The Elf Blog

Yard Clean Up

As the weather gets better, you and your loved ones will probably be spending more time outside.

If the weather is nice this weekend, take some time to give your yard a good once over.  Clear out any trash.  Tidy the flower beds.  Prune hedges. 

Make your outside as lovely and welcoming as the inside.

The Friday Tidy

By the time my work week ends at 5 on Friday, I am ready for the weekend.  I'm tired and my brain is tired.  But I still want to be ready for whatever the weekend might bring.  If a friend calls and wants to stop by, I don't want to be in a panic.

So, I started the Friday Tidy.  When I come home from work, I spend 30-60 minutes doing a quick once-over of the main part of the house.  Here's what I do:

• I run a cleaning wipe over the fixtures in the bathroom and clear away any used towels.
• I do any dishes that are in the kitchen sink.
• I empty the garbage cans and take the garbage and recycling outside.
• I sort the laundry if necessary.
• I go through any mail that's stacked up and separate things I need to handle from the huge amounts of junk I can toss.
• I put away clothes and gather any dry cleaning.
• If I have a minute, I might run the vacuum or run a dustcloth over furniture in the living room.

By the time I've finished with these things, whatever I tossed into the oven for dinner is done -- or the pizza has arrived.  And I've earned a nice glass of wine and an evening of reading and watching movies -- without worrying about who might stop by over the weekend.

Another Bit of Spring Cleaning

I know. I know.  You're tired of spring cleaning already.  Your hands are chapped from cleaning solution and your back hurts from moving stuff.

This bit of cleaning won't hurt your hands or your back.  Once again, it's time to look in your cabinets and pantry and freezer and eat the food you have stored there.  If you aren't going to eat it, donate it to a local food bank (In growing need of resources in these tough economic times). 

It's good to periodically rotate any food you have stored to keep things fresh.  And, with the summer growing season on the horizon, you'll want room to store anything you might preserve or to freeze vegetables and fruit at their peak.  For example, you can freeze fresh strawberries at their peak of flavor (and at their lowest price).  While they won't have quite the texture of a fresh berry, they'll have all the nutrition and will add wonderful freshness to smoothies or to fruit bread.  You can also puree them with a little liqueur to make a lovely sauce to top ice cream or cake.  But I digress.

Take a look in your pantry and freezer and see what you have stored. If you know you won't use it, put it in a box for donation.  Otherwise, use the list of stored food as the basis for planning menus for the next few weeks.  Try to use at least one or two stored items at every meal.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about the sort of food that should replace what's stored.

Spring Cleaning: Finished!

Sorry for no blog yesterday, but I was recovering from my spring cleaning weekend.  I'm tired and my muscles are sore, but I love the way my house looks.  It's such a peaceful, restful environment now.  And I feel like I can take on other projects I've been looking forward to doing.

That's the purpose of all these tasks:  To get you in a place so that you can do the things you love.

Spring Cleaning: Advanced

If you are really excited about spring cleaning and have plenty of time and energy, you can add the following tasks to the lists already developed:

In all rooms:

• Clean all lighting fixtures (vacuum shades, wash glass globes, etc.).
• Wash windows (inside and out).

Bedrooms:

• Empty closets and drawers, donating clothes that don't fit or that you don't wear and discarding clothes that are in poor condition.
• Make a pile of clothes requiring repair.  Develop a plan for repairing them or having them repaired.

Kitchen:

• Defrost freezer.
• Clear cabinets and use, donate, or discard foods approaching or past expiration dates.
• Match up plastic containers and discard the ones missing lids or bottom.
• Pull the refrigerator away from the wall and mop behind it.  Vacuum the refrigerator coils.

Bathroom:

• Empty medicine cabinet, discarding outdated medications and cosmetics. (Note:  Do NOT flush medicines.  Many pharmacies provide containers for safe disposal.)
• Discard or donate any worn, stained, or torn linens or towels.  (Many animal rescue groups are happy to accept old towels, blankets, and sheets.)

