Tag: cleaning

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Clear Out Craze

Christine

So, I woke up this morning with every intention of clearing a wide path through the dining room and living room. On Monday the piano movers are coming to take my piano- which I do not have the talent to play- to my grandmother’s house. Nanny enjoys playing and my teenage cousin is a natural on the piano, so this will give both of them the opportunity to play. After all, it has just been sitting there looking pretty in my dining room these past few years.

But I got sidetracked. See, my linen closet has been driving me crazy for the last few weeks. Not that it was very disorganized, but I didn’t have a designated space for the new king size bedding. So instead of working downstairs, I tore everything out of the linen closet, made neat stacks all over the beds, vacuumed, dusted, then began to put everything back.

And even though it looks almost the same as before, I’m pleased with the result:



Three hours well spent? Maybe. I worked on several other things at the same time. I have a large pile of clothes for my friend Sheri’s daughters. I had a big clear out of winter clothes last weekend. Now I just need to get them to her.

I’ve been getting my exercise running up and down the stairs to check on laundry every 45 minutes. I still have a small stack of boxes to go to the basement. I decided that there is really no need to store extra tiles, grout mix, robe hook and replacement toilet seat in the linen closet! Those things belong in the basement. I’ve kept the tiles up here so long because I wanted them handy for when we make the final repairs to the bathroom walls, but since that has already been about 5 years, I think I’ll take the risk by moving them farther away. Ha! Maybe some great tile layer will magically  knock on my door this week. Let’s not hold our breath.

Meanwhile, things are really coming together in the back bedroom. As I mentioned, I had a big clear out last weekend, making lots of extra drawer space, so I was able to make more room for Lewis to store stuff. I’ve been feeling kind of guilty of late. I have clothes filling two closets, with a few winter coats stored in the third. And, until last weekend, I had clothes in dressers in all three bedrooms. Really.

I’ve also been gearing up to make some major changes to the side bedroom, which I am very excited about. Soon I’ll show you my plans! Stay tuned.

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Reorganized: Cups Cupboard Edition

Christine

So, in a fit of energy the other night, I decided to finally get around to lining some of my cabinet shelves. This is a prime example of my ocd tendencies. You see, I’ve had these four rolls of cork shelf liner for nearly three years, and all of the sudden I just had to fix this cabinet. Now. It couldn’t wait. Never mind that it was 10:45 on a work night.

See, way back when mom and I first finished the cabinets, and they were finally ready to load, I wanted to line them with cork. Only I couldn’t find the stuff anywhere and had to order it. Then it took weeks to arrive, and I gave up. I layed out paper towels- supposedly a temporary measure- and put all my glasses and mugs where I thought they made sense.

Lewis gets confused sometimes because there are some glasses that I like to reserve for guests. About a year ago he requested that I put them on the top shelf, out of the way, so that’s just what I did. Never mind that this task has been in the back of my mind for ages, suddenly it was a top priority.

I got to work emptying the top shelf, wiped everything down with a damp cloth. It had a bit of fine wood-colored dust, although for the life of me, I can’t figure out where that may have come from. I gave it time to dry as I trimmed about an inch off the entire length of the roll of cork liner. Then I loaded all the guest glasses and infrequently used tins on the top shelf.

Rinse, lather, and repeat for the second and bottom shelves. Somehow, there is more room now. I guess I should have had a before picture to compare.

Snazzy, right?I have one roll of cork liner left, so if I want to do any other shelves, I’ll likely need to get more. Does anyone know where I can get cork to use as liner that does not have the adhesive backing? Because I didn’t peel the paper off. I remember what a pain it was to peel off that old red and black contact paper when mom and I refinished the cabinets, and we went through way too much work to risk damaging the pained surfaces again.

Plus, what would that be like to peel away? Would it peel away? What happens to cork as it dries? I envisioned chiseling it off the shelves with a putty knife, coming off in little kernels. What a hassle. No thanks. I’ll just pick up the whole sheet when this wears out. Much easier. Not that that should happen anytime soon. I figure this cork will hold up for about 5 years.

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Clean Counters I Strive For

Christine

Just look at all that work surface, would ya? This is what I aim for:

But it rarely stays like this for long.

Usually, it looks more like this:
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Re-organized: Fridge Style

Christine

My Nan surprised me yesterday by cleaning my fridge while I was at work.

Isn’t it great? All shiny and clean.

Oliver certainly approves.
Nanny does this sometimes, comes over when she knows I am away and cleans something. It is a wonderful surprise to come home to. Yesterday, the downstairs bathroom and the oven also benefited from Nan’s visit.

This is all in preparation for the Pampered Chef party that I am hostessing on Sunday.
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Cleaning Day or The Arrival of Sherri

Christine

Today we need to whip this house into shape. There’s a party this weekend, and this little bungalow needs to sparkle.

Mom’s friend Sherri, who is a champion cleaner (she does it for a living), has agreed to help us out this week. Sherri is great. She has almost as much energy as Oliver, she just gets right in there, and a few hours later, your place looks great. It is such a relief to know that all I have to do is pick up stuff and put things away. Sherri will do all the cleaning. And much faster than I ever could. Take the bathroom, for instance. Sherri will have it clean from top to bottom in an hour. It would take me all day. Not that I even would do the whole bathroom at once, I usually do one piece one day, another piece later. It is nice to have it all done at once. Then I can concentrate on preparing food.

Gratuitous Oliver picture, because, hey, what’s a blog post without a photo, right? Besides, he’s a major contributor to the dirt in this house!