Sorry for my lack of posts lately, I’ve been working on a lot of new projects and am managing some new changes around our home too. I’ll be back again tomorrow with a a fun celebratory giveaway that you won’t want to miss!
Speaking of the house, since today is a cleaning day for me, I thought I’d share how I keep house here at the Davis residence. My friends who know me well know that I love to clean and organize. In fact, they coined a term several years back called ‘Karla clean’ referring to how involved and detail oriented I am when cleaning. I can thank my dad for that -he taught me well! It feels so great when everything is sparkling clean, and fresh doesn’t it?
Before getting married and moving in with hubby, things in my own home always remained really clean and I loved returning from work or a trip to it that way. Being married presents different challenges, as I’ve learned over the past 4 years. Learning to work together and seeing how the other person does things is interesting to say the least.
For instance, I’m the type of person who likes to clean up the kitchen sink/counters while preparing food and dinner is cooking so that when everything is done there are virtually no dishes or mess to attend to. Hubby on the other hand is happy to leave them and come back to it when he feels inspired to put them in the dishwasher. LOL. I suppose some would say it’s a ‘guy’ thing. It’s probably a good thing that I do 90% of the cleaning because I can spot dirt where my darling husband does not. I’ve always firmly believed that the inside of a microwave can tell you a lot about the rest of someones home. Don’t worry, I don’t go snooping in people’s microwaves. 😉
Thankfully we don’t have any pets to clean up after and being sans kiddos at the moment, cleaning is actually a pretty easy task which kinda makes me a bit fearful for when they eventually arrive. I don’t know how you moms do it! Taking care of children and a home is really two full time jobs wrapped up into one-kudos to all of you who take this on everyday! Don’t ever let any working mommas or others tell you different!
With the chaotic week that I had last week, I have to say that my usual cleaning schedule became de-railed and instead of my ‘a little bit every day’ approach, I’ve left myself with ‘a lot in one day’ as I want to knock it out so I can enjoy this upcoming weekend.
Here is what my schedule normally looks like for our house of two:
Since our master bathroom is SUPER tiny (literally a stand up shower, toilet and sink) there is no way that Paul and I could share, thankfully he let me have the bigger bathroom complete with a linen closet and bathtub. It gets used heavily as the main bathroom for our house and by visitors so I really like to keep on top of it. I sometimes take over the guest bedroom too, it happens to be my office. Aside from that, hubby has a very active dream life, sometimes I hear him mumbling in his sleep and even in a king size bed I’ll wake up to the odd arm in my face which is when I take my cue to walk across the hall to the other room. Thankfully he doesn’t snore though!
We only use eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaners in our home. Often I’ll make my own, here is post on how to make natural cleaning products for your home too. My store-bought favorites are Seventh Generation, Ecover, Mrs. Meyers and Method. I have tried Greenworkds products in the past when I’ve had coupons but they’re still made by the Clorox company who manufactures (and makes the majority of it’s profits from) way too many chlorine-based, chemical laden cleaners in my opinion and I don’t want to support that.
For those of you who feel overwhelmed with the new school year, beginning a new job or getting back on track as the summer months wind down and don’t know where to begin, perhaps you could use my cleaning chart as an example, filling in the dates as they make sense for you and your home.
How about all of you? What type of cleaning schedule have YOU implemented? Maybe you prefer to cast schedules aside and clean when you feel inspired or when things really pile up? I’d love to hear how you tackle the cleaning in your own home. Maybe you’re blessed to have a maid service to help you out or a hubby that takes on more of it? What tips and tricks allow you to spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying life?
Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for all the details of our next giveaway! 🙂
*I am in no way sponsored by or compensated the above mentioned cleaning product companies. These are my personal preferences.
I have started using Flylady to keep track of what to clean when. It helps me by reminding me of things like dusting the tops of bookshelves and such that I cant see!!Great post Karla!!
M- I'll have to check out FlyLady, I haven't heard of it before. It's true, things like window ledges, baseboards, fan blades and the tops of bookshelves easily get forgotten about. I have a separate monthly and quarterly list I keep on my desktop so I stay on track of bigger tasks like cleaning out the fridge/freezer so I won't forget. Maybe Flylady can make my life easier-that would be wonderful!Thanks for stopping by! :)~K
Karla … What a great post!! Currently hubby tkes care of the housekeeping and cooking – (if you read my blog – you'll know that I'm still working on recovery from my accident). But prior to my accident I think I was your cleaning twin!!! LOL..Seriously! I'm so glad to read that I was not (and if I could now) the only one who washed as I went along – I use to be known that only the plates and utensils were left to clean up at my home after a meal… To this day I can not handle dirty or clean dishes in th esink .. things have to be put away. And being raised European – I washed my floors by hand and cleaned my base boards – and ironed my sheets. Boy I miss those chores… good luck with your cleaning day.. will check back tomorrow… HHL
If only I could get to the baseboards once a month! Loved the checklist. I too have a cleaning schedule in which I try to stick with, key word, try.My calendar reminds me once a month to go through all the rooms and donate any unused or outgrown items/clothing. Works like a charm to be clutter free.Take care,Lisa
Well, with having two kids and two working full time working parents, hubby and I share the responsiblity. but we don't have a schedule by any means. I clean what I can when I can. For instance, while the boys are taking a bath at night, I will clean the bathroom, pick up their bedrooms and put away any laundry that maybe lingering in baskets. I always clean up after dinner and the boys do sometimes help but mostly, they run off to play outside. Living room gets picked up throughout the day. The boys love to dust and clean the kitchen floors so I will let them do it as they please. On the weekends, I try to clean windows and anything else that may have gotten missed throughout the week. I don't have time for a “schedule” because in our lives, you never know what the day will bring or where we will be. So we just do what we can, when we can.
