apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i am actually in the midst of cleaning paralysis right now. i always end up doing things backwards, like cleaning the floor first even though i am going to dust later and knock even more dirt on the floor. maybe i should just start with dusting this time...

Just start in one corner of the house and work your way to the opposite. It's an easy way to get started and not get off track.

Our week (Mon-Fri) is sooooo busy, and jampacked with activity and being a “touch” anal, I have to have a very difinitive routine to get anything done. So,every Sat morning (me and my teenage son have a set routine) –we start the morning with (take-out) breakfast & a netflix movie, then it’s cleaning time! I start in my bedroom, dusting, tidying, striping the lining from the bed and tossing the laundry from the hamper to the hall (all the while I usually have one of my DVR recorded shows I didn’t have time to watch during the week playing in the background), cleaning front to back (bedroom to living rm) – then I go back the other way with the vacuum – then its’ the kitchen, and last the bathroom (I HATE cleaning bathrooms!) – once I’m finished, I take everything into my son’s room and tell him to get to it! And I start on the laundry – I have a small apartment size set so it takes most the rest of the day to get it done – but I iron, and fold every load as it comes out of the dryer. This routine works like a charm, it leaves minimal straightening up during the week, and Sunday is ALL mine.

Fav cleaning products: Fabreeze, Lysol, Fantastick,
& Pledge "in the blue bottle" (all surface cleaner).

I have this theory of cleaning from the top down. Room by room starting on the top floor i tidy, dust, make beds, vacuum/sweep/mop. Once i see the one really clean room, it makes me want to clean the rest!

I have recently hired a housekeeper. It's just easier that way and I'm helping the economy.

I also go room by room because my apartment is larger and it's hard to manage.
I love and highly recommend Mrs Meyer's cleaning products. The smell is fantastic and you can get all your products in the same scent.

A this time of year its not too difficult but when its cold, dark and wet I need a bit of a push.

I start with the bedroom and work my way to the kitchen tidying and dusting.All rooms get vacuum cleaned/mopped in the end . The bathroom is done last. I usually have some tv shows that I like but couldnt watch playing in the background. Laundry is done on weekdays at really odd times since our apartment complex laundry is mostly occupied during the weekend.

I tidy daily, trying to make sure everything is where it belongs, and NOT out on the kitchen counter. (I'm PRETTY good about this, but not obsessive.) Papers in the right tray, dishes in the dishwasher, cat toys in the box, trash in the receptical, etc...

I vacuum weekly, and clean the hard floors on my day off (Friday or Saturday.) That's also when I do laundry (if lucky, for the two of us, it's one batch of whites (underwear and towels, mostly) and one batch of darks. Some weeks there is more than that, including sheets. My Energy Star appliances run at lower temperatures for more time, so it takes a while to finish.) We mostly eat out, so my day off I typically run the dishwasher for breakfast dishes and snack containters, etc. then put everything away. I try to clean the bunny pen then, as well, but sometimes run out of steam.

It's important to start things in the right sequence so the dryer is finished before bedtime, so I start with laundry and do other things while batches are running. The hard part is noticing when the dryer stops so I can fold things before wrinkles set in. (I hate ironing and try to avoid it if I can.)

Less often I wash windows and do other big jobs... and any or all of the cleaning can take a back seet to higher priority projects like (in the spring) landscaping and gardening. Only so many hours free each week!

Oops, seat, not seet!

I'll answer the music question in the post.. I almost always clean while listening to various Midnight Oil albums on my Ipod. They get me seriously moving!

Febreze? Really? Does anyone know whether it actually works (makes things cleaner) as opposed to just making things smell chemically scented?

I'm afraid of Febreze; however it works, it's still full of chemicals. Fav cleaning products: baking soda, vinegar, Bon Ami scrubbing powder and a veg-based dish detergent. I do bleach the shower once every few years.

I agree with previous comments about Febreze. the stuff just covers up nasty odors with another nasty odor.