Turning Over a Clean Leaf in 2009

So, if you've been to our house in the last year, you know I always apologize for the mess. You always respond, "It's fine! You have a baby/toddler!" What you DON'T know is that I probably ran around for at least an hour (more likely even longer!) prior to your arrival throwing things into the nearest bin/drawer/corner, vacuuming, throwing out stinky diapers, and scrubbing the toilet to achieve the level of pseudo-cleanliness you observed. You should also know that you are one of not many guests in our home this year for that very reason! (So feel special?!)

Despite the lack of order in our home (or perhaps because of it!), some days I feel as though I clean all day long. I decided that there must be a better way to keep a clean house and still have time to keep my job, enjoy activities with Charlotte, and still have time for myself. My plan of attack includes 1)organization and 2)daily and weekly task breakdown.

An organized home has a place for everything - no staring at an item and thinking"great, what do I do with this?"

Our daily lists identify simple chores to complete each day to keep each room in a manageable state (ie: wipe down bathroom sink, all dishes in the dishwasher). My weekly lists allow me to tackle a single room with a deeper cleaning (ie: dusting and mopping).

While, to start out, organizing a room will take the better part of the day, and the weekly cleaning for the day might take an hour, I hope to stay mostly organized once everything has a place. Because we'll take a few minutes each day to complete simple cleaning tasks, I hope to spend half an hour a day on deeper cleaning in whichever designated room.

I still need bins for under the sink, and a rack inside the under-sink cabinet door for sponges, but you can see the progress I'm making with the kitchen.

Kitchen Organization:
*remove all unnecessary items from the counter tops
*clean out junk drawer to make space for cooking utensils (formerly on the counter)
*box and put all baby bottles and related equipment in lower cabinet to make room for appliances
*make room in cabinet for baking containers (formerly on the counter)
*move all other mail/random nick-knacks to designated home (ie: books and hair bows)
*organize items under the sink into storage bins

Daily Kitchen Tasks:
*load dishwasher
*wipe out sink
*wipe off counters
*sweep floor
*wipe off booster seat

Weekly Kitchen Tasks:
*sweep and mop the floor
*wipe the cabinets, backsplashes, and appliances
*wipe switch plates and phone
*wash dog bowls
*wipe inside of garbage can and surrounding wall (eww!)

Yuck! I only considered this mildly messy!

Now this is progress!

From another angle:

The rest of our house looks better, too, although not quite up to the same quality-yet. My goal is to have a house that will be ready for company with just a few minutes of picking up daily clutter (read, whatever havoc tornado Charlotte managed that day). Hopefully, this will mean more entertaining and time with friends in 2009!