I think you either love FlyLady… or you don't. Personally I just found her too much. But the idea of a schedule works for me; I tend to list out a whole week's worth of to-dos, and I know that if I don't take care of a few each day, the weekend will be grim.But, then again, I don't write quite so many cleaning tasks on mine as you do 🙂 🙂
What a great article! My sister introduced me to Method products about two years ago. I was leary but my love of bathroom products won me over! Now I use them all the time! Non-toxic, (I'm allergic to bleach) and biodegradable and natural fragrance! It's a great product and I find them a my local Target store. Safeway is now carrying some of their products. And no….I am not being paid to endorse the product! Do try them! You'll be pleasantly surprised.
I had fun reading your cleaning schedule, although it was also a reminder that I should clean more :(My all time favorite purchase was a rumba via woot.com We have 3 cats and a dog so keeping up with the sweeping is a must. The rumba lets me seriously tackle sweeping only on Saturdays or the days we have guests. It does a fantastic job of maintaining the house, plus I can turn it on when I'm running out the door and it will dock itself when it's done cleaning.
I love to clean and as the mother of two small children I find that I must do a little each day. If a take a few hours in the morning while one is napping and the other is playing I can keep a very clean house! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't keep a clean house and have children!But the biggest key to keeping a clean house is starting the night before. Before I put my girls to bed we pick up any stray toys or other items used that day, unload the dishwasher (so it can be filled throughout the day), and put out new hand towels in the kitchen and bathroom (I can't stand old towels, just seems gross to me). This way when we start our day I'm not having to pick up yesterday's messes.
I'm obsessed with cleaning and I enjoyed your chart. I plan to incorporate it into my home!
Love this!! Just out of curiosity, how long does it take each day to that day's tasks with this schedule?
I have started using Flylady to keep track of what to clean when. It helps me by reminding me of things like dusting the tops of bookshelves and such that I cant see!!Great post Karla!!
M- I'll have to check out FlyLady, I haven't heard of it before. It's true, things like window ledges, baseboards, fan blades and the tops of bookshelves easily get forgotten about. I have a separate monthly and quarterly list I keep on my desktop so I stay on track of bigger tasks like cleaning out the fridge/freezer so I won't forget. Maybe Flylady can make my life easier-that would be wonderful!Thanks for stopping by! :)~K
Karla … What a great post!! Currently hubby tkes care of the housekeeping and cooking – (if you read my blog – you'll know that I'm still working on recovery from my accident). But prior to my accident I think I was your cleaning twin!!! LOL..Seriously! I'm so glad to read that I was not (and if I could now) the only one who washed as I went along – I use to be known that only the plates and utensils were left to clean up at my home after a meal… To this day I can not handle dirty or clean dishes in th esink .. things have to be put away. And being raised European – I washed my floors by hand and cleaned my base boards – and ironed my sheets. Boy I miss those chores… good luck with your cleaning day.. will check back tomorrow… HHL
If only I could get to the baseboards once a month! Loved the checklist. I too have a cleaning schedule in which I try to stick with, key word, try.My calendar reminds me once a month to go through all the rooms and donate any unused or outgrown items/clothing. Works like a charm to be clutter free.Take care,Lisa
Well, with having two kids and two working full time working parents, hubby and I share the responsiblity. but we don't have a schedule by any means. I clean what I can when I can. For instance, while the boys are taking a bath at night, I will clean the bathroom, pick up their bedrooms and put away any laundry that maybe lingering in baskets. I always clean up after dinner and the boys do sometimes help but mostly, they run off to play outside. Living room gets picked up throughout the day. The boys love to dust and clean the kitchen floors so I will let them do it as they please. On the weekends, I try to clean windows and anything else that may have gotten missed throughout the week. I don't have time for a “schedule” because in our lives, you never know what the day will bring or where we will be. So we just do what we can, when we can.
I think you either love FlyLady… or you don't. Personally I just found her too much. But the idea of a schedule works for me; I tend to list out a whole week's worth of to-dos, and I know that if I don't take care of a few each day, the weekend will be grim.But, then again, I don't write quite so many cleaning tasks on mine as you do 🙂 🙂
What a great article! My sister introduced me to Method products about two years ago. I was leary but my love of bathroom products won me over! Now I use them all the time! Non-toxic, (I'm allergic to bleach) and biodegradable and natural fragrance! It's a great product and I find them a my local Target store. Safeway is now carrying some of their products. And no….I am not being paid to endorse the product! Do try them! You'll be pleasantly surprised.
I had fun reading your cleaning schedule, although it was also a reminder that I should clean more :(My all time favorite purchase was a rumba via woot.com We have 3 cats and a dog so keeping up with the sweeping is a must. The rumba lets me seriously tackle sweeping only on Saturdays or the days we have guests. It does a fantastic job of maintaining the house, plus I can turn it on when I'm running out the door and it will dock itself when it's done cleaning.
I love to clean and as the mother of two small children I find that I must do a little each day. If a take a few hours in the morning while one is napping and the other is playing I can keep a very clean house! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't keep a clean house and have children!But the biggest key to keeping a clean house is starting the night before. Before I put my girls to bed we pick up any stray toys or other items used that day, unload the dishwasher (so it can be filled throughout the day), and put out new hand towels in the kitchen and bathroom (I can't stand old towels, just seems gross to me). This way when we start our day I'm not having to pick up yesterday's messes.
I'm obsessed with cleaning and I enjoyed your chart. I plan to incorporate it into my home!
Love this!! Just out of curiosity, how long does it take each day to that day's tasks with this schedule?