Twenty-One and Done: Twenty-One Steps to Your Better Home!

TWENTY-ONE and DONE:
twenty-one steps to your better home!

a cleaning and organizing challenge

Welcome to the challenge! First things first, these are separated into TASKS, not DAYS. Why? Because we all have different schedules, house sizes, and dependents. Lots of little boys in the house? Might take you a couple days to accomplish some of these. Toddlers? Same thing. Your work load intense? Might have to do one every other day or so. Big house? Might take longer. Clean freak? Some of these will just be touch-ups for you. 

Whatever your situation, do them as you can, but make sure you do some of one task every single day, or set aside a chunk of time on a down day or a Saturday! If you start one, finish it. Even if it takes you a week. Don’t move on to the next until the one you started is done! And, most importantly, don’t neglect your other responsibilities (husband, children, work, daily tasks like cooking, dishes, laundry, etc.). 

Next, don’t let this task list freak you out. Don’t read it all at once. Just take it one task at a time. It’s totally do-able. 

IMPORTANT: Sing, whistle, or blare music while you are cleaning. Every time. 

YOU CAN DO IT! THIS is NOT hard, and there is NO TIME LIMIT. Just devote a little time, maybe 30 minutes or an hour a day… or a few hours on Saturday. Why wait until Spring Cleaning to get all of it done? Just do a little here and there, and you’ll never have to spend days and days trying to shove it all in. Get it done before Spring Break and just ENJOY your break! 

Tasks are labeled by intensity on a level of 1 – 5.  If it is labeled (1), it should only take about an hour or so (without interruptions). The higher the number, the bigger the task. Skip around the task list if necessary. Just make sure you see whatever task you’re on to completion before starting the next! (That way you don’t go scattered like I do, and end up never finishing ANY of them!) Ones that are labeled with a hyphen (2-4) depend on house size, household size, number of rooms, etc. Bigger house or more people, expect it to be on the higher end of the scale. 

Before you start, you will need:
an old toothbrush,
glass cleaner (I suggest the foaming one in the white can with the little blue maid on it),
wood soap (like Murphy’s Oil Soap or another gentle wood cleanser),
a strong cleaner (I use Pine Sol and bleach. If you don’t like chemicals, get a natural cleaner but make sure it is good!),
Lysol spray,
carpet cleaner (409 or SpotShot or something of the sort. You can also just use vinegar and water!),
ten little plastic baskets from Dollar Tree for organizing drawers or cabinets (can get varied sizes, shapes, colors. How exciting!). 

Note: Vinegar and water makes an EXCELLENT cleaning agent for almost anything. It just stinks. But don’t worry, the smell will go away.

IMPORTANT: Do ONE task at a time, until completion! If you notice something that needs to be done along the way, make a list for yourself! Or, after you finish the task you're on, insert your new task, finish it, then get back to the list!  (But the task you're on might be on the list already, so make sure you mark it off if you do it!)

Heeeere weeeee gooooo!

Task One (1): Clean all the doorknobs in the house. Clean around them. If the doors need a good scrub, might as well do that while you’re there. Spray them with Lysol as you finish cleaning each one. 

Task Two (1): Clean all the trash cans. Scrub the outside of them, and let some PineSol or Bleach or whatever cleaner you use sit in the bottom of them before rinsing them out, drying them off, and putting them back where they belong and putting a bag in! (No letting them sit outside until tomorrow!) Wash the walls and floor around the kitchen trash, especially. You know it gets gross.

 

Task Three (1): Dining room chairs. If you have small children, this may require you to use a toothpick or toothbrush to scrub a little. Remember to clean each crevice, and the seats. Use soap that will not damage the wood or metal! 

Task Four (1): Kitchen cabinet doors. Again, a toothpick or toothbrush might be in order. Use wood soap so you don’t damage them! 

Task Five (3): Those spots on the carpet? Scrub them out. Step on them with a dry towel until they are dry! (Otherwise they’ll come back!) 

Task Six (3): Bathroom drawers. Organize them! Wipe them down, inside and out. (This one might have to be split into two days, depending on how many bathrooms, and people, you have in your house!)

