Spring Cleaning Update

Sooo... about that Spring Cleaning....  I threw myself into this project with a rather gung-ho attitude at first.  Before that first post, I made a complete list of cleaning that needed to happen.  I made this list by finding all the "Ultimate Spring Cleaning Lists" I have posted on Pinterest and combining them to make an Epic Spring Cleaning List.  I also added other details where necessary in my house.

I had originally split my list into two categories: (1) about 15 things I needed to do in every room (i.e. dust, wipe down walls, wipe down baseboards, etc.) and (2) room-specific things sorted by room.  However, I quickly discovered that I wanted to clean room by room, so I added the 'whole house' items to each room list. That way, I can feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish one room, instead of saying, "Oh, I've done most of the kitchen, but I still have to do these 15 things before I'll be happy with it."

So, as I mentioned in the first Spring Cleaning post, I started with my kitchen.  Above and below are two before pictures.  You probably can't see the grossness in these pictures, but just the messiness.  Well, take my word for it.  There was plenty of grossness everywhere.

3 days.  That's the amount of time it took to clean my kitchen.  The sad part is that they were 3 days over 3 weeks.  See, I'm not going to clean on the weekend, because that's when Caleb is home and we get to spend time together.  And I work 2 days a week, leaving me only 3 days a week for cleaning.  Well, obviously I have to get groceries at some point, which is clearly a whole day job, and I have to have a day for ... I don't even remember now.  Let's just say that after that first cleaning day, I wasn't as excited to jump into another one.  Anyway, I spent 3 Thursdays in a row cleaning my kitchen for 8 hours each day.  

I took some before and after photos of some of the cupboards and drawers, but not a lot of detailed pictures of the actual grime I encountered.  I know that I just redid my cupboards last year, so some of the cupboards I was just cleaning out, but some of them needed reorganizing again.  I took time with each cupboard to evaluate whether or not the current organizing system was working, and if not, what needed to change.

This cupboard is kind of our pantry.  It might not look super organized below, but I definitely was able to get a lot more stuff in there.

I didn't take a before picture of this next cupboard because I didn't think it was that bad, but I ended up completely redoing the top two shelves and I love it!

I even added some labels!

I also took no before pictures of the pots/pans shelving below, but I rearranged it to make everything so much more accessible.

This drawer just got tidied.

I didn't take an after picture of our Whirley Pop, but this is the only picture I got of the grossness factor.  Mmm.

Our dry/canned goods cupboard was a wreck.  Not anymore!

This is probably the most dramatic difference.  Now to see if I can keep it tidy!

I ended up getting rid of a lot of items from this drawer that we never use.  I also relocated some items to make more sense, like our measuring cups/spoons, which are now over by the baking ingredients and stand mixer.

No before pictures of this next drawer, but I was able to get more in here than there was before, and even allocated the grilling tools to the back of this drawer.

3 days of work later, and my kitchen feels so much better.  I still need to do a few things: wash rugs and rinse out air vents (waiting for a sunny day), wash curtains (waiting for a load of laundry), and touch up paint (waiting for a warm day so I can open the windows and not asphyxiate my husband), but I can live with that for a bit.

I also got rid of a whole laundry basket full of kitchen implements.  My sister and her friend are planning a garage sale to raise money for their summer mission trips, which was a nice motivation.  I probably wouldn't have gotten rid of half the stuff I did if I were just donating it all to Salvation Army.

Hopefully the other rooms won't take quite as long as my kitchen, or I really will be Spring Cleaning until 2015.

Love and Sudoku,

Leah Joy