Thursday, February 4, 2010

Took this afternoon off to deep-clean my kitchen

I'm already behind on my One Year to an Organized Life, Part 2. I had intended to reorganize and clean the kitchen in January. Guess what? It's the first week of February!

Life has been so crazy lately, both at work and at home (and hello? three kids!), so this has not gotten done.

I decided I needed a mental health break from work and intended to take the whole day off, but forces conspired against me and I ended up working at home in the morning. Today I worked for about 4 or 5 hours on the kitchen. Tomorrow I'm hoping to work another 1/2 day and get more done.

Earlier this week I did get some purging and cleaning done in the kitchen. I cleaned two of our cabinets, which hold oils, sauces, spices and herbs, pasta, rice, and baking supplies. I junked a bunch of stuff, such as croutons (how did we end up with croutons?), some sauces with high-fructose corn syrup that have been in our cabinets for years, and some obscure herbs that we never use. I also took out some jams, chutneys, and sauces that rarely get used and moved them down to the basement to make room for more canned goods in the kitchen.

Today, I have:
  • Cleaned out and loaded the dishwasher (first things first!)
  • Cleaned out and reorganized the snack and cereal shelves (why do we still have any wheat-based snacks that the kids don't eat, if Mike and I avoid wheat?)
  • Moved the coffee up to the top shelf because it's not used very often, and the snacks to a lower shelf
  • Reorganized the mugs and the tea shelf--we continue to have an abundance of tea!!
  • Deep-cleaned the stove--inside, top, sides, burners, back, and underneath (including vacuuming and cleaning up the grunge on the floor under it)
  • Cleaned the microwave and toaster oven (including under the microwave cabinet)
  • Cleaned out the microwave cabinet and discovered the source of a seriously fishy smell we've had lingering around the house for several days! (a rotten potato!)
  • Cleaned and reorganized the freezer

That's enough for now! Tomorrow I'll get more done--and hopefully move on to another room!

3 comments:

  1. You are doing great! Remember: the book is written as if there were only 4 weeks to every month. But each quarter of the year has 13 weeks so you have a cushion of time built in to get caught up.

    In addition, there will be projects that don't concern you (you may not have a basement,be taking a trip or moving) and you will have more time those months. Just keep going!

    Blessings,
    Regina

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Regina--I really appreciate your encouragement. I think I will be able to catch up easily, because of all the work I did last year in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Regina - keep at it Marie! You just reminded me that the last time I deep cleened the kitchen was when L went off to first grade...Uh, I think I'm overdue! We are gettinga new fridge in the (hopefully) near future, so I am going to use that as my springboard for cleaning out the rest of the kitchen. You may like flyladydotcom. They have good tips, such as making sure the kitchen is tidy before going to bed. They send email reminders - which drove me crazy, but it works for a lot of people.

    ReplyDelete