Anyone up for a Spring Clean motivation thread?

[hangingkebab]

I've woken up with an urge to get the house sorted, which doesn't happen often!
I'm starting in the living room, I'm about to put all the loose covers on the wash, sponge down the rest, dust, polish and then deodorise the carpets. I'll come back when I stop for coffee...please tell me what you're doing to keep me motivated!

Also any tips to make the whole thing quicker and easier would be very welcome, as would ideas for getting two preschool DC involved! (I usually give them a bowl of warm water and lemon juice and 'let' them clean the skirting boards - they find this weirdly exciting. Oddbods).

Hello. Spring cleaning myself at the moment. I started last week with one of the bathrooms, total cleaning spree! I scrubbed every tile, cleaned every surface and it is sparkling! I had a terrible headache from all the fumes! Not sure how healthy that is. I also managed the sitting room, master bedroom and the kitchen too! It feels so good.

My house is always tidy and clean and I have a cleaner who cleans the bathrooms, kitchen and vacuums. However she has just retired and I have not replaced her yet. I felt the urge to totally clean myself!

It was very therapeutic and I found all sorts of things, I have boxes of things for the charity shop. I am hoping to manage the dining room and the study this weekend and clean the windows.

Although I will be looking for a new cleaner soon!

I'm having a rare day to myself while the kids, so also am meant to be spring cleaning /blitzing house.

I feel a bit clueless though and my list of jobs says

Blitz kids room
Blitz kitchen
Blitz living room

So I'm not sure how well I'll get on.

Today I'm going to turn my bedroom into a haven of calm for mothers day (rather than a depository for crap).

Hello, thanks for posting replies!

newpup there's nothing better than a bath in a freshly cleaned bathroom - although the fumes headache is a bit worrying! I'm also collecting bits for charity as I go, it's only six months since my last big clear out but it's amazing how much has accumulated! Very jealous of you having a cleaner - it's one of the first things on my list for when I'm a proper grownup .

Leeloo you're a better woman than I am, spending a child-free day cleaning! (Also, why are you awake?!)

user that sounds lovely, my bedroom is currently piled high with laundry that needs putting away. It's on the list!

Progress report - have done soft furniture, stripped beds and sprinkled mattresses with soda and lavender oil. Waiting a while then will Hoover off and remake the beds. Have also done lamps, mirrors, one bookshelf (took everything off, dusted, removed crap) and cleaned/oiled the breakfast table and stools. Next jobs - electronics, coffee table and china cabinet.

Enjoy your cleaning everyone

I blitz the kitchen including sorting the cupboards on Thursday
Steam cleaned the bathrooms yesterday.

Today I'm doing

Linen cupboard and wardrobes / drawers

Sadly dd woke me up at 6.45 to tell me 'its wakey wakey time' (it so wasn't!). Although I seem to have missed some useful words from my earlier post, so I clearly wasn't 'that' awake!

I managed 2 loads of laundry (end of term spring clean of uniform!) and 4 hours cleaning and sorting in kids' room. I managed to pull everything out from under the bed and top of wardrobe. Wash/hoover it all and rearrange stuff so out of season clothes are up high and there's space for kids' toys down low.

I sorted through a storage bucket of soft toys and got a black bags worth for charity, plus 2 big sainsburys bags of clothes/blankets for charity and a small bunk bed book shelf I bought when ds was in reception (he's now y3) and never put up can go too. 1 bag of outright rubbish.

It seems to have taken loads longer than it should though (not sure how long it 'should' have taken, but less than 4 hours surely?) and it's not even done as I haven't even started on the 2 big sets of book shelves in there. Ah well, it feels like a good start.

Anyway, I had to stop to do the ironing and just had coffee and toast before its time to go out and meet my ds to take him swimming...

It sounds like everyone else is making great progress today hangingkebab I'm really impressed by the thoroughness of your clean. The mattresses must smell lovely after lavender...

Leeloo that sounds like loads!

I'm done for the day - like you I'm not sure where the time went, but at the risk of outing myself, here are before and after pics of the most satisfying job I got done today!

Gah, photo fail. Those are all the after pic.
This is before.

Well done hangingkebab! What did you use? I have graffiti everywhere.

Rewarding myself with a curry after successfully cutting down on the clutter in my room and turning into a sanctuary of sorts. With flowers I decided to treat myself to as it's unlikely anyone else will

Signing in, got next week off and i need some motivation.

Greetings knickers

[user] mmm curry is a good idea...glad you've got a lovely bedroom to relax in now, have these from me.
For the table I scrubbed it with wire wool and fairy liquid, then used water and a cloth to get the gunk off, then when it was dry rubbed coconut oil in with a bit of ginger essential oil. Smells lush, but I don't think the scrubbing would be a good idea on any precious wood!!

Wow, that looks like a different table! Nice handwriting practise there. I hadn't thought of using coconut oil on wood, I wonder if it'd be good on my wooden worktops?

While my dad was bathing the kids last night, my mum helped me sort the big bookshelves. They're adjustable ones and the shelves had moved up and down over time to accommodate the size of the kids' books changing. She pointed out they'd look better if the shelves were the same height on them both. I'd never have thought of it, but she's right, so we shuffled those round. Then took all the huge (dusty) lego models off the top shelves and put them in the newly empty storage box under the bed. It's made more room for ds' books on the shelves, so they're less jumbled in and there's even a bit of empty space! :-)

I'm glad we put the extra hour or so in at the end, as the room seems much more finished, so it makes it all seem more worthwhile.

