Spring Cleaning in the Second Phase of Life

There are many articles and lists out there telling you how to spring clean your home.  I don’t have the time or energy to spend several solid days doing a deep cleaning of my home.  However, I feel like my home needs to have a thorough cleaning each year.

I’m going to share with you my method of spring cleaning geared to those of us living in phase 2.  Perhaps you do something similar or have modifications to my method.  If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

To begin, write down, on paper or in a word document, all the areas of your home that need cleaning.

I’ll show you my list here, but yours will be reflect your home.  Don’t forget those outdoor spaces you may have such as a pool house or garden shed.  Here is my list.

• Living Room
• Entry
• Office
• Kitchen
• Dining Room
• Back Hall
• Laundry
• Master Bedroom
• Master Bedroom Closet
• Bathrooms
• Kid’s Rooms
• Basement Family Room
• Craft Room
• Furnace/Junk Room
• Garage

Next assign a month to each of the spaces you have listed. 

Consider the time of year you are making your assignments.  For instance, I want to clean the garage when it is warm outside rather than in the cold winter.  I want to clean the furnace/junk room during the dreary months of winter as there are no windows in that room for me.  I don’t want to be in the furnace room during the summer and miss the sunshine.  I like cleaning the living room in January as it is when we are putting away Christmas decorations so that room is already out of sorts.  I also know we have travel plans during the summer, so I want to do areas during those months that are quicker and easier to deep clean.

In my list, I’ve grouped the kid’s rooms together.  Now that they are moved out of the house, and their rooms are only used as guest rooms, it doesn’t take long for me to give them a good cleaning.  I also have grouped bathrooms together as that seems easy and logical for me to do them at the same time.  Again, your list will look different than mine depending on your spaces.

I now have assigned a month to each of the spaces listed above.

• Living Room – January
• Entry – January
• Office – October
• Kitchen – May
• Dining Room – January
• Back Hall – June
• Laundry – September
• Master Bedroom – July
• Master Bedroom Closet – July
• Bathrooms – April
• Kid’s Rooms – November
• Basement Family Room – January
• Craft Room – March
• Furnace/Junk Room – February
• Garage – August

Write the rooms on the corresponding month in your calendar or in your planner.

Once I have decided when each area will get its thorough cleaning, I then write the rooms on the corresponding month on my calendar. 

Did you notice I didn’t schedule any area for deep cleaning during the month of December?  That month is too busy for me both at work and with family life so I’m not going to add to it.

At the beginning of each month, I know what area of my home will be getting a good thorough cleaning.  Baseboards will be wiped down and windows in that room are washed.  I pull things out of cabinets to wipe them all down.

It is the time to declutter.

Friends, use this time to get rid of those items no longer needed or wanted.  As we move into the second phase of life, our interests and focus change.  Use this as a time to breathe new life into that space.  Although we may not be ready to downsize, it is something to keep in the back of our minds so what we declutter now will be less we have to do in the future.

If a space seems overwhelming, break it up into multiple areas.  Also consider breaking it up into more than one month. 

This month I have started working on our back hall.  There is a very large closet in our back hall which is just off the kitchen.  It serves as a pantry for me as well as holding all my cleaning supplies.  Earlier this week I purchased containers to fit on the shelves to hold various items and I am in the process of labeling the containers:  sauces, canned vegetables, and so on.  Containerizing small items is a great way to improve organization.  My plan is this will keep like items together and things won’t get pushed to the back where they are not easily seen.  Since this closet is my pantry, as I sort through my food, I will be checking expiration dates as well.    

Living in phase 2 sometimes means we need to do things a bit slower and that is just fine.  Do what you are capable of doing and celebrate each small step along the way.

Here’s to happy Living Phase 2.