34 weeks of Clean 2019! Week 20- Bedrooms 3+

Welcome back!

By now you have had a week to get a start on any bedrooms in your house, excluding the Master.  That was done in week 15, right?  Remember, everyone's bedroom situation looks different but the basics are the same.  At our house we tackled two rooms last week, so we are now moving to three more this week.  Luckily, one of those bedrooms belongs to my oldest and is her domain completely.

 Your assignment is to finish any bedrooms left in your house.

Here are the basics again, same as last week-

• Strip the beds and wash ALL of the linens.  Replace any torn or stained sheets or such.
• Wipe down light switches, door knobs, and door frames, inside and out.  Look up, again, and clean off ceiling fans and light fixtures.
• Take everything off all flat surfaces and move it out!
• Dust all surfaces, sides and all!
• While stuff is still out, move furniture away from walls so you can wipe down baseboards and vacuum around all edges.
• Replace furniture or rearrange while you have the chance!  Is it just me or is deep cleaning just an excuse to rearrange?  Again!
• Put things back, but try to eliminate half.  Remember- the more STUFF your kids have, the harder it is for them to keep it organized!
  
• Clean out all the drawers, getting rid of anything that doesn't fit or you do not wear!

• Clean window frames and windows.  Once again, mini blinds and curtains are on the list. 

• Vacuum the floor and you are done!

For younger kids this is a good time to weed through the toys.  We talked about toys last week, but here are a few more points to consider.  We have found that when we deep clean, we uncover things that need to be tossed.  Whether old, extra, or broken, our kids tend to hold on to whatever we let them.  We try to organize and evaluate on a regular basis.  This is NOT a one time job, especially in our kids' rooms!

Yes, those are Legos.  Yes, it is obnoxious!

- A word about stuffed animals.   Be careful and do not get sucked in!  Yes, there are some clever ways to display them, but in the end consider how many your child really needs!  When our kids were little, we too, got caught up on the animal thing.  Honestly, I had a worse attachment to them than the kids did.  It was ridiculous.  We eventually made them choose their favorite 5, and sent the rest off to loving homes.  Let's face it, they collect dust and are a health hazard for kids with allergies, and they take up a lot of space.  Just consider that maybe this is an area that you need to address.  It was for me! (like the legos!)  Last year I found this bean bag shell that we have filled with stuffed animals.  The kids get to keep the sentimental ones, I don't have to look at them, and it gets used in the loft.  Win-win!

Deep cleaning is also a time to fix things.  Including painting a wall in need.  The owners prior to us allowed a child to draw on the chalkboard wall.  No amount of cleaning it hid the images left- including a not nice word.  Seriously?!  So yes, we repainted it!

So, a few of our finished projects-

This week I want to leave you with a few thoughts and some encouragement.  If you have not joined us yet, it is NEVER too late to start.  I say that in all seriousness.  Just start.  You CAN do this, I know you can!  If you are behind, don't let discouragement keep you from the finish line.  We all have to do life and sometimes things get in the middle of our best laid plans.  That is OK.  What is more important is that we get back on the horse and keep riding!  I hope you can hear me cheering for you to keep riding.  

If you do NOTHING else this week, set a timer for 30 minutes each day and do SOMETHING! ANYTHING!  By the end of the week you will feel great about your accomplishments,  I know you will!  And remember, clearing out the clutter involves actually getting rid of stuff.  We cannot simply rearrange our mess and call it good!

Let me know how you did last week!  We can't wait to see your pictures on our Facebook page!

Have fun cleaning!

Blessings, 

Intro Week
Week 1- Holiday Decorations
Week 2-The Pantry
Week 3-Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers   

Week 4- Fridge, Freezer and Floors
Week 5- Recipes 
Week 6- The Stove and Loose Ends 
Week 7- The Dining Room 
Week 8- The Living Room 
Week 9- Books 
Week 10- Bathrooms  
Week 11- The Foyer
Week 12- The Family Room and DVDs 
Week 13- Pictures and Scrapbooks
Week 14- Arts, Crafts and Hobbies 
Week 15- The Master Bedroom  
Week 16- The Master Closet 

Week 17- The Master Bathroom

Week 18- Halftime

Week 19- Bedrroms 1 &2

34 Weeks of Clean 2019- Week 19- Bedrooms 1&2

We are back!  I hope you had a good half-time week!  I know some of you took a well deserved break while I know others of you used this week to catch up.  Either way, I hope it was a week to do something that made you smile!  I also know for a fact that we have some new friends joining us.  If this is you, or if you just need a reminder of why you jumped on this crazy train with us, I would encourage you to go back and read THIS POST! 