If you finish all of this, sit back and relax!  You deserve it!

Spring Cleaning: Intermediate Version

For those who are more energetic or ambitious, you can add the following tasks to the basics in the last post.

In all rooms:

• Dust baseboards, doorjambs, vents, and walls, especially corners.
• Vacuum, launder, dust, or dry clean window treatments as needed.
• Replace batteries and test smoke detectors.

Bedrooms:

• Launder pillows and mattress pads.
• Flip mattresses and vacuum box springs.
• Replace winter bedding with lighter bedding.

Living Room/Dining Room

• Spot clean furniture.
• Polish wooden furniture.
• Clean fireplace.

Kitchen

• Scrub cabinet fronts.
• Prune fridge art gallery.

Bathroom

• Wash shower curtain.
• Bleach shower liner.

Spring Cleaning: The Basics

At it's most basic level, spring cleaning is the sort of deep cleaning we'd do weekly if we had the time.  It's cleaning thoroughly instead of dusting around stuff and tidying heavily trafficked areas. 

As a minimum, try to do the following as part of your spring cleaning:

In all rooms:

• Dust mop, scrub, or vacuum floors and carpets.
• Move belongings and furniture and dust or sweep under them.
• Put all possessions where they actually belong.
• Clean mirrors.
• Launder or beat rugs.

Bedrooms:

• Change linens.
• Fluff pillows.
• Launder blankets and comforters.
• Hang up clothes.
• Take winter clothes to be stored to the dry cleaner if necessary.

Living Room/Dining Room:

• Declutter as much as possible.
• Launder slipcovers and tablecloths.
• Vacuum sofa and chair cushions (including dining chairs).
• Designate a spot for mail and errand materials.

Kitchen:

• Do all dishes and put them away.
• Clear and scrub countertops.
• Scrub stovetop.
• Clean oven.
• Scrub sink.
• Clean refrigerator. (That means tossing out the science experiments hidden in the back and scouring away the apple juice spills from last month.)

Bathroom(s):

• Scrub all fixtures.
• Wipe down shower walls.

For those who are more ambitious, we'll add to this list tomorrow.

Why Spring Cleaning?

Two words that make many adults dread the onset of spring: spring cleaning.  You can ignore it;  you can avoid it; you can delay it.  Ultimately, you need to face it.

Spring cleaning originated in an earlier era when people closed their houses for the winter, trapping the residue of fires and gas lights in the house.  When spring came, there was a real need to scrub everything clean.  Now, the need for cleaning is less obvious, but it's always a good idea to do a really thorough cleaning periodically.  Also, there are some chores that are best left to the change of seasons (like switching out storm windows and screens or switching spring/summer and fall/winter wardrobes).

If I start from a basically tidy house, I can do a decent spring cleaning of 1000 squere feet in under 10 hours.  Over the rest of this week, I'll blog about basic spring cleaning, more advanced spring cleaning, and hard core spring cleaning.  You can choose the kind you want to do.  In the meantime, here are some starter steps:

• Pick an extended bloc of time for your cleaning and schedule it in pen.  I usually block out most of a weekend. If you have a big house or if you are starting from disorder, you may need to schedule more time.
• In advance of your cleaning dates, do your best to lay the groundwork by doing basic tidying: Hang up clothes; do laundry; put things where they actually belong; do the nagging little errands you've been putting off.  Spending 30 minutes a day can make a huge difference.
• Make sure you have sufficient cleaning supplies on hand.
• Get everyone in the family involved.  Everyone can do something.
• The first nice day that you will be home, open all the windows and let fresh air flood your house. 
• Don't forget the yard.  If you maintain your own lawn, you may need to spruce that up as well.
• Decide how you will reward yourself when you are done.  I'm debating between a BBQ chicken pizza and a pedicure.  Maybe both.