Spring Cleaning-Several Weeks

You may remember that I started my Spring Cleaning a little early. I found a list on Pinterest for the 21 Day Organization Challenge (read about it here). I tweaked my list a bit to make it fit my needs. I was doing pretty well getting through it and blogging about it. But, as you know, many things got in the way of the blogging. However, I did continue to get cleaning done.

Now, I can't go through my list with you because I apparently decided that it needed to be recycled. I remember doing it, but I can't remember my reasoning at all. I blame the sleep deprivation that comes with newborns.

However, I can use the list off Pinterest and give you an update.

1. Medicine cabinet-done!
2. Coat closet-don't have one, but did the hall closet instead,
3. Under the beds-I actually don't store stuff there.
4. Laundry room-done when we had that little flooding issue.
5. Handbag-I have a very small one, so I clean it out constantly. I also cleaned out the diaper bag and backpack I use for zoo outings.
6. Under sinks-bathrooms, yes; kitchen, still on the to-do list.
7. Fridge/freezer-actually got a new (used) fridge at a garage sale. Is that cheating?
8. Kitchen cabinets-done!
9. Make-up case-again, it is a small one, so it gets cleaned out regularly too.
10. Bedroom closets-with all the rearranging for the new baby, definitely!
11. Garage-not even close; will do garage sale soon :)
12. Craft supplies-no; to be honest, the area looks ok, so I'm not worried about it.
13. Soap room-YES! It looks so nice and is easy to work in again!
14. Backyard-yes and no; I need to clean up doggie mess, but it is clean.
15. Bedroom dressers-again, with all the rearranging of dressers for the baby, yes it got done.
16. Jewelry Box-done when I made my jewelry rack (check it out here).
17. Living Room-done when the laundry room was cleaned because of flooding.
18. Office-yes and no; I have organized everything into groups and know what needs to be done with everything, I just haven't gotten everything put away.
19. Car-All the trash and extra things that don't belong have been removed. However, it hasn't been vacuumed and cleaned. I was waiting for the snow to stop before taking it to the car wash.
20. Playroom-done; I made my toddler help me clean this area out.
21. Enjoy an organized house!

Whew, I know I keep saying that I haven't gotten much done, but now that I look at it, that doesn't seem to be true :)

How do you go about Spring Cleaning?

I Guess I'll Clean the Laundry Room-Week 5 ish

Ok, so I've been behind on everything because of Science Fair, which is over again. And again, it went amazingly well despite all of my stress.

But, with my little one on her way, I've started really working to get stuff cleaned up. I cleaned out the hall closet and my makeup bag again. I'm not that worried about the craft supplies because I just did it this past summer and I don't buy much anymore. The soap room will get done, but it isn't a top priority because I just did that in July too. The garage is on the list, but my plan is to have a garage sale and just pull stuff out starting that morning, then go through stuff after that. {I once learned that even if it isn't a garage sale, if you pull stuff out of your garage to clean, people stop to shop, so why not!} The upstairs is desperate, but I'm waiting on my ex to get stuff packed up and moved out, so I'm being patient.

However, there is one room I really had no plan for. In fact, I have been avoiding it like the plague! The laundry room...dun, dun, duuuuun. This is our catch all room. If it needs to be put away or moved, it goes in there. I hate it. But, I also didn't want to clean it.

That was until our plumbing backed up last Sunday. Oh yeah, coming out of the downstairs shower drain and the hot water heater drain. Luckily, the shower is sunk into the ground, so that was contained. However, the laundry room flooded (and leaked under the wall to soak the carpet on the other side). So, we moved everything out of the laundry room, pulled furniture away from the wall, and set stuff out to dry if needed. Plumbing got fixed and the laundry room got cleaned up. Now, my choice was to shove everything back in and ignore the problem some more or clean up.

I cleaned up. I put the laundry stuff back (for obvious reasons). I also put our fans and coolers back because that is the logical place to store them until we need them in the summer. I put the vacuum back because it goes there too. That's it! I went through all of the boxes and cleaning stuff on the shelves and organized everything. I didn't have anything to get rid of there though. Amazing! However, I did have lots of boxes in the living room to go through. I went through and got everything that is going to a new home packed up. My things that need to go out to the garage for sale or storage (I don't know what to do with the PlayStation) are boxed up and waiting to be carried out. Plus, I have a box for drop off at the electronics recycling place.

