Weekly Cleaning Routine

I love routines!  A routine helps me to get things done without really having to think about it; it is just part of my life. Once you figure out a good weekly cleaning routine, your house always looks clean! A cleaning routine also allows your family members to help with cleaning - they know exactly what gets cleaned on each day.  

Over the years my weekly cleaning routine has changed due to the season of life I am currently in.  Being a teacher means my cleaning routine usually also changes from school year to summer.  When creating my cleaning routine, I keep in mind what really needs to be cleaned on a weekly basis (and what can be cleaned on a monthly basis) and when throughout the week do I have time to fit in these cleaning tasks. Right now, we are in the middle of a school year so most of my cleaning is done on the weekends.  However, I also want to enjoy time with family and friends on the weekend so I sprinkle a few tasks throughout the week.  

My School Year Cleaning Routine

Here is what my weekly cleaning routine currently looks like:

Monday

• Wash Towels

Tuesday

• No Cleaning Tasks

Wednesday

• Load of Laundry

Thursday

• Wash Sheets

Friday

• No Cleaning Tasks

Saturday

• Clean Bathrooms
• Dust
• Mop
• Vacuum
• Kitchen
• Laundry (Usually 4 loads)

Sunday

• Clean Out Car 
• Clean Out Purse

I keep my weekly cleaning routine in the "Routines" section of my planner.  This way I have a master list that I can refer back to as I am planning my week.  

This routine took me a few weeks to figure out what works best for me.  There are occasions where I will move something from one day to another due to what we have going on that week.  I also find comfort in the fact that because this is such a routine for me, if I have to skip something one week due to being too busy, I know that it will get done the next week. 

What does your current cleaning routine look like?

Kitchen Drawer Organization

Who doesn't need a little organization in their kitchen drawers?  I need to organize/reorganize mine at least twice a year.  I most recently organized my junk drawer and utensil drawer.

Our junk drawer, like I am sure all of your's, is a catch all for everything left on the counters that I don't know where else to put.  Here is the drawer before:

You can see that on one of my organizings, I started to use silverware tray to house different items.  This works great, it just needs to be cleaned out.  For example, one area of the tray is used to house different size batteries.  When we purchased more, we didn't talk them out of the cardboard container they came in.  We just stuck the entire thing in the drawer.  Well, the cardboard container doesn't fit in the tray so then we had batteries all over.  This is something that we are going to have to work on.  

To reorganize this drawer, first I took everything out and put them in different groups on the counter.  I had a trash pile and then I grouped like items together.  I ended up throwing a lot out!  Here is the finished, newly organized drawer:

The next drawer to be reorganized was one of the kitchen utensil drawers.  This drawer holds different kitchen items such as the can opener, measuring cups, measuring spoons, whisks, etc.  Here is the before:

At one time I tried to organize this with little black baskets.  This worked for a short time, but then either the baskets where too small or I still had too much stuff.  I ended up with a very disorganized drawer where I had to dig around to find anything.

I again took everything out of the drawer and put them in piles with like items.  As I was taking the item out, I thought about when was the last time I used that utensil.  If it has been over year, I really thought hard on if I needed to keep it.  I also go rid of duplicate items.  If they were still in good condition, they went into a donation pile.  I was able to really pare down the items I had.  Here is the finished drawer:

I continued to use the black baskets, but hopefully I have gotten rid of enough stuff that they will work and will be able to keep the items in them contained.

What kitchen drawers do feel always need to be reorganized?

Spring Cleaning

It is that time of the year when in Wisconsin you want to clean all the winter dirt, dust, and grim off everything and open up the windows to let the spring breezes freshen up the house.  This year, the days of warm spring breezes are far and few between, but hopefully we will get there :)

Usually spring cleaning happens when I am home on Spring Break from school so I have one week to deep clean the house.  Here is the post about my spring cleaning routine and a check list that I use.  However, this year because I am on maternity leave yet, I have some more time to complete my spring cleaning so I am participating in the Spring Clean in 30 Challenge put on by A Bowl Full of Lemons and Clean Mama.

Each day they give a different thing to clean in your house.  For example, Day 1 was to dust all the edges and corners of the ceiling level.  I like that there is just one thing to clean each day and depending on how large your house is, it really doesn't take that long.  I don't feel like I am spending all day cleaning.  I get to do other things throughout the day,  like caring for a newborn :)

Each day they ask that you take a picture of you completing the task and then share the picture on Instagram using the hashtag #springcleanin30 and to tag them in the picture - @cleanmama and @abowlfulloflemons.

The challenge started on April 1 and ends on April 30.  Feel free to join in.  It's okay if you missed a few days or can't do a task each day, just double up on some days.  This challenge has made spring clean fun!