get the flat totally clean and keep it that way!

Sat 2 Jan – Did window sills including a load of gunk around the frame in the living room, may count this as “something extra”
Sun 3 Jan – Light dusting
Mon 4 Jan
Tue 5 Jan
Wed 6 Jan
Thu 7 Jan

• hoovering
• light dusting (TV area, piano are main culprits)
• check windows for condensation and wipe windowsills
• kitchen surfaces
• bathroom surfaces – shower, sink, shower screen (B usually does this)
• wipe kitchen floor
• wipe bathroom floor

Right, the flat is in a pretty good state now, all ready for the New Year tomorrow! I’m determined to make sure that it stays that way and it only takes 10-15 minutes a day to maintain.

While I’m in the mood, I’m going to make a fresh list of things that need to be done weekly:

• hoovering
• light dusting (TV area, piano are main culprits)
• check windows for condensation and wipe windowsills
• kitchen surfaces
• bathroom surfaces – shower, sink, shower screen (B usually does this)
• wipe kitchen floor
• wipe bathroom floor

There’s definitely no more than the weekly allotted time there, the problem is that I miss a day here and there or get side-tracked or forget what day it is ;)

• laundry (usually me)
• washing up (usually B)
• rubbish (usually B)
• water the plants – needs to be me and I need to remember more often!

so I just need to check that these things are happening.

In addition I am going to challenge myself to do one thing each week to IMPROVE (rather than just maintain) the state of our home. It can be something little or something big, but just something that reduces by a tiny bit the generally acceptable level of ming that we live in ;)

I have a cleaning spot on my weekly checklist so will give myself a “Pristine” rating if I achieve this, and a “Satisfactory” if I get all the other tasks done. _{The other categories are “mildly minging” and “total dump” so I hope to avoid those!!}

• hoovering
• washing up
• bathroom surfaces
• bathroom floor

So that’s better than nothing!

• watered the plants
• sorted laundry
• sorted gym stuff
• dusted TV & all the DVD shelves
• cleared up some stuff in the hall

Tuesday: Nowt!

Wednesday: Nowt!

• Sorted out a BIG heap of laundry and gym stuff (which I suppose is also laundry but feels different!)
• Cleaned off the kitchen counter
• Hoovered the whole place
• Wiped the kitchen floor
• Wiped the bathroom floor
• Wrapped B’s birthday presents

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Plus I did do things last week that I’ve forgotten to note down! Must get a grip!

• cleaned off the cooker (think that was Tuesday)
• fixed the lock cover on the front door

• wiped down the blind in the bedroom
• watered the plants
• dusted the bedroom
• sorted the laundry & put more on
• hoovered the whole house including the bit by the door where it was getting really mucky and all the skirting
• wiped the bathroom floor
• wiped the kitchen floor

So feeling a bit more caught up and less mank!

so he did the bathroom and it’s not left me with a lot to do…

Monday: Nothing, went to bed early!

Tuesday: hoovered & did/sorted a heap of laundry

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Yesterday’s bedroom-overhaul has really made a difference – it’s like a new room in there and it feels suddenly lived-in. And it’s clean. Wicked.

• made bed
• did drains in bathroom and kitchen
• swim stuff sorted
• properly wiped down the kitchen counter
• need to have a laundry sort out later

• Cleaned the insides of the bedroom and bathroom windows

Wednesday:
Maybe today was the day I did nothing!

• Cleaned the kitchen floor
• Cleaned the bathroom floor
• Laundry washed, hung, folded and sorted

• Did all the washing up
• Cleared the drainer
• de-scaled the sink/drainer with lemon-juice
• dusted some things in the bathroom and hall
• tidied some things in the hall
• made the bed

Saturday:

Sunday:

and although I haven’t cleaned in three days now, the house is still clean! (To be fair, I did put in almost an hour with all that filing on Thursday) – will definitely get stuck in tonight (and by the way YES, I still LOVE this goal!!)