I will wait here while you catch up!

And so where do we go from here?  Back to the bedroom.  So here's the deal.  For the next two assignments you are getting an advance notice. We will spend TWO weeks, this one included, on bedrooms. (The Master Bedroom was done in week 15 if you need to catch up!)  Children's, guest, whatever.  Therefore, if you have more than 2 bedrooms left you will need to pair some up.  In our case, you will see the two rooms together and then a week for three more.  The basics will be the same!

Your assignment then, is BEDROOMS.

The Basics-

•  Strip the beds and wash ALL of the linens.  Replace any torn or stained sheets or such. Rotate your mattress if you think it needs it.

• Take everything off all flat surfaces and move it out!  Some children are not naturally neat people!  So thankful that only one of my kiddos is still in this stage and let's just say, it is NOT one of the girls! ;)

• Dust all surfaces, sides and all!

•  While stuff is still off, move furniture away from walls so you can wipe down baseboards and vacuum around all edges.

•  Replace furniture or rearrange while you have the chance! ;)  See a trend here?  I am the queen of changing furniture around, just ask my friends.  Luckily for the family we haven’t been in this house quite a year yet, so I haven’t tried rearranging bedrooms yet.

• Wipe down light switches, door knobs, and door frames, inside and out.  Look up, again, and clean off ceiling fans and light fixtures. 

• Clean window frames and windows.  Once again, mini blinds and curtains are on the list.  Sorry!

   

• Put things back, but try to eliminate half.  Remember, we are on a quest to declutter as well as clean.  Does your child need it?  Do they use it?  Could someone else get better use of it? Make a pile and move it out! See notes at the bottom!

•  Time to tackle the drawers.  Again, take it ALL out, decide what you need to keep and then put only those things back, neatly.  Now is a good time to get rid of clothes that are too small, not in good shape, or your child hates. We were able to pass on a huge bag of clothes from my youngest who has shot up in height recently.  Now, teach your children how to keep it clean.  Even a young child can be taught to put things away neatly.

• Vacuum the floor and you are done.  Mostly!

Let's just take a moment to talk about toys, since I KNOW this is an ongoing challenge for many of you. (I still have a "little" and I get it!)

   -Stop buying them!  We have a pretty strict rule about no buying toys unless it is birthday or Christmas.  Best thing we ever did.  Of course, when a child has saved up their own money we make exceptions, but we want our children to learn early that just because we WANT something does not mean we NEED it.  Ok, yes, we do break the rules for an occasional special treat, but I mean special and oh, did I say small!?  Happiness is not built on toys alone and it is time kids today were taught that.

   -Stick to a few themes.  Our children do not need one of everything.  Really, they don't.  Pick a few things they like and stick with them.  The themes around here tend to be Legos, nerf guns, and audio books.  Find what your child likes and plays with, and don't get carried away. In my experience, it is parents that get caught up in collections, not kids.  Let's not teach them our bad habits!

   -Containerize and rotate toys.  (I made that first word up) Trust me, it helps and it works.  I did another decluttering post a while back that you can check out that shows one way to containerize easily.  We tend to use baskets and when the kids were really little we rotated those baskets in and out every few weeks, a few at a time.  You would be surprised at how excited they get about toys they haven't seen in a few weeks.

- Special items!  Yes, even my kids like to hang on to things, despite my natural tendency to dump stuff in the trash.  You know, important things like rocks, paperclips, old art projects.  There are two ways we have helped with that problem.  One - a small plastic tackle box. The rule is if you can fit it in there, it can stay.  If not, something else has to go.  And two - a simple folder with pockets. If there are papers you just cannot let go of, put them in your folder.  Again, if there is no more room, it is time to weed out what you do not want anymore.

Let's face it, every child's room is going to be a little different.  I would love for my boys' rooms to look like the ones in the Pottery Barn catalog.  I would REALLY like that.  But for now that is not reality for us, OK, that is probably NEVER going to be reality for us.  So we do our best. When we have lived in houses that have playspace areas we tried to make bedrooms just a place to sleep.  I love that!  But that does not always happen.  So sleep and play must co-exist.  And sanity must reign, so I try to make it as easy as I can for them to maintain a reasonably clean room and ignore accept the rest.

Clean up, declutter, and embrace the space you have!

So, about that Half Time week, how'd you do?  What area did you catch up on?  I want to see.  I spent ALL week working on scrapbooking and am happy to report I am slowly making progress.  See?  Yes, that is FOUR books done.  I may actually be caught up in a few weeks.  I will keep you posted.

