Spring cleaning–its a love hate thing for me. Don’t like doing it, but LOVE the results. So far, I have finished my Living Room and my Sunroom. The Living Room took me 4 hours (one hour of that was fixing my vacuum, grr) and the Sunroom took about 2 1/2. Not a fast process. 2 rooms down, 10 to go!!
I bought the ebook, “Spring Cleaning For Normal People” at Simple Mom, for $7.00. One tip in the book that has been super helpful is her suggestion of taking everything out of the room (not heavy furniture), and putting it in a central location before you start cleaning. Not only does this get it all out of the way for deep cleaning, but as you put each piece back, you have a minute to think about whether it is something that is useful or beautiful, and if you want to keep it or not. Thanks to this tip, I have eliminated a ton of stuff! It also gives you a chance to focus in on each object to deep clean it, too, before putting it back in its place.
This is how I cleaned my sunroom:
~piled everything in the center
~used broom to reach high for cobwebs in corners and windows
~used broom to brush off loose dirt on window sills
~filled bucket with water/vinegar (1/2 & 1/2)
~wiped down doors
~wiped down window sills/frames
~wiped down all walls
~wiped down floor trim
~used a Mr. Clean eraser to get rid of scuff marks on doors and trim
~cleaned windows inside
~cleaned windows outside
~got frustrated because I couldn’t reach 3 windows on the outside without a ladder
~marveled at how bright the room looked with clean windows
~put back decor that didn’t touch the floor, cleaning them and eliminating as I went
~moved objects that did touch the floor from the middle of the room so I could…
~…sweep!
~mopped (twice…it was nasty)
~sat in the swing, sighed and smiled
Marni's Organized Mess
May 18, 2010 at 8:19 pmI love your sunroom and GREAT tackle!
Amy Bowman
May 6, 2010 at 1:18 am@ Cas Cottage-i just stopped over and was overwhelmed with your words. thank you.
@Cathy-thanks for the link, loving our common bond..
@tales from oc-thank you
@The DIY Showoff-thank YOU for having the parade each week. Thanks for following!
@Kaysi-I was desperate to get them out from underfoot!
@Kathy-It is amazing what clean windows do, who woulda thunk it? Kind of wish I didn’t know, I’m tired of cleaning windows!!
@Meg. Thanks. No, not mine…but isn’t it great?
@Lisa-that is too funny, hope it was a good dream. I have been using the sunroom so much more now, I even take my lunch out there and listen to the birds. I am blessed..
@Amy-Good luck with your cleaning. I finished my kitchen and now I am stuck. I need a kick in the pants to get going again..
@ Aimee-thank you so much. I hope the yard sale is successful!
@Heather-In my opinion, Raw sugar is better for you then artificial sugar. I like eating food as close to its natural state as possible. Raw sugar is not highly processed and does not raise your blood sugar levels as much as regular sugar. No, not fewer calories then splenda…
@Theresa-thank you. I was hesitant to hang the scooters, didn’t know how “pretty” they would be in a sunroom, but my girls love using them so I did it for practical reasons. Once they were up, I was happy and thought they looked like art:)
@Laura-so happy to hear you were inspired, that is the purpose of posts like this. I will come for a visit for sure…
@ Eden-My master bedroom is next on my list. If only I could get myself to start..
@ Anne-Marie-thank you so much
@The 5th Mama-aww, thanks for the tweet and your comment.
@kristen-are you from dine and dish? I participated in your blog mentor link up and just loved who I got. Thank you!
@sandwiched-yes you can, lol..
sandwiched
April 30, 2010 at 12:18 amWow…I’m INSPIRED! Piling in the middle of the room? I can handle that…
kristen
April 29, 2010 at 12:53 amI love your sunroom! So jealous. I love the yellow paint color. Great color choice for a sunroom.
The Fifth Street Mama
April 28, 2010 at 8:35 pmAwesome idea! I am so going to try this! I am also going to tweet this because it is such a great idea!
Anne-Marie
April 28, 2010 at 2:18 pmYour sunroom is lovely!
Eden
April 28, 2010 at 2:11 pmOur focus for this week is cleaning out our master bedroom. This is exactly what I was thinking this morning- I need to take everything out of the room and only let stuff back in that we need.
Thanks for the confirmation!
Laura
April 28, 2010 at 12:16 pmAmy-
This is a wonderful post.
I am inspired.
I love the idea of removing everything from the room.
I am linking to Bragfest too, and I am now a follower.
Stop by if you have time.
