Spring Cleaning Week 2- The Bedrooms

Next to the bathrooms, I think the bedrooms are my next, least favorite rooms to clean! It's just all the stuff, all of the areas that are pretty hidden, and we can tend to let things build up, or let things accumulate...  If you have children, you know not only do you need to change out seasonal clothing twice a year, but you should also make sure all of their clothes FIT them!  Which can be a chore itself!

So here are some ideas for the bedrooms.  Take these ideas and fit them to your own needs. Not everything that I do will fit for you, and visa versa.  Take a week to get everything done. Each day, give yourself an area or a specific bedroom, to clean. Then, it hopefully won't seem so overwhelming!

Ideas for Spring Cleaning Bedrooms:

Kid's Rooms

- go through toys; throw out what is broken, give away what is no longer played with or not really in their age range anymore ( this chore alone COULD take a few hours depending how often you do this!)

- go through all clothing, ALL CLOTHING. Check the condition of all clothing. Pitch what is unusable or beyond "play clothes" or usable material. Save clothing that your child has grown out of for a smaller sibling, a friend, neighbor, cousin, or for donation. Don't hang onto it if there is no need to... These clothes take up a LOT of extra space!

- wash bedding! Clean mattress, if necessary.  ( sprinkle with baking soda and sweep off, or just mist with water and an essential oil like lavender). You can also wash pillows.  I have never had huge success with this, but you can find many places on the internet where there are instructions on how to wash your pillow.

- clean out from under those beds!!!

- dust! ( my childrens' room get the dustiest! Ugh!)

- wash curtains, rugs, well loved stuffed animals, etc.

- organize closets and drawers.  And then SHOW YOUR CHILD WHERE THINGS GO!  This was a mistake I made years ago, I assumed that my kids would just SEE where things go, then put them there. WRONG! You have to tell them, show them, then tell them again! This also helps them learn how and where to put their clothes, when you ask them to put their clean clothes away (oh yes, children CAN do this!).

- sweep!!!

Adult Bedroom

- go through all clothes and make sure off season clothes get put away ( in a tote?), old clothes that are beyond work clothes get thrown out, used for rags, used for material, donate unworn or unwanted clothing..

- organize drawers, closets, shelves.

- clean out from under the bed, if need be. Things can tend to get dusty in this area, clean it up! It's almost better not to store under the bed if you don't have to so you can just run a sweeper under there once a week.

- dust! Ugh! Bedrooms can be the worst for dusting.  If you are like me, dusting my bedroom is about the last thing I think of when it comes to cleaning my own house.  

- wash bedding! You could also sprinkle baking soda on the mattress and sweep off, and mist it with water and an essential oil ( like lavender!). This would also be a good time to wash pillows, if you are good at that sort of thing!! :)

- go through any 'collections' that you might be keeping (ie- books, knitting items, etc), what do you REALLY use here, what don't you? 

- wash curtains, rugs, etc.

- sweep!!!

And whenever you get a chance, open those windows!! It's great when we can let some fresh air in after a long, stale winter... I'm still waiting for the day I can do that here in Indiana!  

Well, hopefully this list will give you some good ideas and some motivation to start cleaning some of those bedrooms!!!  It's not a fun job, by any means BUT if you do it right, you won't have to do it but once or twice a year.

Talk to you next week about Spring Cleaning the Living Room!!!