My laundry room looks awesome! You can walk in without tripping over anything. You can get to the tools and cleaning stuff without stubbing a toe. I'm just so excited. I really think this should count for two weeks. Anyone with me?

Has your Spring Cleaning started yet?

Cleaning Out the Closet-Week 4

Last weekend was a little too hectic and involved a very needy toddler. So, I didn't get any major cleaning project done. I did get the house cleaned, he loves helping with dishes and pushing the button on the Swiffer, so as long as it could involved him, it was great. Unfortunately, really deep cleaning something should not involved a toddler.

One of the projects I've needed to do was to rearrange the closets in my room. There is a lot up in the air right now as far as the living situation. My lease is up in June and I don't know if I will stay, move, or maybe buy. I do know that as the house is currently arranged, baby girl will not have her own room in April. That's really okay because I was planning on putting her bassinet next to the bed for a couple of months anyway! However, there isn't enough room for a changing table.

So, what I wanted to do was put a changing table and all the things I'd need for her (except clothes) in one of the closets and since I now have two, it works out. However, the best closet for this plan was my closet because there is an outlet for a small lamp. I cleared everything that was still in the spare closet out!

Before organizing, pull everything out!

Then, I started going through stuff in the other closet. I had quite a few clothes on the side shelves, so I pulled those out and I pulled everything I can't currently wear off the hangers. I went through all the clothes, pants and skirts first, anything that did fit (or almost fit) before I got pregnant was neatly folded and placed on the bottom shelf in the closet. Anything else went into a pile for garage sale. Then, I did the same with shirts and put them on the middle shelf. Last, I went through my long-sleeve shirts and sweaters and put those on the top shelf. It will be a while before I don't need them, so I left them in the closet.

Next, I moved the plastic storage/drawer thingy over, but I didn't go through that because I did that during my declutter mission. Since I haven't bought new clothes (pregnancy, what's the point) since and I've been good about throwing out holey socks, there wasn't a reason too. Last, I pulled out all of the shoes from my closet and separated into three piles: "will wear once swelling in feet goes down/can currently wear" {place neatly in the new closet}, "don't fit since the first pregnancy, but are in great shape" {place in garage sale pile}, and "don't make Goodwill throw them out for you" {place in trash}.

I even went through the things on the upper shelves and reorganized all of that to be neat. Now, I have one very organized closet with just the things I need and one {almost} empty closet that has only baby things!

Yes, I have very few clothes that currently fit, though some are in the laundry!

I am also checking off clearing out the bedroom dressers because I cleaned out Hayden's and my own over Christmas break. So, when I opened them to look, there really wasn't anything to do!

I'm finding breaking this up into small projects is making me feel accomplished, yet not overwhelmed. Do you have tips that help you get a lot done in a small amount of time?

Week 2 (&3?)-21 Week Organization Challenge

This week I did two of my items on my checklist, so I think that should count for two weeks ;) If I keep that up, I might just finish before our little addition shows up! Wouldn't that be crazy?

My first item was to clean up the playroom/den. We don't have much in the den except toys and a tv, so it was pretty easy. I went through the movies not too long ago, so those didn't need to be done! I went through all of the toys to clear some out. I didn't get rid of some of the toys that Hayden is too old for because his little sister will need them! But, I did move them out of the way. He has this tendency to pull everything off the shelves before deciding what to play with. So, there is now less for him to pull down...see, it was a brilliant plan. I didn't go through the toys in his room because I just recently moved toys in there for him to play with when I converted it to a toddler room. I did go through the toys in the kitchen. We keep a little box there for toys he can play with when I am cooking. He won't usually leave the kitchen, so these keep him entertained and away from the cooking.

Next, I went crazy and cleaned out the car. It has been a very long while since that happened! I cleaned out a TON of trash. From there, I really didn't have much in there that didn't belong. There was a pair of little boy's socks (when did that happen?) and a pair of flip flops. Other than that, it just needs to be dusted and vacuumed out, so I stopped at a car wash on my errands! I even checked my little "emergency roadside kit." I still have everything in there that I was need if I have minor car trouble while on a trip.

Oh, and I'm not giving you pictures because I don't want you to judge my poor car. It carts a toddler, a dog, and a lot of student papers around; so don't pick on it :)

I know that I will want to put off the bigger items until last, so I'm going to try to do one of the big jobs this next week. Maybe I will do the one of the biggest and get the laundry room done!

How are you cleaning up for 2013?