Here's a hint when tackling the "Welcome Home" part of spring cleaning. Our family usually spreads this out
over a weekend (no more than an hour each morning). My husband
gets to "buddy up" with our youngest
and take care of the outside parts. They will have a blast together.
My oldest join up with me and take care of the inside parts.
When we're done, we like to celebrate. Perhaps a spring hike - "bird
hunting" (with a camera).
- The NOT ME five: our front entrance is a favorite spot for
the NOT ME five. Laundry, trash, papers (especially newspapers and
junk mail), dishes (especially lunch kits), and other stuff collect
here more than any other spot of our home! So before I start any kind
of spring cleaning in our front entrance, I have to get rid of the
NOT ME five first! Call the kids and tell them to get rid of their
stuff – hee hee!
- Horizontal Surfaces: Do you have a table, desk, or chair in your front entrance?
Does it collect stuff? Open your eyes wide and see if you can get rid
of some of this stuff. Wipe down the table, desk, or chair. Use a
fresh tablecloth or add a vase with fresh spring flowers to brighten
up the space.
- Things: Do you have other things in your front entrance that take up
space and perhaps are not needed? We keep very little at our front
door. I want there to be room for people, not things.
- Shine it up: grab some window cleaner and shine up the front
entrance. Remember to catch the knobs on the closet and front door,
wipe down any ledges, knick-knacks, or other dust catchers.
- Wipe off stray fingerprints. I know I promised that we
wouldn't be washing any walls, so just fill up a pail with hot soapy
water and wipe away any obvious fingerprints on the corners. Remember
to look on the door too. When our kids were small, it felt like I was
always catching fingerprints on the bottom three feet of our walls.
Now that the kids are bigger, the fingerprints haven't disappeared –
they just moved higher up!
- Vacuum up the floor. Sand and grit are really hard on your
floors and this is the time of year when it feels like there is an
endless supply.
- Entrance Mat: Vacuum and/or wash the inside front entrance mat. (These are great for keeping the grit at the front door - instead of getting tracked throughout the home!)
- Wash the floor. Remember to wipe down the baseboards as well.
They look like new when that layer of black dust is removed from the
top.
- Put everything back and you are done!
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