and mop under the bed when everything is moved out from under it.

There are lots of good ideas for under-bed storage. Those bed risers that I talk about every year are really a handy thing to have. Here is a photo of a bed-riser:

You can see that it can give you up to 10 inches of space to store things. They cost about $ 8.95 - $14.95 for four of them. This is one of the best investments for the household I have ever made. I bought mine at Linen’s and Things. Flat plastic boxes are great for under the bed too.

Seventh - We’re on the home stretch! Dust the ceilings, tops of windows and door frames, and walls. If you walls are dirty and you want to wash them, go for it! Use a mild detergent or soap and warm water if you have painted walls. If you have wallpaper, you will want to use a barely damp sponge and a drying towel. Work from the top of the wall down to the floor. If you have carpet, cover it!

Now to the Nitty Gritty Cleaning of the Room:

Wash the windows. Use my homemade window cleaner or what ever you have on hand. Use newspaper to dry them for a streak free shine!

Clean up the window frames now and dry them well.

Clean the baseboards with a soapy solution of mild dish soap and warm water or your natural cleaner

Dust all furniture. Use lemon oil or orange oil on all wood. Use a mild soap and warm water on other furniture according to what its made of. Wash doilies and table covers.

If you haven’t yet cleaned the nicnacs and needful items that go in your room go do that now. When they are cleaned, replace them where they go in the room.

Think about adding a doilie or a table skirt to soften the room. Think about what you use to make the room a pleasant place to be with your husband or just to go to relax.

Press and rehang your curtains.

Sweep, vacuum and mop the floor depending on what you need to do. If your floors are hard, use which ever chemicals you have success with. I use a wood soap on my hardwood and then a wood shiner product made by Glade. Sometimes I even use orange oil on the floors and rub them to a deep shine. You must rub the wood very vigorously so that it won’t be slick!

Dress the bed. Its getting to be cooler here in the US so dress your bed in sheets and two quilts OR with one quilt and one blanket. Think about getting a skirt to hide the under bed contents. I found a white cotton one at Good Will for $3.49 !

Replace rugs

Light a candle and take your “after” picture!

I’m going to be checking in throughout the day to see how you are doing!

Got questions? Got organizing nightmares and de-cluttering woes? ASK! Robin, or myself or one of the other ladies here is sure to have some ideas.