housekeeping

Are you looking for the latest version of my free printable cleaning calendar? Click here to get the newest PDF – one you can use for each month!

Thanks so much to everyone for feedback on last month’s calendar! I meant to get this month’s calendar up on Tuesday but it’s been a crazy week with an ER visit and getting our house ready to sell (which means even MORE cleaning).

You’ll notice it’s not a lot different from last month’s, although I did build in a day off for Valentine’s Day. If you want to go ahead and clean, you can fill in that day with whatever task seems most pressing.

Click here to download the February 2012 calendar. Happy cleaning!!

Edited to add: Thanks to Chris from Hampton Roads Mom for passing along this great tip for cleaning ceiling fans: Take a pillow case, put the blade into the case, close it, and pull the case along the top/bottom. All of the dust stays contained and doesn’t wind up on your (ultimately, freshly made) bed or just-vacuumed floor. 

Are you looking for the latest version of my free printable cleaning calendar? Click here to get the newest PDF – one you can use for each month!

I hate house cleaning.

I love the effect, of course. And I actually like organizing. But when it comes to chores like mopping, vacuuming or cleaning the bathroom, I’m always unmotivated – I don’t have allowance dangling in front of me like I did back in high school.

Since I don’t enjoy cleaning, I put it off until the weekends, when it then becomes a long list of tasks that take a huge chunk out of our down time. Or sometimes (ahem – very very rarely, of course) we slack on things like dusting until company comes, which of course is always the best motivator.

While surfing StumbleUpon the other day I came across a list of how to clean your house a little each day. I immediately zeroed in on this approach, because who doesn’t like the idea of minimizing effort? The list didn’t account for weekends (when I might have more time for a detailed task, for instance) but it gave me the idea to create a calendar for myself.

And I had to make it cute. Because somehow that makes cleaning seem more pleasant.

In the belief that I’m not alone in my distaste for cleaning, I’ve created a PDF of this calendar that you can download and print out for yourself. Just click here to start the download.

I’m sure there are some of you who keep immaculate homes and love to clean. If so, you are absolutely invited over.

If you’re like me, though, I hope you can use this to help make a clean house seem achievable. Between work, kids, and all sorts of other commitments that pop up, it can seem overwhelming. But by taking it a little at a time (and recognizing that perfection isn’t required) you can keep on top of things and still have plenty of time left for everything else.

One note – you’ll see that two Sundays are designated as laundry days. I’m not suggesting you hold off and just do laundry two times a month. If we tried that I think we’d be barricaded into our house. Do a light schedule of laundry throughout the month; enough to keep your family clothed. But then do towels, linens, and other clothes in bulk twice a month to get the “heavy lifting” of laundry over with.

Do you like the calendar? I want to get feedback on this one to see if I should post next month’s calendar too. I’m going to create one each month for my own use, but let me know if you’d like it posted for you, too!