Freshen up!

I'm back from my trip to South Africa... as well as having some lovely moments with my family, some sunshine and excellent food I've come back very relaxed and too embarrassed to post because my housework has been so behind. But never mind because in the northern hemisphere Spring is officially here! In the UK we have had some lovely sunny days for the past week, as a matter of fact it feels like I'm still in South Africa some days. With spring in full swing there's no hiding from the fact that's it's time to thoroughly clean the house.

So have any of you started the Spring clean routine? I have started a bit today, I say a bit because I was distracted yet again by the gorgeous sunshine and ended up doing this for half the day....

What's better than a good book in a hammock under the sun? Not much I tell ya!

So as the title of this post says, spring time is time to 'freshen up' the house. It's a time to open all the windows so that air can circulate, hang the laundry outside again, and get rid of clutter. This really is the one time of year when the days are getting longer and our energy levels increase, so there really is no better time to de-clutter than in the spring. And what a great time to clean those places you don't get to clean regularly. But just starting to spring clean without a plan is like trying to do grocery shopping without a planned menu... it could work, but you might not get through everything or have everything that's needed to get you through. So if you haven't got a plan just yet, then here are some ideas to get you started (and me of course because I need to get off my backside and do this properly before Spring is over).

• Make a list of things that really bother you around the house (that Tupperware cupboard, or under the stairs for instance?) Prioritise, and decide which tasks are achievable for a spring clean. Start with these tasks.
  
• Shake any rugs outside and sweep or vacuum underneath them.
• Move all the furniture, cleaning behind and under it - doing room by room.
• Dust and wash walls removing marks and stains.
• Thoroughly vacuum upholstery
• Go through items in the wardrobes and throw out items that have not been worn in the past season and store away any winter clothing if you need the extra space.
• And my favourite task: hang all quilts, pillows, cushions and blankets (without their covers) in the bright sunshine - it gets rid of those nasty dust mites and brings the smell of the sun back into the house.
  

There are of course lots of other tasks that can be done for spring cleaning, but it can be daunting if you decide to tackle your entire house at once. Because I work full-time, I have decided to dedicate two evenings a week to spring cleaning. And some tasks that I don't feel are urgent I am writing on a list to do in the autumn (washing curtains and re-organising our house filing drawers are just a couple of examples).

What have you done for your spring clean so far?
I hope you have all been well, it's good to be back! I've got lost of post lined up for this season... some more recipes to share, as well as a post about using herbs around the house, a post about South African home keeping and a post about scrubbing floors the old fashioned way - sometimes it just has to be done.

Have a lovely week!
xxx

PS: Happy Mother's Day to those mum's in the UK (and anywhere else that's celebrating today).

Spring is on its way...

Oh yes, I can smell it in the air. Here in the Northern Hemisphere the days are slowly getting longer, and the snowdrops are just about starting to make an appearance. I do realise we are a few months away yet, but it's getting nearer. You don't only have to look outside to notice these things... generally I can feel my energy levels slowly rising and that feeling to sort out the house is thawing.

On Saturday I was meant to do nothing, just take a day to relax, read and do a bit of quilting. Instead I had the slightest urge to sort something out in the house. In the end I spent the entire Saturday unpacking my drawers and re-folding my clothes neatly. Now, I know some of you must think that I've wasted a chance to do nothing - a chance to have some 'me' time. But actually folding and re-organising things can be very therapeutic. I also realise that at this point I am sounding like I may suffer from an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for organisation. But truthfully I am a born 'untidy person'. If you don't believe me, go ask my mum on her MammaLalla blog - she had years of trying to get me to not step out of my clothes, leave wet towels on the bed and simply rummage through my wardrobe as if it was a big laundry bin. So that is how I know Spring is approaching, because in the Spring even us 'born untidies' have the urge to straighten things out.