Although now I just need to do the rest of the house!

Morning Leeloo, sounds like an hour very well spent! Definitely useful to have another pair of eyes as well sometimes, it's amazing how you go blind to areas you see every day!

I would definitely give the coconut oil a go, I'm a total convert. I actually bought a big pot to use as moisturiser for me, but didn't like it, so had to come up with ways of using it up! It's really good at shifting stickers off furniture as well, just wipe it on and leave it for about an hour and it loosens them right up! Plus of course it's food really, so no worries about chemical residue if it's on something your DC use.

I'm not planning on getting too much cleaning done today, need to take the DC out for some fresh air and then am going to treat myself to big coffee and somewhere. My only target for the day is to pull the fridge out and clean behind it...if I never return to this thread, it's because I've been eaten by a monster made of cobwebs, magnets and cornflakes .

Hope you all have a lovely Mother's Day (Mothers'? I'm never sure!) whatever you're up to.

Morning all, anyone got cleaning plans for the day? knickers, have you started yours?

I failed miserably at cleaning behind the fridge yesterday, I forgot that we took the wheels off when we moved so will have to wait until DH is about to help.

Today's plan is to do the rest of the kitchen, and spruce up the front door and step.

Morning! This is just the kind of motivation thread I need! At home with a stinking cold and a baby, but will try and pack some storage boxes to go in the loft later on! They're only smallish boxes as our loft door is narrow. Will aim to fill 5 and hopefully fill some charity and rubbish bags while I'm at it. I love a good clear out! I don't feel I can do a deep clean until there is a minimalist vibe going on

I'm here! Right, lets start with picking shit up off the floor and hovering!

Hello Coco, hope your clear out is going well...I'm the opposite, I have to stop myself from 'sorting things out' before cleaning, otherwise I suddenly realise I've spent three hours alphetising the button box and haven't actually cleaned anything .

knickers I hope that's not actual shit you're picking up....

Tidied the living room, took out the bathroom bin, put two washes on and hung them outside. Had some lunch and faffed around on mumsnet. I've got to nip out for an hour and then I need to mop kitchen floor! Whats everyone else done? I still have a box of paperwork looking at me that needs to be sorted out and I the cupboard under the stairs is just full of god knows what. So those are next on the hit list.

Ok, I failed miserably to meet my targets yesterday! DD was feeling poorly, so wanted loads of cuddles on the sofa, and that just got me into a really lazy mood!

I did manage to do the kitchen floor and skirting boards, and wipe the walls, but that's it!

Need a bit of a kick up the bum please! Won't have a chance to do much today as we're really busy, but need to wake up motivated again tomorrow!

knickers did you manage to get your hit list ticked off?

Ooh can I join please? Yesterday I did the hall cupboard/pantry/dryer room/bits of crap room which I've been putting off for ages ( it's really big ) and got rid of loads of things.

Today I'm doing my windows, stripping beds, painting dd's windowsill and radiator, sorting clean laundry as bedroom is full of it.

Will report back in a few hours :)

No! I did mop the kitchen floor. I need to clean the bathroom and take a bootload to the tip but after that I'm going to spend the afternoon sorting out the paperwork. I had an errand to do but the weather was so nice i ended up charity shop browsing until school pick up time. I have got a wash on the line and one in the machine. My aim is to have the house looking pretty tidy in every room before the end of the week so I've got to get all the washing done and crucially put away. But bathroom, tip, paperwork and clean kitchen are the big jobs. Clean kitchen involves cleaning, oven, fridge and decluttering work surfaces and sorting out cupboard where all the packets are, it's where my baking supplies go to die.

Well done to all who managed their tasks! My cold is really bad so had a tv day with the baby yesterday and currently still in bed. I feel rotten.

I wonder if this is what having man-flu feels like

I'm on one today too! Well, have been since the weekend! Bought a bunk bed from gumtree on Thursday for the boys' room, and put it together on Friday. Bought new bedding and curtains as their old stuff was VERY tired and not exciting for a kid's room. But consequently, all the stuff I've been storing under the beds is now spread all over the house Also the walls are in a terrible shape, so picked up some nice grey paint, so plan today is give their room a lick of paint, then find a temporary home for all the underbed crap. It's mainly outgrown clothes, so once the house is more or less back to liveable I'll have a sort through and gumtree / eBay it.

Loving the thread! And love the super clean skirting op! Sending 'clean and organised' vibes to all!

I have cleaned the oven, used my steamer thing, still looking awful, so I've nipped to tesco and bought some oven magic. The shelves are soaking in the toxic gloop as we speak. I took a bootload of rubbish to the tip. I've hoovered downstairs, hung two loads of washing out. I've just had lunch and need to put another load out and hoover the stairs and then it will be time to pick up the youngest. I've really got to get these things done as I'm back at work next week and the house will look like a shit tip pretty quiclkly. Want to get the bathroom done by the end of the day. I'm on it. Stay motivated mumsnetters!