Running the Stairs

Spring cleaning just wasn't something I was looking forward to this year, let me tell you. But it feels pretty good to be done with it.

While some very ambitious souls (and even me in my motivated state) have exhaustive lists for springtime cleaning, my version this year was more on the lines of what many people do all the time. Sweeping. Mopping. Cleaning cobwebs from corners. Dusting. and Organizing.

I consider it a big job and am very proud of all the work I put into it though, considering this mansion (by my standards, mind you) we live in is huge and sweeping/mopping/cleaning the whole shebang is quite a feat.

Even the CLOSETS and dressers are orderly these days. As is customary, quite a few bags of yard sale stuff are now gracing the attic floor awaiting the day that they might profit us money rather than more daily work. Many people consider my house sparse, but I am beginning to see the real joy in the 'sparseness' and the more I purge, the better it feels.

The week that everyone was sick, I zeroed in on the downstairs and tackled every single room INCLUDING the WORST room in the whole house. The entryway. Horror of Horrors, this room has been a thorn in my side since the moment we moved in. It was never EVER clean. Or tidy. Or uncluttered. It was a tossing ground for everything that needed to be brought it (but heaven forbid, put away!). Shoes were kicked off and left. Coats, mittens, hats, toys, all tossed on the floor (heaven forbid, hung up or placed in the hat basket!) Oh my. I hated that room! And since it was the room one must step into to get into the house---people stopping by would be left with that horrid little impression of my housekeeping skills (or lack thereof). I really ought to have taken a before picture of THAT room, but I didn't think about it until I looked around at the crazy difference once the job was done. (Interestingly, since the big clean it has been home to many story readings, newspaper readings and indoor picnics. Cool, that.

But since I am not superwoman--while my focus was on the downstairs, the upstairs got trashed. Oh, it was bad.


This is the children's room. And it is actually a photo taken after some tidying had already been done. See the piles on the floor? They hadn't been piles when I started. See the folded clothes in the dresser? Well, the folding was new. And all the vomitous sheets, towels and bed coverings had all been taken to the wash. (You're welcome.)


Just looking at the photos raises my blood pressure. The children's room was like this for several days. I sidestepped piles and kicked toys out of the way when I put the children to bed because I knew if I cleaned up ANYTHING, I would clean EVERYTHING and I still wasn't done the downstairs and that was the most important focus since that is what people saw when they came to visit. (Congratulations on finishing the worlds longest run-on sentence.)

But now...NOW..................it looks like this:


Newly mopped, shiny wood floors. Newly vacuumed rugs. Newly dusted walls. Newly sorted closets.


The best part is~ all the rooms look this way now, even my disasterous craft room. (It gets disasterous these days because I actually USE it! Hurrah!)


Now, if only there was a way to keep all the work, well, DONE.

I already noticed a layer of dust on the downstairs furniture......

UGH!