Things You'll Need:
- All your cleaning supplies
- Boxes (lots of them)
- Garbage Bags
- Markers
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Step 1
What I like to do is take an inventory of the rooms I would like to clean, and make a list on a separate sheet for each room. Visit your local drug store or liquor store and pick up some boxes that you can use for donation goods, and general sorting purposes.
Now make a check list of the basics that you want to do in each room. Like dusting, mopping, scrubbing the walls, vacuuming, changing the sheets, rearranging the furniture, etc. -
Step 2
Here is the tough part. If you have children ages 5 and up get them involved too. But, let them at their rooms only. Put a few boxes out for them to fill up. Say something like the ones on your bed are for keeps, the ones by your door are for the trash, and maybe the ones by your closet are good toys that can still be played with, but you don't really want anymore.
While they are busy not destroying your hard work you can begin. Start with whichever area is the biggest mess, and move to the smallest or the other way around. Make your zones too. Dining table is keeps, garage or porch is donations, and you guessed it by the front door either in or outside is for the garbage heap. Throwing anything and everything that belongs to your kids into their rooms for them to decide what they want to do with it. -
Step 3
Finish a room/area before moving to the next one. This may mean vacuuming in spurts. But, I like to move all of the cleaning supplies from the area I just finished cleaning with those items to the next room, before continuing. This way you are good to go for the next room, and there is not any stopping and starting many times.
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Step 4
Go through your trash piles once more before you toss, then as a family haul it all down to the trash area. Or break the items down into bags for your curb side collection. For the donated stuff, if you belong to Freecycle in your area list your items there first. Usually listing in age appropriate groups is best, and also room/task appropriate groups. Say something like all ? must go to one person, and refreecycle the rest. Or load up your stuff in your family car for donations to Goodwill or a shelter.
