Organizing the Home front...House Cleaning Schedule

I have been inspired by many Pinterest ideas...but have I actually done anything about them (besides teaching ideas)...no not really...until now :) It takes this teacher the summer and maternity leave to take action I guess. Also the fact that my husband and I are now home owners! It is a newly built house so we are learning everything that comes with that. Thank goodness I have been home, otherwise I don't know how we would have gotten in all the service men check-ins that have occurred since we have moved in.

One thing that I have been committed to is keeping this house clean! I have to admit, I was quite the slacker in the apartment. Now that this house is my own, I want it done right! But, what I realized even in my apartment, to do all the cleaning in one day is daunting and easily put off because of that. That was until now :)

I saw on Pinterest many ideas of creating a daily schedule for cleaning, that would only take 15-30 minutes a day. My husband and I thought we would give it a try. We combined the ideas off of several I had pinned, wrote down the chores and cleaning we saw that we needed to get done, and created a four week schedule rotation of chores.

I tried our first week out this week, and I have to say...it was a success! all the chores took me either 10-20 minutes...the longest was today 30 min for vacuuming. It was so nice knowing that I had the cleaning for the day done, so I could get other things accomplished, and that even though I saw the sink needed to be cleaned...it was the next days chore and would be done. I finally felt happy to do cleaning, not overwhelmed.

We have laminated our schedule, and I found a cool dry erase marker that is magnetic for our fridge.

We have them hanging in our other Pinterest inspired area to keep us organized: our "homestation". My husband has a habit of piles of things he wants out and close by that he wants to get to later. They always end of piling up on the counter or kitchen table...it has become a pet peeve of mine. So I found this solution.

I purchased this file organizer (Real Simple) from Target, and labeled the openings. "M" for his things, "L" for my things I want at hand, and then I split up the last section into "i" for mail that comes in my husband still needs to see, and "o" for outgoing mail. Once again, a huge success once all set up...and the piles have vanished!

You will also notice that I have two notepads hanging. One is for the weekly grocery list (we write things down on it as we see the need), and the other is for at home projects that need to get done. It has really helped us stay focused. Then I have the crazy clip of coupons to use. I had these in a folder, but then easily forgot about them. I remember them when they are out and hanging like this...as much as I hate the look of it. It is on the side of the fridge, so it is not that bad.

I tell you what...this has really made me want to keep pursuing things I pin...because I have several!