Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning. Okay, admittedly this is not the most fun topic to discuss, but this year has been my first venture into the nitty-gritty-washing-walls-elbow-grease cleaning.

My hubby and I decided to clean and de-clutter our house to get it more organized and comfortable. This has always been a rather daunting task to me. Part of the hazards of perfectionism. We perfectionists (only in some areas) tend to only tackle tasks and jobs that we know we can do and do well. Disorganization drives us crazy and jobs half done push us over the edge of insanity. :-)

Which is why I've never undertaken this task. Who has time to do it right? I certainly don't. So it was easier to pretend it didn't exist. Until recently, that is.

We began a couple weeks ago, with the attainable goal of one-room-a-night. IT WORKED! Well, it worked with one exception. I now have a clean kitchen, bathroom, living room and entryway. And then I ran out of steam and ambition. Actually we went away and it's been hard to get into the swing of things again. However, these are the main rooms of the house and by spending most of my time in them - and by avoiding the rest of the house - I can maintain that feeling of accomplishment.

So, "Yipee" for these four rooms. I'm going to temporarily forget about the other rooms - master bedroom and closet, ensuite, baby's room, pantry, linen closet, laundry room/bathroom, boys' room, spare bedroom, under-the-stairs storage room, furnace room, family room and computer area. And we won't even go into the yard work.

Don't you just love spring cleaning?! LOL!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As DM and I sit here and enjoy your spring cleaning espades, we are chuckling at how we do our walls. Yes, we do clean them but instead of buckets and water we use trays, roller, and paint. It is much more rewarding to change color rather than remove dust and still look at the same wall.LOL Must admit though that we did do it your way for many years and trust us, our way is much more fun and rewarding. We also manage to repair holes and nickes in walls so really its like moving to a new house but retaining that familiar homey feeling.LOL DM, loves your decluttering idea. As a matter of fact, she is so into decluttering that she can do it for anyone. Ask Shar. If not careful you could lose things you never meant to get rid of. In fact, if her DH isn't carefull he may go missing one day.LOL
Keep up the good work. And we all know that if you don't go into a room, or close your eye when you do,the mess doesn't exit. This is how we have managed to accomplish the art of being amost perfect housewives. Maybe it's only in our minds, but it works for us.LOL
ym

Shauna said...

ym & DM, LOL! I'd be happy living in a fantasy world of my own...yeah, I'd be the perfect wife and mother then. And of course, I'd fight crime and save the world and look fabulous while doing it. That would be some fantasy! LOL!

Marianne Arkins said...

I am married to a neat freak... we do spring cleaning all year 'round! LOL... it's been an adjustment for me, but I *mostly* manage.

I love doing deep cleaning, though, and getting rid of stuff. It's a strange sort of catharsis, I suppose.

Or maybe I'm just weird.

I also follow Flylady's advice and do "fling boogies" and such on a daily basis.

ym... I love the idea that you paint every year!

Anonymous said...

I believe my DH is simaliar to DM - nothing is safe! (Actually, I know he is simaliar - I've experienced both!) He likes to have everything in order and occationally gets into a ruthless decluttering mode. Last time he was like this he attacked our bedroom. Since then I have learned that he needs to be closely supervised - my favourite shorts (not the best looking, but comfy) went mysteriously missing. Oih!

Have fun cleaning. If you ever get bored cleaning your place, feel free to come over and work on mine!

Shar

Shauna said...

Marianne, LOL! I have to agree that the deep cleaning is a sort of catharsis. I love just chucking stuff. That sense of accomplishment and when you're done you have "room" in the room. But what are "fling boogies"?

Shar, that sneaky DH of yours. LOL! I can't believe your favourite shorts mysteriously disappeared. And I have enough work in my house to last years...unless someone would like to help. Any volunteers????

Marianne Arkins said...

Shauna,

"fling boogies" are from The Flylady. You can find info about it here.

I love Flylady...