I don’t know if anybody necessarily likes cleaning. I certainly don’t. But what I do like is the smell of a freshly clean house, the look of sparkling floors, a neatly made bed, and a bright happy house. I have had a love/hate relationship with having my own house because there is so much space to clean. Before when I lived on my own, I was in a dorm. Then Brandon and I lived with his parents, then my mom. We’ve been in our own place for around 6 months, and ever since I’ve had a difficult time making myself clean while trying to motivate Brandon to help (he rarely does).
After a few days of good weather, Ohio laughed and gave us snow. Today, all the snow was gone, but it was still 40 degrees. I couldn’t wait any longer to get my spring cleaning done, so I opened all the windows, put on Pandora, and began cleaning. I used Kelly Oribine’s spring cleaning list (she has since moved blogs over here– seriously, check her out, she’s a wonderful woman). I modified the list to fit my house and needs, but if you’re looking for a little help with spring cleaning, start with that list.
I really don’t want to share some of these before pictures because they’re embarrassing. My house was gross. Like, we’ve been working our butts off with work and school, too tired to cook a microwave meal let alone clean my house, gross. But I’m going to share them just because the before/after is really crazy. Collectively, I cleaned (with a little help from Brandon!) for around 4 hours.
So my living room. It was gross. You can say it. This was even after I picked up all the dishes last night in frustration. No matter how many times I tell Brandon to take his trash in when he’s done, he never does. So I’m left doing it after a three day stand off. Anyhow. Here’s my living room before, and here it is after.
What a difference! I decluttered, cleaned the coffee and side table, swept, mopped, did the windows, and let some light in. I also did our tiny little entry way and front door. I also dusted the tv stand and our three bookshelves. Below is 2/3 of our geekshelves! Our third one houses our record player, record, POP figures, comics, and some action figures.
Our dining room was next. I just decluttered and put some shoes in their rightful place. Not entirely worthy of pictures. Our bathroom is the same way. I keep the bathroom clean no matter what. The thought of a dirty bathroom gives me the chills. So I make an effort to clean it every other day, or at least twice a week.
Our bedroom was just messy. The bed hadn’t been made in like, a week. Seriously. I hate getting into a unmade bed, but my sheets like to do that thing where the corners come up as soon as you climb in. Eventually I just threw my hands up and stopped making the bed. I don’t have a dryer at the house- we use a clothesline. I need to wash our bedding at my mom’s house, but I just haven’t ventured over. We are trying to find a new bed set, but seeing as how it took us 4 months to settle on the orange, I don’t know how long it’ll be before we get a new one. All I know is that the orange doesn’t match the black and it freaks me out. So I want something new, preferable black/gray/red. I would also like to eventually get a headboard, but Brandon hates them. We have a platform now, and I think it just looks strange without a headboard.
I was dreading the kitchen. It just seemed like it needed to be quarantined. When I got in there, though, it wasn’t that bad. A few dishes from the night before. Trash needed taken out. The stove needed cleaned, and the floors needed mopped. Boom! Done. What I was dreading more than the kitchen was our office. In the 6 months we’ve been in our home, the office hasn’t been cleaned. It is the end of the road for a lot of our junk. Seriously, last week I had to push all of my textbooks and bills to the floor so I could see my computer screen. Bags of clothes that need to be donated, wedding junk, school junk… just junk everywhere.
I made quite a few hauls down to the basement with junk we don’t need or use anymore. Organized the desks. Cleaned the floors and windows. My wedding stuff used to be in the basement, but with as much as I’ve been working on it lately, it is keeping it’s position on top of the dresser. At least for now.
The house looks and smells great! Here’s to hoping it stays that way for at least a week? Maybe? A girl can hope!
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