Until next week, happy cleaning!

Blessings,

34 Weeks of Clean rinse and Repeat Week 20 Bedrooms 3+

Welcome back!  By now you have had a week to get a start on any bedrooms in your house, excluding the Master.  That was done in week 15, right?  Remember, everyone's bedroom situation looks different but the basics are the same.  Since we tackled our girls' rooms last week, we are now moving to the boys.  This was a slightly harder week for me for obvious reasons. 

 Your assignment is to finish any bedrooms left in your house.

Here are the basics again, same as last week-

• Strip the beds and wash ALL of the linens.  Replace any torn or stained sheets or such.

 

• Take everything off all flat surfaces and move it out!
• Dust all surfaces, sides and all!
• While stuff is still off, move furniture away from walls so you can wipe down baseboards and vacuum around all edges.
• Replace furniture or rearrange while you have the chance!  Is it just me or is deep cleaning just an excuse to rearrange?  Again!
• Put things back, but try to eliminate half.  Remember- the more STUFF your kids have, the harder it is for them to keep it organized!
  
• Clean out all the drawers, getting rid of anything that doesn't fit or you do not wear!

•  Wipe down light switches, door knobs, and door frames, inside and out.  Look up, again, and clean off ceiling fans and light fixtures. 

 

• Clean window frames and windows.  Once again, mini blinds and curtains are on the list. 
• Vacuum the floor and you are done!

For younger kids this is a good time to weed through the toys.  We talked about toys last week, but here are a few more points to consider.  We have found that when we deep clean, we uncover things that need to be tossed.  Whether old, extra, or broken, our kids tend to hold on to whatever we let them.  We try to organize and evaluate on a regular basis.  This is NOT a one time job, especially in our kids' rooms!

Yes, those are Legos.  Yes, it is obnoxious!

- A word about stuffed animals.   Be careful and do not get sucked in!  Yes, there are some clever ways to display them, but in the end consider how many your child really needs!  When our kids were little, we too, got caught up on the animal thing.  Honestly, I had a worse attachment to them than the kids did.  It was ridiculous.  We eventually made them choose their favorite 5, and sent the rest off to loving homes.  Let's face it, they collect dust and are a health hazard for kids with allergies, and they take up a lot of space.  Just consider that maybe this is an area that you need to address.  It was for me! (like the legos!)

Deep cleaning is also a time to fix things.  We had a bookshelf that had a bad leg.  My "little fix" turned into a three hour project but my husband rocks and got it done.

When your parents won't get out of your room, you hide on the floor of your sister's room and read a book for a few hours!

 

So, our finished projects-

They may not be pottery barn, but they are pretty good, if I say so myself.  

This week I want to leave you with a few thoughts and some encouragement.  If you have not joined us yet, it is NEVER too late to start.  I say that in all seriousness.  Just start.  You CAN do this, I know you can!  If you are behind, don't let discouragement keep you from the finish line.  We all have to do life and sometimes things get in the middle of our best laid plans.  That is OK.  What is more important is that we get back on the horse and keep riding!  I hope you can hear me cheering for you to keep riding.  

If you do NOTHING else this week, set a timer for 30 minutes each day and do SOMETHING! ANYTHING!  By the end of the week you will feel great about your accomplishments,  I know you will!  And remember, clearing out the clutter involves actually getting rid of stuff.  We cannot simply rearrange our mess and call it good!

Let me know how you did last week!  We can't wait to see your pictures on our Facebook page!

Like these pictures from one of our 34 Weekers- I LOVE her children's rooms and am slightly, OK, a lot jealous of then!! Thank you Tonya, for letting me share!

Have fun cleaning!  Blessings,

34 Weeks of Clean: Rinse and Repeat: Week 19- Bedrooms 1&2

We are back!  I hope you had a good half-time week!  I know some of you took a well deserved break while I know others of you used this week to catch up.  Either way, I hope it was a week to do something that made you smile!  I also know for a fact that we have some new friends joining us.  If this is you, or if you just need a reminder of why you jumped on this crazy train with us, I would encourage you to go back and read THIS POST!  I will wait here while you catch up!

And so where do we go from here?  Back to the bedroom.  So here's the deal.  For the next two assignments you are getting an advance notice. We will spend TWO weeks, this one included, on bedrooms. (The Master Bedroom was done in week 15 if you need to catch up!)  Children's, guest, whatever.  Therefore, if you have more than 2 bedrooms left you will need to pair some up.  In our case, you will see the two girls' rooms together and then a week for our boys.  No guest room in this house, but you divide as you see fit.  The basics will be the same!

