"Spring" Cleaning

Okay... so... I've never actually done any sort of whole house or "spring" cleaning before. That's probably because for a long time the running joke among our friends was to never write our address in INK in an address book! Now that we are, eh hem, settling into a house with no plans to leave (for now!), I felt like maybe it was time to start with a whole house cleaning plan. We have been living in our house for a year now, although it feels like it's been much shorter than that, and the dirt and grime was starting to show. So, although I missed the boat on a true SPRING cleaning, I know my house benefited from the process that took place over the past week.

However... it was a pretty major effort to tackle so much cleaning in a week's worth of time. There were also several areas of the house that I was cleaning and thinking I'm SURE this could use cleaning MORE than once a year! So, now that I've tackled all of this, I think I'm going to re-vamp my list and break it down monthly so that some tasks are in the rotation once per year and others more frequently. The thing that I liked about the check list was that it made me much more methodical in my cleaning. Here is everything that I tackled:

Whole House
 wipe down all baseboards and molding
 vacuum all curtains and blinds
 clean inside & out of all windows
 vacuum all rugs – including under furniture
 clear all cobwebs
 dust all light fixtures and ceiling fans
 change smoke detector batteries
 dust & clean glass on all wall photos
 steam clean all carpets
 steam mop all hardwood and linoleum floors
 wipe down and disinfect all electronic items
 change HVAC filters

Kitchen
 wipe down cabinets
 clean fridge coils
 clean out and wipe down inside of fridge
 clean drawer organizers
 clean oven
 wipe down walls
 wipe chairs
 clean & polish table
 clean trash can
 clean inside of dishwasher
 wipe down exterior doors
 clean inside & out of microwave
 clean out and wipe down inside of lazy susan cabinet
 wipe down spice rack
 dust upper cabinet tops
 organize pantry
 clean out under sink cabinet
 wipe down counter tops, sink & stove top
 clean dish rack & pan
 new dish sponge

Dining Room
 clean & polish table
 wipe down all chairs
 dust inside and out of china cabinets

Bathrooms
 clean toilets, mirrors, counter tops, tubs and showers
 organize linen closets and cabinets
 wash bath mats & towels
 empty trash
 stock trash bags in cans

Living room
 wash all furniture covers
 dust built-ins
 organize cabinets
 clean out dresser drawers
 clean & polish coffee table & end table

Bedrooms
 wash bed linens
 vacuum & flip mattresses
 wipe down & polish headboards and dressers
 organize closets
 wash dog bed cover

Nursery
 wipe down crib
 clean leather on rocking chair
 clean & polish stand & Dresser
 move any out of season or too small clothes to storage
 wash bedding
 wipe down crib mattress

Play room
 dust tv
 clean & organize TV stand
 clean leather sofa
 disinfect all toys
 move un-used toys to storage
 wipe down kids table & chairs
 wipe down play mats

Laundry room
 wipe down washer & dryer
 organize laundry shelves
 empty, clean & refill litter box
 wipe down dog food container

Whew! And now I'm tired of cleaning!! To give my husband props, he did get up on the ladder to change the HVAC filters, smoke detector batteries and clear the cobwebs. The biggest thing that he did to help, was to take over parenting duties on Sunday afternoon while I got a big chunk of things finished. I'm glad this is done, but now know that I want to break this up into smaller chunks throughout the year. It was too much to tackle in a week and still try to take care of normal life stuff!