Monday, December 29, 2014

House Cleaning Cycles

For several years, now, I've followed a cyclic house cleaning system that broke up the house into different areas and focused on one particular area per week for deep cleaning purposes, in addition to the regular daily/weekly cleaning.

Over the years, I've adapted the original suggested areas to suit my particular house.  For example, the original cleaning schedule had listed the entry and living room for week 1 and the dining room and laundry room for week 2.  I have no entry area (the front door opens directly in to the living room) and the dining room is at one end of the living room, so, for me, it makes sense to do the living room and dining area in one go.  Also, my laundry room is off my family room, so I like to combine those two areas and I've listed them for week 2, instead of the dining room and laundry room.  This makes for better progression through my house, as one moves from the living room to the dining room to the family room.

Some weeks, there are more deep cleaning type tasks to be done in these areas; other weeks, things are already in fairly good shape and only the minimal cleaning needs to be done.  Sometimes, I have a long list of cleaning tasks and not enough time or energy to do them all; when that happens, the undone tasks get put off until the next time that particular area comes up.  Or, I do them the following week, in addition to that week's area (provided I have enough time and energy).   

The cycle ends with a week of "whole house" cleaning, which is what I did for the past two weeks, over the holidays.  With the new year starting this week, it makes sense to start the whole cycle of cleaning from the beginning.  Below is my house cleaning schedule:

Week 1: Living Room/Dining Room
Week 2: Family Room/Laundry Room
Week 3: Bathrooms
Week 4: Kitchen
Week 5: Daughter's Room/Guest Room + Closets for those rooms
Week 6: Front Porch/Back Porch/Garage
Week 7: Master Bedroom & Closet
Week 8: Whole House Cleaning

This week is Week 1 and I am starting with the living room and dining area.  I have already tidied and dusted both these areas as part of last week's "whole house" cleaning.  So, all I plan to do this week will be:

- Put fresh flowers
- Polish brass decorative items
- Vacuum
- Look through shelves and drawers to see if there are any items to be decluttered

Do you have a house cleaning schedule?  Do you follow a similar cyclic cleaning system?  If not, how do you deep clean the various rooms and areas of your home?

4 comments:

  1. I will join you in the 'cycle' cleaning. Always wanted to do this in the past. Good time to start. We are putting the Christmas decor away this week and having the carpets cleaned on Friday. I will have two clean rooms for the new year.

    Happy New Year to you and little Bless.

    Frugal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frugal, lovely to hear from you and have you join me! How nice to start off with two clean rooms for the new year! Hope all is well with you and your husband and Murf, too. Happy New Year to you and all the best.

      Delete
  2. Happy New Year
    I am delighted to see 'Branches' return to Organized FB site. I find myself unfocussed and distracted without it. I use it to 'deep' clean specific areas. I've a list of items used and needed in each rm. Anything superfluous is removed or changed out to keep stuff constant. DH laughs but I change out decor seasonally, mostly transferring to another room to give a fresh, new look.and keeps clutter away. [Cyd]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you, too, Hon Min. I hope the new year brings you good health, peace, happiness and prosperity. I haven't been decorating seasonally as much as I used to, but changing things out is good as it encourages one to clean as well.

      Delete

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Your comments are much appreciated. Please comment in English. Thank you.