CHRISTMAS CLEANALONG

[Alsonification]

Hi all. So for the first time ever I will be hosting Christmas Day dinner in my home.

And to that end, I've decided to give my house a massive clean, declutter & reorganisation (very badly needed!).

I've worked out there are 16 weekends to Christmas (well actually 17 but I want to use the last one for food prep) so I'm dividing my house into 16 sections & going to spend one day every weekend on a different section.

I'm starting this weekend. Would anyone like to join?

Great idea for a thread op! Thank you!

Blatantly place-marking!

This is exactly what I’m doing! I’m starting from next Monday and taking it a week at a time over 11 weeks then 2 weeks for catch ups then decorate the house and (hopefully🤞) I’ll then have the rest of December to enjoy myself. I’m going to do:

02.09 - Loft
09.09 - Loft
16.09 - Bedroom
23.09 - Bathroom
30.09 - Spare room
07.10 - Hall & stairs
14.10 - Living room
21.10 - Dining room
28.10 - Kitchen
04.11 - Shed
11.11 - Outside
18.11 - Catch up
25.11 - Catch up
02.12 - Decorate the house

I want each room / section to be absolutely complete. I’ve lived in this house for over 6 years and there’s a long list of things I’ve been saying I’m going to do but not actually got round to them.

https://holidaygrandplan.com

this is where I originally saw the idea and I’ll also keep an eye on the organised Christmas (organised mum method). I can’t wait to get started!

<PlaceMarking>

Last year , I had a holiday away then a week of at home Annual Leave to declutter , had all my lists done ... I got Covid so felt as rough as.

I did though between then and Christmas tidy kitchen cupboards and all the bedding .

My To Do List (in no particular order) for Phase 1 :

Put my holiday clothes in the loft
Sort out anything for Charity Shop
Declutter the bathroom and clean
Clean downstairs loo
Go through pantry
Clean the oven ( not a one off , it'll need done again )
If I have the time and inclination I;ll defrost the fridge/freezer but all the frozen food needs to be decanted into the freezer in the garage
Clean all the skirting boards (or make DS do them so I don't have to bend )
Clean the hall /stairs carpet

Oh wow delighted with the responses!!!
Thanks so much & welcome to all.
I haven't decided what day to start this weekend. I'd prefer Saturday but Arsenal are playing so i can't miss that lol.
So do I clean Saturday but stop at 12;30 for 2 hours for football or do I get a full day at it on Sunday?
Either way, I'll report back after I've finished.

Can I join please? I have a bit of painting to do before Christmas as well 😱
This week I have already pulled out all kitchen cupboards and defrosted freezer which is a start.
Utility cupboards and boiler room need to be emptied and organised this weekend, then a quick repaint of utility walls and cabinet doors.
Next weekend I'm planning to repaint kids bathroom and add some more storage for them.
Need to think on for rest of weeks 😂

Gosh I just made a huge big list very similar to this. I would live to join. (Also included a poncetastic list in anticipation of that thread and a gift list to track my gifts from the bargains thread).

I started last week, pulled ds8 bedroom apart and decluttered massively.
Just the rest of the house to do now which I've lost motivation for so will be following! Need to do a big garden tidy up as well.

Fab idea!

1. Living room
2. Kitchen
3. Pantry
4. Bathroom and utility (both new so will only need an hour each)
5. Sitting room
6. Front garden
7. Car
8. Bedroom
9. Bathroom 2

10. DD room (she can do this herself, so I might spend some time in the back garden). 11. Work weekend 1 12. Work weekend 2 13. Work weekend 3 14. Manchester trip 15. Christmas baking weekend 16. Decorate and fun

I'm in. I've got the added challenge of moving the bedrooms around now my DD is old enough for her own room.

I've already done a massive toy cull, which was 5 years in the making.
I also cleaned 3 rugs and got them out in the sun last week.

My list in no particular order is...

• Paint x2 bedrooms
• Move people into bedrooms
• Go through the children's clothes and remove the too small items
• Paint lounge
• Deep clean pantry cupboards
• Finish painting vintage desk for DD room
• Clean lounge carpet
• Wash sofa covers
• Clean out fridge freezer before stuffing it with Xmas food

This is inspired.

I dislike the end of summer but love Christmas, so having something to work towards I think will be really helpful.

Will think of my 16 areas.

Loving everyone’s plans!

I’m going to focus on eight areas then cycle back around them. I don’t have a huge amount to declutter as I’ve been working on that this summer, so it’s more about deep-cleaning.

DS room (DDs are older)
Living Room
Kitchen / Dining Room
Bathrooms
Our Bedroom
Hall / Stairs / Landing / Airing Cupboard
Office
Utility Room

I’ve started my list from next week to combine with a Organised Mum Christmas Countdown recommended by Pumpkinspicetea on Christmas Planning thread, and the utility room cupboards are making me itch so I’m going to get in there this weekend as I can’t wait 8 weeks 😂

Oh my word, this has inspired me. I am stuck in the house today while scaffolding is being erected for our re-roof. I have dedicated a notebook, identified my first 12 areas, and started on the kitchen, as that puts me where I need to be to keep half an eye on the scaffolders. I'm deep cleaning, de-junking and making a list of bigger jobs which may happen on the next iteration (I'm imagining a January New Start could follow this thread?).

