Cleaning the whole house in 30 Days... give or take a year.

I've been meaning to work on this for a few months now. Some recent developments in life have inspired me to finally finish it.

Thanks to Our Adventure for sharing this article by Apartment Therapy called How to clean your house in 20 minutes. I thought it was a good place to start. But a) I don't think anything on that list could be done in 20 minutes! Especially if one has small children and b) I thought it would be more efficient to tweak it a little to suit my personal needs and to include my semi-yearly and yearly checklists as well.

After I did that, I decided to consult good old Martha to compare her checklists (because surely she had some) to mine and made a few more updates. Here is the result. I thought I would share it with you, in case you might find it useful. :)

I should preface this by saying that I do not consider it all-inclusive, so feel free to comment if you have anything else to add. You can take it and tweak it yourself for your own tastes as well. And I will also note that I do the dishes and check the laundry and the garbage on a daily basis, so those things are not included here. If any of these items don't apply to your home, take the opportunity for a day off, as Jennie suggested on her blog! Sometimes I call it off anyway if I'm having a chaotic day - I know the list will bring me around to it again eventually. :)

30 Day Cleaning Schedule

1. Sweep/mop and vacuum all indoor floors

2. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, mirrors, sink)

3. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, clutter, straighten nightstands) Change sheets. Dust around the house.

4. Wipe down "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)

5. Clean small floor mats.

6. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, mirrors, sink)

7. Clean all interior windows

8. Sweep/mop and vacuum all floors

9. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, clutter, straighten nightstands) Change sheets. Dust around the house.

10. Deep clean living room (mirrors, baseboards, dust artwork)

11. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, mirrors, sink)

12. Clean out/straighten clothes closets

13. Flush out all drains with vinegar and baking soda or use boiling water

14. Deep clean bedrooms (organize drawers, check under bed, tidy closet, dust artwork, launder duvet / other bedding)

15. Sweep/mop and vacuum all floors

16. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, clutter, straighten nightstands) Change sheets. Dust around the house.

17. Clean all door knobs, phones, entertainment equipment (remote controls), switch plates, banisters and other things that are repeatedly touched. Disinfect all baby toys that were used this month.

18. Clean out the refrigerator, take stock of food, organize pantry

19. Wipe down "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)

20. Sweep/mop and vacuum all floors

21. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, mirrors, sink)

22. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, clutter, straighten nightstands) Change sheets. Dust around the house.

23. Clean entryway, sweep porch (if you have one), clean out car (because they're often our home away from home)

24. Clean and straighten linen and coat closets

25. Sweep/mop and vacuum all floors

26. Deep clean kitchen (scrub appliances: dishwasher, microwave, fridge, oven, coffee maker, crumbs out of the toaster, wash trash cans, wipe down kitchen cabinets, drip pans and hood over stove)

27. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, mirrors, sink)

28. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, clutter, straighten nightstands) Change sheets. Dust around the house.

29. (Wild card day: catch up on what you haven’t done yet this month)

30. Deep clean bathrooms (clean inside drawers, inside of trash cans, tops of mirrors and all ledge surfaces, check tile and grout and clean as needed)

Spring Cleaning (add throughout the month of April)

Wipe down all walls in the house
Vacuum under couch cushions, clean surface of couch
Cobwebs on ceiling, in corners
Clean out light fixtures and wipe fans
Outside of windows, glass sliding door
Clean out gutters

Vacuum, launder or otherwise clean curtains
Wash blinds
Launder bed pillows
Vacuum beds, turn mattresses
Replace cold-weather bedding with warm-weather bedding.
Reorganize closets, giving away unwanted items
Sweep out fireplace, if applicable.

Autumn Cleaning (add throughout the month of October)
Wipe down all walls in the house
Vacuum under couch cushions, clean surface of couch
Cobwebs on ceiling, in corners
Clean out light fixtures and wipe fans
Outside of windows, window screens, glass sliding door
Clean out gutters

Wipe down inside of fridge, clean out fridge drawers
Change air filters in heater/AC
Shampoo carpets/area rugs
Clean Oven
Replace warm-weather bedding with cold-weather bedding
Vacuum refrigerator grill and coil.