The Basics- 

• Strip the beds and wash ALL of the linens.  Replace any torn or stained sheets or such. Rotate your mattress if you think it needs it.

• Take everything off all flat surfaces and move it out!  Some children are not naturally neat people!  So thankful that only one of my kiddos is still in this stage and let's just say, it is NOT one of the girls! ;)

• Dust all surfaces, sides and all!

• While stuff is still off, move furniture away from walls so you can wipes down baseboards and vacuum around all edges.

• Replace furniture or rearrange while you have the chance! ;)  See a trend here?  I am the queen of changing furniture around, just ask my friends.  Luckily for the girls, there is only one way to arrange Riley's room and I am not in charge of Ashton's room anymore.

• Put things back, but try to eliminate half.  Remember, we are on a quest to declutter as well as clean.  Does your child need it?  Do they use it?  Could someone else get better use of it? Make a pile and move it out! See notes at the bottom!

• Time to tackle the drawers.  Again, take it ALL out, decide what you need to keep and then put only those things back, neatly.  Now is a good time to get rid of clothes that are too small, not in good shape, or your child hates. Now, teach your children how to keep it clean.  Even a young child can be taught to put things away neatly.

The boys may have a Lego problem, but this girl is all about socks!

       
   -My best tip for you here- fold t-shirts in thirds and then put them in the drawers.  We have found it is much easier for a child to see the shirt they want without making a mess of a stack of them, and you can fit many more in!

• Wipe down light switches, door knobs, and door frames, inside and out.  Look up, again, and clean off ceiling fans and light fixtures. 

• Clean window frames and windows.  Once again, mini blinds and curtains are on the list.  Sorry!

• Vacuum the floor and you are done.  Mostly!

 

Although this does not apply to my older girls, let's just take a moment to talk about toys, since I KNOW this is an ongoing challenge for many of you. (I still have a "little" and I get it!)

   -Stop buying them!  We have a pretty strict rule about no buying toys unless it is birthday or Christmas.  Best thing we ever did.  Of course, when a child has saved up their own money we make exceptions, but we want our children to learn early that just because we WANT something does not mean we NEED it.  Ok, yes, we do break the rules for an occasional special treat, but I mean special and oh, did I say small!?  Happiness is not built on toys alone and it is time kids today were taught that.

   -Stick to a few themes.  Our children do not need one of everything.  Really, they don't.  Pick a few things they like and stick with them.  The themes around here tend to be Legos, nerf guns, Playmobile and audio books.  Find what your child likes and plays with, and don't get carried away. In my experience, it is parents that get caught up in collections, not kids.  Let's not teach them our bad habits!

   -Containerize and rotate toys.  (I made that first word up) Trust me, it helps and it works.  I did another decluttering post a while back that you can check out that shows one way to containerize easily.  We tend to use baskets and when the kids were really little we rotated those baskets in and out every few weeks, a few at a time.  You would be surprised at how excited they get about toys they haven't seen in a few weeks.

Even coloring supplies can be kept together!

- Special items!  Yes, even my kids like to hang on to things, despite my natural tendency to dump stuff in the trash.  You know, important things like rocks, paperclips, old art projects.  There are two ways we have helped with that problem.  One - a small plastic tackle box. The rule is if you can fit it in there, it can stay.  If not, something else has to go.  And two - a simple folder with pockets. If there are papers you just cannot let go of, put them in your folder.  Again, if there is no more room, it is time to weed out what you do not want anymore.

Let's face it, every child's room is going to be a little different.  I would love for my boys' rooms to look like the ones in the Pottery Barn catalog.  I would REALLY like that.  But for now that is not reality for us, OK, that is probably NEVER going to be reality for us.  So we do our best. When we have lived in houses that have playspace areas we tried to make bedrooms just a place to sleep.  I love that!  But that does not always happen.  So sleep and play must co-exist.  And sanity must reign, so I try to make it as easy as I can for them to maintain a reasonably clean room and ignore accept the rest.

Clean up, declutter, and embrace the space you have!

So, about that Half Time week, how'd you do?  What area did you catch up on?  I want to see!  Keep those pictures coming- we have some great prizes thank to our lovely friends at Redeemed and 621 Gifts!  Have I mentioned how much I love those friends?  I would love if you would drop by their FB pages and say hi!

Until next week, happy cleaning!

Blessings,