Making Your Home a Haven Monday: The Two-Hour Quick Clean Up!
With the busy holiday weekend behind us, our home could definitely use some basic all-purpose picking up and cleaning today. So instead of tackling our Refresher Series like we've been doing for the last few weeks, I'm devoting two hours today to getting things back in order around here--want to join me?Two-Hour Quick Clean Up*
Before starting, spend time at least a short time in God's Word and prayer. Refresh your spirit with the promises and encouragement found in Scripture so that you will be well-prepared for the day and whatever challenges it holds.
I also encourage you to be showered and dressed to your shoes. There's something about being fresh and dressed for the day which helps me work so much faster and stay on track so much better. Don't ask me what it is, but it really works for me!
And now you're ready to roll...
1. Put on an apron, turn on some uplifting music, light a candle, and start a load of laundry.
2. Go to the kitchen sink and wash, dry, and put away the dishes. Then, shine the sink (ala FlyLady!) and wipe down the counter tops. Try to get this completely finished in 30 minutes or less.
3. Set the timer for 15 minutes and briskly go through the house and pick up as many items as you can which are out of place and return them to their proper places (and if it's trash, throw it out!).
4. Switch the laundry in your washer to your dryer or clothesline and start another load of laundry.
5. Take some all-purpose cleaner and a few rags and go quickly spray and wipe down all the bathrooms. Remember, this is just a simple spray and wipe of your bathrooms which should only take five minutes maximum per bathroom. Save the heavy-duty cleaning for later!
6. Do a quick sweep and mop of your kitchen and bathroom floors if they need this (and if your home is anything like our home, they will need this!).
7. Vacuum the main living areas of your home--don't worry about moving furniture or going over every inch of carpet, just make sure and hit the main traffic areas.
8. Pull the laundry out of the dryer and fold and put it away. Switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer, and start another load in the washer if you still have more laundry to do.
You're done! Make a pot of tea or coffee (or a glass of iced tea or lemonade!) and put your feet up for a few moments. Way to go! Your whole family will enjoy the fruits of your labors.
*Adapted from Keeping the Home's Emergency Quick Clean. Please edit or add to it to suit your home and family's needs!
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Join in the fun! Post about your two hour quick clean up (with before and after pictures!) or share anything else related to making your home a haven and then come back here and leave your link below so we can all be inspired and motivated. Don't have a blog? Tell us about your accomplishments in the comments section.
Labels: Making Your Home a Haven
posted by Crystal Paine at 1:00 AM
15 Comments:
Thank you Crystal for the ecouragement I needed to make a start on my housework - I feel so refreshed now I have worked for an hour or so. Thank you for the guidance, and now I am on maternity leave I look forward to following and taking more part in your make your home a haven mondays!
Good Morning Crystal
Well this morning has been a bit of a marathon for me. Living in the UK I get your morning post by lunchtime. So I have to get going on my own! :-)
However you posts over the weeks have cleary been making a difference. My morning started with a bit of a lie in having had a late night but then began as you suggested, wash, dress, breakfast and Bible time. Then I sorted the recycling and rubbish/trash, dusted all over, finished cleaning the bathroom and then completed a mammoth clear out of piles of work magazines that have been stacking up for too long. I finished it off with a quick hoover around the ground floor. Now I get a few minutes to blog and email before lunch, making a shopping list, meal plan and heading out to the shops.
It feels so good to have a routine and I am slowly finding real joy in keeping my house. We don't have any children yet and so I am grateful for the discipline and routine developing now, hopefully it will make a difference then too. I have a lovely CD by Chris Tomlin (http://www.amazon.com/See-Morning-Chris-Tomlin/dp/B000HT36S2)
which is wonderful worship music to work to, the words are so uplifting. Thank you for your influence.
Have a good day
Lindsay
Hey, mama!
I will definitely be participating today after the holiday weekend has left our kitchen, well, wrecked, LOL>
I do have a question: Do you accomplish the bulk of your cleaning while your children are sleeping or awake? Grace awakens at about 6 am each morning so I do everything with her, which isn't a problem. She likes to help when she can and is finally okay (must be almost turning two...) with Mommy doing things other than staring at her. ;o)
Have a blessed day, Crystal!
I love this Crystal thanks!It is kind of a snippit of our daily routine except that I have many hands. 4 of them are outside milking a cow right now!
blessings, Penny Raine
http://www.pennyraine.com/blog
Thanks for the great schedule! I love what you say about putting on your apron and adding music. Getting our house in order doesn't have to be a chore! It can be so much fun!
Blessings,
Lea
I have a ton of things to put away from our vacation last week.
Also, I am doing your homeschooling program-Was C posted for last week I cant find it??
Thank you, stephanie
I hope you have a great and productive day!
Crystal,
Sorry to be a bumbling new blogger! Could you please delete (can't figure out how to do it myself) the first link I put up (#9). It linked to the wrong spot. The next is the correct one...
Thanks!
Great change of plans this week! After the long weekend it was nice to do a quick pick me up especially with more company on the way this morning~ Thanks, being able to share this with bloggers makes the work more fun!
Sounds good!
QUESTION for anyone: Is there something I should use besides Basic H for heavy duty cleaning for my bathrooms?
I usually just use Basic H. Is that okay?
chrissy--newlywed learning how to clean my home! :) heheehee
Hi Crystal,
I really needed something like this, and I'm about to get my bous up from quiet time to help. I'm optimistic that I don't think it will take us 2 hours. I've been "nesting" all weekend (5 weeks til my due date) -- scrubbing the bathroom, fridge, and kitchen floor and walls (with some help from my boys). We've been mostly using baking soda with water to scrub and vinegar to wipe clean. I still have half the kitchen to finish, perhaps some time this week. Today my back has been giving me pains, so if you think of it, please pray for me--I really want the house to look much improved by the time my hubby gets home. Plus we have 90+ weather with high humidity. Whew! All I feel like doing is napping--which I've done a bit of this morning! I'm going to put on my shoes and apron now...
Merrilee
Great ideas. Thanks for the inspiration!
http://mythriftyvictorianhome.blogspot.com/
Libby
Kelly: I do different things at different times, depending upon the season of life or even how the day is going! :) What seems to work best right now is to be the bulk of my cleaning/cooking/laundry while Kaitlynn is taking her morning nap. Kathrynne helps some and also plays nearby. It's kind of our special time to be together/work together since most of the rest of the day, Kaitlynn is tagging along, too.
A Wonderful Life: C is coming tomorrow--Lord-willing! We took last week off from school stuff.
Chrissy: If you clean often and aren't dealing with persistent stains and icky gunk build-up, Basic H should probably do it. I also like Basic G and baking soda for more in-depth scrubbing. If something is really nasty or stained, I'll pull out the ole' SoftScrub, but I try to stay away from harsh chemical cleaners if at all possible. If anyone else has great ideas, I'd love to hear!
My home certainly needs a great two hour pick up (or more!) with all the sickness, I have gotten so behind in my chores.
So far this week, I have cleaned off the kitchen counters, and then clean them! Cleaned the sink. Watered the plants.
Vacuumed, laundry (haven't finished putting it all away), master bath cleaned, ironing caught up.
Cleaned out the back seat of the car (yikes!) and vacuumed out part of it.
The rest of my plans for today didn't happen - but tomorrow is another day! :)
Crystal,
Thanks so much!!! I never even heard of Basic G! I will look it up. But yeah, I try to clean often so that's nice to know that Basic H is getting it.
Thank you for taking time to help me. I really appreciate it.
God bless you richly for your kind service.
chrissy
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