• Nothing, was rushing around doing More Important Things!

• dusted the TV area (v. dusty!)
• cleared up the hall
• laundry & hung
• dry laundry sorted
• cleaned the bathroom sink
• Watered the plants!!

• Cleared the drainer
• Washed the kitchen floor (v. ming!)
• Washed the bathroom floor (slightly less ming)
  Can’t believe it’s possible to do both of those in 20 mins but it is! Joy!

• Was out with SL and then it was MASTERCHEF FINAL so there literally was not a spare 20min in my evening!! ;)

• I know I thought about doing it but not sure I actually did

• Too lazy!

• moved bedroom around to be more cuddle-conducive
• dusted everything in the process
• hoovered all the dusty corners
• did all the skirting boards and plugs
• hoovered the whole of the flat
• did some bath-wiping this morning
• laundry done and hung
• all the dry laundry sorted and folded – there was masses, this took about 20mins all by itself!

I totally LOVE this goal! Our place is the cleanest it’s ever been, permanently! It never takes more than 20 minutes’ effort! And(weirdly) I really look forward to my slot of cleaning time, it’s cathartic or just some kind of happy practical getting-on-with-it and I actually enjoy it! And yet it’s so nice not to have to waste a big chunk of the weekend on it!

So here comes this week:

• Folded/cleared all the dry and aired laundry
• Washed the bathroom floor, which was surprisingly minging!

• Put the laundry on (already made space to hang it yesterday YEAH!)
• Watered the plants
• Wiped the kitchen floor
• Wiped out the whole inside of the fridge!
• Wiped around the sink, the top of the bath and the top of the loo
• Did I mention I LOVE THIS GOAL?!!!!

• Hoovered the whole flat
• Cleared out the bottom of the big dumping cupboard
• Tidied all the boxes in there and made space for the hoover
• Found my backup CDs!
• Rearranged some shelves/books

• clearing the drainer
• loading the laundry
• clearing up the dry laundry
• doing the unholy pile of bill-filing that’s been mounting up since we moved here!
• setting up paperless billing on my phone – it took ages but hopefully it’ll mean LESS FILING in future!!
• making the bed

• toilet
• good old scrub at the grout and sealant
• wipe round the rest of the bath
• just letting the screen stuff work now

Saturday:

Sunday:

Did NOTHING all weekend because I didn’t have to! Yay!!

just in case posts of my daily cleaning accomplish scare away my subscribers, I’ll just put a weekly-tracker post here:

• wiped/polished bathroom mirror
• cleaned tiles around sink that were covered in toothpaste!
• tidied some stuff in the hall
• had the joyous task of clearing up my desk and replacing some old non-inspiring things with inspiring things!
• 10 mins extra – vital present wrapping!

• put on a load of laundry, folded what was dry and put away what was aired – that took 15 mins!
• dusted some shelves in the living room, all the little boxes and all the photo frames
• dusted the desk
• B did the shower screen – bonus!
• still have to hang out the laundry once it’s done – done while cooking dinner

• started with watering the plants
• cleared the drainer
• the kitchen floor was just starting to get mucky so I wiped it up – was quick and is clean now.
• dusted the coffee table and the windowsill in the lounge
• put some books away

Thursday: DAY OFF!

• need to do hoovering – DONE!
• cleared the drainer
• wiped down the kitchen surface
• cleared dry laundry, stored aired
• put fresh laundry on
• made the bed & opened the window to air the bedroom
• felt excellent!

• made the bed
• hung the laundry
• washed & dried the dishes
• did the bicarb & vinegar thing in the bath & kitchen plugholes – fun!
• wiped round the bath
• soaked the drainer in anti-bacterial solution
• Did the sink/draining board with lemon juice to see if it made an impression on the limescale – not bad, but am leaving it a bit longer to see if any more comes off!

• One big job today: opened up and completely wiped down the fan (it was gross and dusty!!) got all the grime off it, put it back together and made space for it in the big cupboard. Very satisfying!