Drawers have always been my downfall. I can never see what are in the stacks of folded clothing, and as a result my impatience gets the better of me and I mess up the folded items. So this time I thought I need a different solution. I did a bit of 'folding clothes' research again, and decided that side-by-side stacking of all my tops and jumpers (the ones that don't need hanging) is the solution. Unfortunately I forgot (on purpose) to take a 'before' shot. But here you can see how I've folded and lined up my 'tops' drawer. And yes, I would like to point out that if I was Obsessive, I would arrange things by colour - but I'm too much of a realist, and know that that system won't last long.

But I didn't stop there, I continued until all the drawers that belong to me were sorted out... including my underwear drawers. There is however no way that I am going to post photos of my nickers drawer on a blog, but I will show you a peek of how I've stacked my bra's in an IKEA wardrobe organising box (yes, I wear flesh coloured bras when the occasion arises and that is a 'shock absorber' at the front, now lets move on please).
Phew, so after all that folding, I have become very familiar with various folding techniques. Coincidentally, Ivy from Little Ivy Cakes left me a comment asking about folding socks. So for all you Spring organisers, and for Ivy, I will be posting at the weekend about different folding techniques (not just t-shirt) for drawer and wardrobe organisation, including socks, trousers, underwear etc. All of that just in time for a bit of early Spring Cleaning.

Have a lovely week!
xxx

Spring cleaning/Autumn cleaning

All of a sudden in the past week, I have started to feel the need to really clean and clear the house of clutter and wasted space. It's that springtime feeling, although right now it's the start of Autumn in the UK. I reckon this must be because my brain is ready for spring around this time of year since that's the season in South Africa (my birth country) right now. But then houses do unfortunately need more than one deep clean de-clutter a year (or at least ours does), so this feeling I have is probably a good thing. I figured for my next few posts I will be featuring things to do around the house to super clean and re-organise the house room by room, ready for the next big season which happens to be winter here. Of course if you are reading this in the southern hemisphere, this will be going right along with the spring cleaning theme, so join in.

I'll start off with the room I think is the most important room in a home - it's the room that keeps us healthy and happy, and probably unhealthy and overweight too, but we spend so much time going backwards and forwards in - the kitchen. An untidy kitchen is easy to achieve, with pots, pans, clean crockery, dirty mugs all living in the kitchen, this is the room that often gets messy first when you move into a new house. So it's important to keep a kitchen organised and functional. Here's our kitchen to-do list and how-to's:

Chuck it!

The number one rule of spring (or autumn) cleaning the kitchen is to throw out of date items in the rubbish bin. If you are using a master shopping list, this is the time to make a note of things you can take off your master shopping list, and what needs to be added. Be ruthless, even go through you utensils drawer and throw away any gadgets that are taking up space yet no one can be bothered to use them.

Re-organise

This gorgeous photo is by Hownowdesigns

Really think about how you use your kitchen - stand back and look at your kitchen objectively. Re-organise your kitchen cupboards to make tasks more convenient. For instance, having your dishwasher on the opposite side of the kitchen to the cupboard where you store your plates , mugs and glasses will make unpacking the dishwasher more of an inconvenience and time consuming. So streamline your kitchen. There are no set rules about how to organise your kitchen, just do it to suit you and your family. If you can get the kids to help with unpacking the dishwasher or setting the table, move plates and cups to lower cabinets so that they can easily reach these items without your help. Put herbs, spices and oils in a cupboard near the cooker (but not above or the heat will make them go off). Of course, before you start re-packing kitchen cupboards do wipe down the inside of the cupboards. Leaving crumbs and spills inside cupboards is a sure way to attract mice and cockroaches.

If you have space on top of your kitchen cabinets, do not be tempted to pile random unused items there - get rid of anything you've not used within the past year. The space on top of kitchen cupboards is notorious for gathering dust and getting rather mucky. Instead buy some pretty storage boxes or baskets (preferably with a lid) in which you can store things you don't use often. An example of this could be pudding basins which mainly get used in winter, or special shaped cake tins that you only need once a year.

So try and arrange your kitchen seasonally. We move our slow cooker to the front of the cupboard in winter, and push the smoothie maker to the back and of course vice verse for the summer.