Laura
White Spray Paint
Theresa @ 612Riverside
April 28, 2010 at 11:24 amI love the scooters hanging on the wall! All of it looks fabulous, we had a sunroom in our old house and I gotta say seeing yours makes me miss it! Theresa
Heather
April 28, 2010 at 5:20 amWhat a transformation, fabulous job! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and commenting. I’m so excited to have linked up to your anti-procrastination party for the first time. Also, did you try out the spinach salad w the raw sugar? How did it turn out if so? I’d love to hear. Also, is raw sugar better for you than splenda? Does it have fewer calories as well? Thanks!
Aimee
April 28, 2010 at 4:51 amWow! This room is gorgeous! Thanks for posting before and after photos. And for the encouragement you left at my place last week. This Saturday, we’re having our community Yard Sale, so I’m working on that this week. I’m hoping to post new stuff next Tuesday.
BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Amy
April 28, 2010 at 4:29 amI have some definite spring cleaning and dejunking ahead of me. I love the idea of putting all the stuff in a pile and dejunking as I put it all back.
Thanks!! – you have a beautiful sunroom!
Lisa
April 27, 2010 at 12:38 amI just wanted to let you know that I had a dream about your sunroom last night! I don’t have a sunroom on my house but after seeing yours I would love to have one – I could just imagine sitting out there with a coffee and a book – sigh.
Kaysi
April 26, 2010 at 4:13 pmGreat job! I love how you the scooters on the wall, so creative!
tales from an oc cottage
April 26, 2010 at 1:48 pmHow awesome!
m ^..^
Cathy M~(checkitoff)
April 26, 2010 at 1:19 pmyou did a great job explaining how to clean everything! love the “wow mom, you painted!” comment! thanks for your sweet comment on my soccer post. read yours & we really have similar views! for great healthy recipes that are easy to throw together (like on soccer nights) you should check out this site: http://sabbyinsuburbia.blogspot.com have a great week!
Meg
April 26, 2010 at 5:33 pmAw, I have sunroom envy! Great job! And, is that your kitchen in the header? Gorgeous!
Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions
April 26, 2010 at 5:06 pmHi Amy, visiting from It’s So Very Cheri. I love sunrooms! Great tip on the cleaning. I agree with what a clean window can do for a room. Although I will have to hire mine out, since I do not do ladders and I live in a two-story house! : )
The DIY Show Off
April 26, 2010 at 2:11 pmGreat post! Everything looks amazing and I love the scooter organization! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing in the Project Parade!
I’m a new follower. It’s nice to “meet” you!
Roeshel
Paddywack Designs
April 26, 2010 at 2:04 pmGenius hanging the scooters on the wall, they look so cute. I love my house, but I’m always a little envious of those that have a sun porch.
Casual (dash) Cottage
April 26, 2010 at 6:15 amAmy- loved this post, and wanted you to know I’m featuring on my blog…I’m truly inspired here at New Nostalgia…
Amy Bowman
April 25, 2010 at 4:43 pm@Laura-thanks, I found your party and linked up!
@Coach J-cleaning is not easy with kids around! good luck.
@ Tracy-thank you. if you follow “Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays” here at New Nostalgia, you will know how hard it is for me to just buckle down and do it…its getting easier with the help of “AP Tuesdays” Would love for you to join us!
@mrs. c-how great is that idea?? I was so excited when I read about that, it just clicked and made sense to me.
@dianna-thanks for the paint color compliment. those mr. clean erasers worked so well for me and my sunroom.
@Cas Cottage-you are always so encouraging. thank you.
@ susan-thank you!! I just put a pic of the type of hook I used. Great question!
Susan
April 25, 2010 at 10:20 amAmy,
Your sun room looks amazing! Great job.
I love how you displayed the scooters on the wall – how did you attach them?
Lovely room!
Casual (dash) Cottage
April 25, 2010 at 4:52 amLove your sun room!
Nice feeling to have that accomplished.
Great job.
Coach J
April 24, 2010 at 8:03 pmI’m dying to clean out my sunroom, which doubles as the kids’ toyroom. Hopefully I can get some cleaening done this weekend, as the weather is finally nice enough to kick the kids outside.
Dianna
April 25, 2010 at 12:58 amNot fun but feels good when it’s complete. Wow! You cleaned so well it looked like a new paint job! I do like your paint color.
mrs. c
April 24, 2010 at 9:00 pmThanks for sharing your cleaning techique…I think that the “piling the stuff in the center of the room” is a great idea so you can see what you have and what needs to be removed. Thanks
Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures
April 24, 2010 at 8:27 pmWhat a pretty sunroom. Thanks for sharing. I need to get my whole house clean right now…should get off this computer and just do it.
Laura
April 24, 2010 at 7:06 pmWow what a difference some cleaning can do. Your sunroom is beautiful!
I’m hosting a blog party right now and I’d love it if you stopped by and linked up. Hope to see you at Saturday is Crafty Day!