April 2013 Tips, Tricks & Techniques

housecleaning

In case you missed any of the daily tips posted on Facebook and Twitter, here they are on one page and grouped by category.  Enjoy. Cleaning Need to stay on top of a hot spot in your house? Send a photo of the cluttered or cleaned spot every day to a friend. It really helps! When life keeps you from getting your big tasks done, take on the little ones. Time Management Ninja Don’t clean … [Read more...]

Time to Clean the Dining Room Chairs

Dining Room Chair

Like it or not, dining room chairs occasionally need a deep cleaning.  The difficulty of the task depends on how your chairs are made and how hard they’re used.  My chairs have just about every negative that makes them difficult to clean:           Upholstery           Carved detail           Multiple textures (wood, metal, fabric)           One has a Booster Seat … [Read more...]

No Time To Clean?

No Time To Clean

I’ve always been pretty diligent about getting my weekly chores and other cleaning tasks done.  Not perfect but pretty good. Lately, however, I have a LOT going on and haven’t been able to get my cleaning chores done on a regular basis.  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this to try to figure out what to do.  Here are a few options I came up with: Hire a maid.  That would be … [Read more...]

Why I Don’t Spring Clean

spring

I’ve never been big on spring cleaning.  When spring came around, I just kept doing what I had been doing all along – cleaning a little every day.  For me, the arrival of spring wasn’t some magical date that meant I needed to clean anything and everything in my house.  It just meant the weather was getting warmer, the plants were turning green and winter would soon be behind us.  And not … [Read more...]

How To Clean Blinds

Blinds

I hate cleaning blinds.  I hate it so much that I’ve eliminated most of the blinds from my house.  I have curtains on all the windows except the windows in the office.  Curtains didn’t seem to fit in that room so we went with . . . blinds.  They’re nice wooden blinds but they’re still blinds and I HATE cleaning blinds. But as much as I hate cleaning blinds (have you picked up that I … [Read more...]

Cleaning with Kids (Yes, It Can Be Done!)

Cleaning With Kids

All of us moms and dads know the challenge of trying to keep a clean and tidy house while kids run around at your feet throwing boogers and rolling in the mud.  As a tidy person and mother of two toddlers, here are some ways I manage a (mostly) clean house without losing my mind. Step 1:  Adjust your expectations. Like I said, I’m a neat freak and don't function well in a messy, dirty … [Read more...]

10 Housekeeping Rules

housecleaning

If you get something out, put it away when you’re done.  Don’t wait until later. Don’t put it down, put it away. Have a place for everything and put everything in its place. Make it easy to put things away. Make your house easy to clean – reduce clutter, choose finishes that are easy to maintain, don’t have too much furniture, etc. If you don’t need it, throw it away.  … [Read more...]