Fridge magnets

Fridge magnets are fun, but they really can make the fridge become an unattractive cluttered part of the kitchen, with notes stuck all over and magnets arranged randomly. I never thought I'd be de-cluttering the door of my fridge, but that is what I did on Friday night, and now I can't stop thinking how much better and tidier it looks (I really must remember to take before and after photos when I do these things). And yet, other that the fridge poetry magnets that we never use, I kept all our magnets as well as some of the notes. All I did was to arrange all the magnets neatly in a row, and made sure that any papers we put on the fridge was not just held by one magnet in a corner, but with four magnets, one for each corner so that papers lie flat against the refrigerator. Small changes can make big differences.

Now I know that children's artwork don't strictly fall into the kitchen category, but once again the fridge seems to be the place where most of the children's artwork ends up in family homes. A good tip from the Organized Life book by Stephanie Denton (I love this book!), is to let kids help you choose the favourite artwork of the month, the rest gets discarded. Then take a photo of your child holding their artwork of the month and eventually you will end up with a photo album of your children growing up with their art. I also think that if you have the space, you could save each artwork of the month until the end of the school year. At the end, once again select your and your child's favourite and discard the rest. Once again, eventually you can make a portfolio of your child's artwork - one from each year. This would make a great keepsake.

Oh, and while we're on the fridge, clean the rubber seals around the refrigerator door while you're there!

Label, label, label!

Photo from teh brilliant I shot the chef blog

Once your cupboards are re-organised and you are feeling chuffed with yourself (it does feel good having an organised kitchen) don't be afraid to label where things go. Labelling the insides of cupboards, or top parts of drawers (you want the labels to be concealed when the drawers are closed) may seem a bit anal, but it does seem to work and will stop you in your tracks next time you are hastily about to put the scissors in the cutlery drawer.

Scrub clean the oven

Image from Flickr

A big part of spring cleaning a kitchen of course is probably the bit of housework everyone hates the most... cleaning the oven. As always, it's tempting to buy a chemical oven cleaner from the supermarket, but DON'T! Commercial oven cleaner contain some of the most toxic chemicals of all household cleaners. The majority of these oven cleaners contain lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide). Lye is extremely toxic, corrosive and gives off choking fumes. It burns the skin, the eyes and can attack internal organs if inhaled. The newer, 'better' and 'more efficient' oven cleaners are in aerosol sprays which are even worse because small droplets containing lye can drift and land on the skin, in the eyes and are easily inhaled which could damage the sensitive tissues of the lungs. Have I convinced you yet to give up on commercial oven cleaners?

The alternative is simply using bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) or lemons - much healthier. If you have a lot of hard caked spills in the oven, try using an oven proof bowl containing lemon wedges covered with water, and place in the oven at 100 C for 20 to 30 minutes. This should help soften some of the grease. Alternatively lightly spray the entire oven with water, the sprinkle bicarbonate of soda liberally over the base of the oven and spray lightly with water again. Leave to sit overnight, and don't turn the oven on. By morning the grease and burnt spills should be soft enough to wipe away. Tougher bits can be removed with a palette knife or steel wool. Repeat the process if necessary. Rinse well with a vinegar solution (one part vinegar to 4 parts water) to get rid of the residue. For future use, you can line your oven with foil (making sure not to let the foil touch the element) avoiding having to clean it by replacing the foil every so often.

Sort out those hidden corners
While we're scrubbing away the oven, now is the time to forward any non built-in appliances and reveal what's behind it. You'll be amazed how many crumbs, cereal, peas and other unimaginables fall down behind kitchen appliances. Check every corner in your kitchen and make sure nothing is left behind for those pesky mice, cockroaches and ants to live on. This is your kitchen, claim it back! Okay, there you, I've calmed down now.

Sorting out the kitchen in time for the new season really is satisfying, and will hopefully inspire you to get cooking and baking again. Remember to regularly wipe down your sink, shake out the toaster, sweep the floor and clean the stove top as you cook and your kitchen should stay sparkly and healthy until springtime (or autumn of course for the southerners).

Have you got any tips to add to the spring-clean kitchen post?

Next up I'll be writing about super cleaning the bathroom... not my favourite job, but it's got to be done.