Task Seven (3): Bathroom cabinets. Organize them! Get RID of the trash and loose items. Put all the gross, tattered towels into a special drawer for rags (laundry room, under the kitchen sink…. if you don’t already have a “rag” drawer, make one. Ain’t nobody got space for those embarrassing towels to be in the bathroom.)

Task Eight (5): Laundry Room. Enough said. Don’t cut corners, and make. it. perfect. (Again, two or three days might be in order. This task requires that all laundry be cleaned, folded, hung up, and distributed. This task includes organizing laundry room drawers and cabinets. Might actually be an all-week task if your laundry room is a “catch all.”)

Task Nine (2): Kitchen counters. Get all the crap that accumulates on the counters, and put it in its place. It doesn’t have a place? Make one, or THROW IT AWAY! If you need to get a couple small plastic baskets from Dollar Tree, and put your chapstick and odds n ends in one, your medicine in another, pens and pencils in another. These baskets can go in your cabinet, or in a drawer. All that paper? Put it in manila folders or your filing cabinet, display it on the fridge, or THROW IT AWAY!

Task Ten (2-3): Kitchen cabinets (inside). Organize them. Clean them. Wipe down shelves inside (the outsides are already clean from task four! Score!). Get rid of expired food/cans/pasta noodles. 

Task Eleven (3): Entertainment center. Inside and out. Clean, dust, organize. Put movies in their correct case. Get rid of the uber-scratched ones. 

Task Twelve (1-2): Junk drawers! Time to go through and organize and throw away! Only one junk drawer? Good for you. This will be easy. More than one? Get after it. (Again, those little baskets from Dollar Tree are a cheap and exceptional organizing tool!)

Task Thirteen (2-4): Kitchen baseboards, and under cabinets. Pull out the fridge and stove, if applicable. Hands. Knees. Toothbrush. Cleaner in a bowl. Scrub all around the bottom of those cabinets. And under the fridge and stove? Yes. You will be glad you did. 

Task Fourteen (?): THAT place. Choose that place in your house that is constantly the catch-all for bills, schoolwork, paperwork. (Bookshelf, table, desk, etc.). Organize it. Dust it/Clean it. 

Task Fifteen (2-4): Vents and fans. Dust all the vents, and wipe down the blades on all fans in the house. Standing, box, ceiling, you name it. 

Task Sixteen (3): Light fixtures. Take off the cover on all your ceiling or standing light fixtures. Wash them. Put them back on! (Please be careful to not electrocute yourself.)

Task Seventeen (2-5): Baseboards. This will count as your workout for the day. Hands and knees, vacuum cleaner, rag and bowl ‘o’ soap. Tackle the baseboards. For the ENTIRE HOUSE. 

Task Eighteen (2-5): Windows and mirrors! All of them. Yes, you heard me. Inside, and out! You can do it! (You KNOW it needs to be done!) Open the windows and vacuum. (If you live in West Texas, this might up this one's intensity to a five!) Clean the inside and outside of the windows. (Again, if you live in West Texas, DO NOT do this on a windy day.)

Task Nineteen (1): Blinds. Dust them. If you need to wipe them, do it. (Like, for instance, if they have fly or moth guts all over them from this summer.) If you want to intensify this one (2-4), take down really dirty blinds and soak them in the tub with a little bleach for a couple hours. Clean blinds make more of a difference than you realize!

Task Twenty (2): Couch. Take off cushions and wash them if this is an option and if it is necessary. If not, spot clean seats and arm rests (make sure you have the right cleaner. Or just use a little vinegar and water.). Vacuum under the cushions!

Task Twenty-One (3): Clean your washer and dryer. Wash the lint trap (make sure it’s dry before you put it back), wipe them down, inside and out. Pull them out and sweep/mop under them. 

Congratulations! You’re done! Enjoy your super clean and organized house!
Or, if you feel the need, start over. Happy housekeeping!

USE THIS SPACE!
List other things that need attention that you notice along the way! Need to clean out your closet or bedroom drawers? Kids’ closets and drawers? Shoes? Jewelry box? Toy chest? Storage room? Write it down, and when these 21 are done, DO IT!