Weekend Chores: Flowers, Kitchen Organizing & Cleaning, Make a Meal

Day 7: Friday, January 10 and the Weekend of January 11 & 12
Assignments: Bring Home Flowers, Kitchen Organizing & Cleaning, Find a Recipe and Make Yourself a Meal

It’s time to get tough. Pull on your superhero tights and get ready for a weekend of saving the world, one kitchen at a time. There’s lots to do and it’s focused on a room which many of us find challenging to keep ahead of in terms of clutter and cleaning. So, let’s aim for a healthy mix of energy and realistic expectations and, rather than unattainable perfection, we’ll set our sights on getting this tough room to a better place by Sunday evening, in time to enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal.The upside to the challenge? We’re focusing on one room, and not worrying about anywhere or anything else, so with some favorite music playing, the right mindset in place and the extra time the weekend provides, we should be just fine.

This Weekend’s Assignment:

• Bring home and display your Weekly Flowers (and enjoy them!)

• Clean Your Kitchen and Declutter/Organize as You Go
Remember, this is about investing time now to create a better home for you to enjoy all year – it’s not about perfection, but improvement. Each kitchen task you complete will make your kitchen that much more effective, attractive and simply a nicer place to spend time working and relaxing in.

To help you organize your time and your tasks, here are some excerpts from Maxwell’s kitchen cleaning plan from The Eight Step Home Cure.

1. Clean all surfaces, inside and out, with a good earth-friendly surface cleaner.
a. Counters (and sink)
b. Cabinets
c. Refrigerator
d. Floor (if it needs it again)
e. Stove
f. Other appliances

Remove shelf liners and replace or wash and replace. Moving everything in order to do the washing will allow you to reach bottles, jars, and boxes that you may not have seen in a long time. The foods we keep in our kitchens should be fresh and replenished frequently.

2. Remove all food:
a. past its expiration date
b. Unused for more than twelve months
c. In containers that are nearly empty
If a food item is old, throw it away; if it is unopened and you will never eat it, give it away. Aim to reduce the mass of your stored foods by at least 25 percent.

3. Remove all cups, glasses, and dishes that are
a. Chipped, stained or unmatching – unless the unmatching is intentional 🙂
b. Extra or unused
Seriously edit down the odds and ends in your glasses, dishware and servingware. If you notice that you are short on certain items, add a note to replace them to your list of projects.
4. Remove cookware you don’t use.

• Find a Recipe and Make Yourself a Simple, Enjoyable Meal
Maxwell notes that “using your kitchen regularly is the only way to keep it in good shape” and is central to the well-being of a home. Whether cooking at home is something you normally do daily OR rarely, be sure give it a go this weekend – you’ll be more connected to your kitchen, more empowered to keep it clean and organized and you’ll be well fed – not a bad deal!
1. Find a simple-sounding, new, delicious-to-you recipe and give it a try. If you are looking for some inspiration, our sister site, The Kitchn, has a whole archive of them to choose from.
2. Make a quick shopping list, and pick up any ingredients you need for the preparation (maybe at the same time as doing your flower shopping?).
3. Relax and enjoy the preparation process and your meal
4. Be sure to clean up after yourself

5. Let us know what you made (and how wonderful it was!) in the comments below.

And, just like last weekend when we were tackling the floors, lets stick together and keep the energy up – use the thread to ask questions and support each other throughout your chores and, come Monday morning, we’ll all be making our tea in a cleaner kitchen!

Helpful Links:

• How to Clean & Organize a Refrigerator
• How to Green Clean Grease from Kitchen Surfaces
• How To Clean Your Kitchen Sink
• How To Clean the Stove Naturally: A Tip
• Green Clean Makeover: The Kitchen
• 9 Steps to Arranging a Well-Organized Kitchen
• If you are ready to go above and beyond: Five Things We Never Think to Clean in the Kitchen
• For after the big clean: Tips for Keeping a Clutter-Free Kitchen

Liveblogging the January Cure:

• Tara’s Cure: Tackling the Tupperware
• Rebecca’s Cure: This One Nearly Killed Me!
• Carolyn’s Cure: It’s Not Easy Being Green
• Lauren’s Cure: Kitchen Cleanup (And Not Much Else!)
• Kim’s Cure: Kitchen Cleanup, Fresh Flowers & Dinner
• Regina’s Cure: Kitchen Cleaning, the Refrigerator Edition
• Elizabeth’s Cure: The Kitchen Cleanup
• Elisabeth’s Cure: What’s Behind Door Numbers 1 & 2?
• Eleanor’s Cure: Kitchen Cleanup

January Cure Calendar:
• Download our PDF to see the full upcoming schedule (and print it out if having a hard copy is helpful to you)

Join The January Cure: Click Here to Sign Up

January Cure Main Page: Click Here for the assignment posts so far

Questions? Comments? Pictures? Email us about your progress at januarycure@apartmenttherapy.com
Follow and Tweet! The January Cure: #januarycure