It feels blooming brilliant. Just to work methodically through the house will be so good. I am lucky enough to be semi-retired, so do get chunks of free time, but have been finding it a bit difficult to know where to start. Just taking action feels so good.

Thinking of those of you trying to squeeze this into full time work and family and hoping you find a way to make it feel like self care and not another thing to feel pressured about. Our future selves deserve this!

Brilliant idea, I'll join. I will work out my weeks tonight. 🎄🍁🎅

Yes definitely I'm joining too please. Not hosting Christmas (since having DS I've told family you can pop in for tea and a mince pie but we're spending the day at home for us to relax and play with new Xmas gifts) but I am on a decluttering endeavour.

My issue is I try to sell stuff I don't want then it ends up lying there for ages so it's not actually out the house. I should do charity shop trips really.

Biggies are hidden areas. Drawers, cupboards and the like. And cleaning the shutters... That takes ages!

Hello again. So thrilled to see such interest here. I was worried I'd be on my lonesome so I'm glad to welcome you all.

I'm currently browsing Facebook marketplace for various items I know I need. Ds deffo needs a new chest of drawers. He also needs a desk but his room is tiny so needs to be small, possibly wall mounted fold down one.

I'm also seeing so many little jobs here that need doing. Woodwork downstairs needs painting. Playroom needs repainting. There's a kitchen press that's been hanging off its hinges for a while. I really need to sort that.

@Alsonification thank you for this thread. I’m in. I’ll return tomorrow with a list after some thinking. Our place is small but it needs a declutter and a deep clean.

@BishyBarnyBee
Thinking of those of you trying to squeeze this into full time work and family and hoping you find a way to make it feel like self care and not another thing to feel pressured about. Our future selves deserve this!

Thank you so much for saying this. Treating it like self care really switched on a lightbulb for me. I can do that instead of dreading it and hating the process. Thank you again.

I am joining too but I am doing 13 weekends as one we are away. Leaving December free - although will endeavour to clean then (and probably catch up on missing weeks).

I have 8 rooms, 3 - 4 of which I will rotate through (some are very small like the bathroom so hopefully won't need more than one weekend!).

I am going to be decluttering - our home is small but stuffed. I try to sell on marketplace or Vinted but it's such a slow process and inevitable things get piled up and never moved on. I like the idea of one weekend/week one room!

I love this idea and badly need a declutter. I'm in.

Curtains rehung amid much swearing.
Spare bedroom not started due to neighbour's fall - not bad, but shaken. Phone calls to his son. ( Sadly that actually counts as something I have needed to do for a while)
Some polyfillering needs doing, so have prepared the gaps. Did a bit of mould removing in the garage, and Jeyes fluid-ed the outside drain.
Out a lot tomorrow, but will fit in a charity shop run with some decluttered office bits.

Loads of u already flying along. Fair play.

Myself & dd have decided to start tomorrow (after the footie lol).
We are doing kitchen part one so that will involve emptying every single press in the kitchen onto the table. Scrubbing every single press & then sorting what's to go back in them. No doubt I'll find some out of date food
I'll do the same for the fridge freezer.

I'm also going to fix the door hinge on the dodgy press & if I can, I'll try get paint to touch up the woodwork.

Oh gosh I can't even think about painting until I've done a massive clear out. Everything being such a mess and drawers being crammed full I think takes priority for me. I'd love to wave a magic wand and get DIY jobs done. I wanted to paint the front door this summer but I think that's fell by the wayside this year now!

I did manage to get all my summer clothes out the wardrobe and hang things nicely enough that I can actually rifle through clothes that are hanging up properly with space between things thank goodness. It took two hours; I can't believe it took that long. But it's done!

Oh I know what you mean. I need to do a major paint job downstairs but I can't do it til the place is actually clean.
For now I'm just going to touch up paint as I'm going & then see how we stand.

Though I've got ahead of myself for tomorrow. I've managed to fix the hinge on the press. This is a press that's been dodgy for months & I think I just got used to it. Took all of 10 mins to fix

Yes! Charity shop run with briefcases and office equipment!
Had someone round to give me a quote for a new window, and contacted the outside conservatory cleaner, who will drop by tomorrow. He does the roof and gutters, too.
This thread is working for me, because I have to do something to join in!

Someone on here recommended The Organised Mum app. One off payment about £6. I really like it as I love a list to motivate me. I always host but this app is helping me keep on top of things. Also has bootcamp section which I’ve not looked at yet.

How funny, I have just set up my own rota for doing precisely this on Thursday afternoons (my half day) and Saturdays.

I did my bedroom this week, apart from the wardrobe which I'm going to do at the weekend. I'm determined to get rid of anything that doesn't "spark joy" as Marie Kondo says!

Next will be tackling my dressing room and getting rid of all the old make-up and nail varnish I no longer use, I'm going to slim it down completely. I'm determined to live a more minimalist lifestyle as I'm at my happiest when things are simple.