Tuesday, March 10, 2009

A Housekeeping Post

It has been a while since I shared a housekeeping post. I spent many hours during the last 48 deep cleaning my hard floors and working in my kitchen. There is nothing like a clean kitchen! The kitchen in my home is open to most of the house, so I can not close a door and hide the dishes or mess. It must stay clean at all times. I try to keep it that way, but sometimes it gets away from me. One thing I always do, is to make certain I always get up in the morning to a clean kitchen!....always. I have, on rare occasions, woke up to this.... Yes, those are dirty dishes hidden under that towel. I trick myself and it works for me. Like I said, this is rare. Floors are another area that are big in my house. I have lots of hardwood and vinyl. The hardwood goes from my front door throughout the entryway and down the hall and into the eating area all the way to the back sliding door. I have 3 rugs in this area. I found crumbs and french fries under one of them yesterday!The rugs had been washed recently, so I gave them all a good once over with Hazel (my beautiful red vacuum cleaner). I lay my rugs on the carpet to vacuum them as the grip is better some how. Not sure why, but they stay put though the process...plus they need to be off the floor so I can wash it!
The big rug under the table and chairs (I did not count that one) is moved seasonally. It is not time for that yet. By lunch time, my floors were spic and span!!! I use Murphy's Oil and Tea Tree Oil on my hardwood floors.The kitchen usually gets the same, but this time I used Lysol....I know, but I had it from our bout with the stomach flu and felt a good antibacterial clean was in order. I would not do this every time.Sweetheart and I SOOOO want to replace this floor with ceramic tile or more hardwood...I vote for hardwood...he votes for ceramic tile. Either way it will have to wait. Until then I take care of the vinyl daily with my electric broom and at least a spot clean. Every week (sometimes twice) it gets a deep clean. That means the floor is mopped, plus the edges are all wiped clean.
Once the floors were done, I spent the rest of the day quilting! All work and no play, ya know! My house was also cleaned per the Monday schedule in my HMB. More deep cleaning took place today. The frig was emptied out and deep cleaned. My son was here to help remove a shelf I have never been able to get out. Finally, that red something-or-other was cleaned from the track!
The pantry was also emptied, wiped out and re-organized.Ok, so that bottom shelf could use some more organizing. It's clean! The counters, appliances, and ceiling fan/light fixtures all got cleaned today too. Tomorrow I will wipe down the cabinet fronts with Murphy's Oil and swipe the top of the frig and call it "deep cleaned" til next month. Like I said at the beginning of this post, a clean kitchen is such a good feeling...and no I do not need to get a life!...it is the truth! I will get up tomorrow morning to a shiny sink and fresh towel and wash cloth waiting for me. No dirty pans shoved in the oven (yes, I have done that too!), no sink of dirty dishes, no cluttered counter tops, and sticky floor. No stinky smell of garbage or rotting food. Just a fresh smelling, sparkling kitchen.So now that the housekeeping part is out of the way, I have been able to get several more hoop fulls done on my sister's quilt. It is looking like I will meet my deadline. I have also played with the hexagons.
Bud, Rachel and the kids came today. Bud helped his dad lay carpet and do trim. Even TJ pounded a nail or two into the trim work! These pics are not good, but you get the idea.
I will get some better ones once the "Man Room" is put together. The carpet was neither of the choices I shared in an earlier post. It is more like the carpet Charlotte liked in the lighter color. A nice Berber loop. They are taking my large television and oak entertainment center out of my bedroom (it was my idea) and adding a couple of wing back chairs I have in storage. I think he plans to put the treadmill in there too. Here is the thing...it is a MAN room....those chairs are PINK! What can ya do??? Pink and brown will look good together! I assume he will re-cover them in the near future.
Well, my day is done. It was a productive one. Tomorrow I have a morning of cleaning, homeschool, and books for the library project. By afternoon, I plan to quilt and relax until Awana time. Praying your day is full and blessed!!

12 comments:

Red Geranium Cottage said...

you make me wanna do some more cleaning. I've been doing it for two days now.

Andrea Cherie said...

Kudos to you for that clean kitchen! I couldn't agree more- a spic and span kitchen is a WONDERFUL feeling! I forced myself to unload & load the dishwasher last night, even though I was very sleepy by the time I did it, but It's so wonderful to come into a shiny sink in the morning!

Ace said...

Hello Bren! Whew you have been a busy bee :) I wanted to come visit sooner but my ISP cut my Internet off. Imagine that LOL. I wonder if it has ANYTHING to do with the posts I did on them HEHE.

Even The General is shaking his head at that one LOL.

Anyhoo, I LOVE the way your house looks so fresh and clean, I can smell the clean from here. I haven't deep cleaned in about a month, I am very behind. But you just gave me a kick in the pants.

I put my throw rugs on a larger carpet or rug to vacum them as well. I think my Mom used to do that too. It DOES work better :)

LOVE the man room. Your Sweetheart must be SO excited. Let us see when it is done.


BTW, can you PLEASE post your recipe for the mixture you used on your hardwood floors. I have used EVERYTHING I can find and they mine NEVER look that good :)
Many Blessings :)
Ace

Winona said...

Bren, your kitchen and floors look sparkling clean. Good job. I know the feeling of getting up to a clean kitchen. Just makes your day start out better. Your hexagons are looking great. Hope you have a good day. Winona

Anonymous said...

I love to read your posts about cleaning! Nothing better than the smells of murphys oil soap!! Your kitchen always look so clean and pretty. Do you change the table runners for the different seasons? (I know i've seen a few different placemat/runners you've made)

blog said...

Very inspiring, Bren! And you have a lovely kitchen!!

Carolina Girl said...

You have a beautiful kitchen, even more so because it is sparkling! Mine doesn't look that nice even when clean, but it is functional, and I thank God for that; when we moved in here, it wasnt. You reminded me that I need to clean out my fridge soon. I try to do it once a month (washing the shelves and whatnot, not just cleaning out the food:-). I love the new quilt, too.
Shellie

GrammaGrits said...

Great job cleaning. . . it's been my thing this week, too.

Having had tile floors and hardwood, I'd say DON'T DO TILE! It's much harder to keep, especially sealing the grout which I had to do two times in the two years we had it with no kids at home even! Just one woman's opinion, but I love wood!

Unknown said...

Your floors do shine, they are like a mirror.

Donetta said...

Wow the man room looks great, as does all of that clean upper level. Wow your a busy girl. I man a shop in the garage for my Man. It is yet to be organized and such. Inch by tired inch :)
Love the hex really cool looking contrast.
I would love to be able to replace my kitchen vinyl too.

Susan said...

Your kitchen and floors look fantastic! You mentioned that you have stashed dirty pans in the oven . . . guilty of that here, too. I was wondering if you used to be a "messie?" I am a natural messie, so I fight the housework battle quite often. My biggest problem is that I'm lazy! LOL

Mrs. D said...

We were thinking of getting ceramic tile in the kitchen instead we put it in 2 bathrooms first. Good thing too. I hate it. Looks nice enough, I guess, but if you like a clean and tidy room this tile is no good. It's so high maintenane and not at all worth the trouble. Maybe you may want to consider getting a bath done first.