Have you ever thought something was such a good idea on Pinterest that when you go to pin it, a little message pops up saying, “Psst… You have already pinned this.”? One of those pins for me has been a cleaning schedule. With two full blown toddlers in the home, my house could use a regular scrubbing. My home is generally picked up, but I feel like I never get to those really deep down, scrubbing on my hands and knees, kind of tasks. Or at least not as often as I should. Often, when I get started cleaning it goes something like this:

Pull out the old cardboard wipe box that is falling apart from the top shelf of the coat closet, have several items fall on my head, reach inside and find some random cleaning supplies. Realize that before I can scrub, I must pick up. Pick up a toy in the living room and take it to Max’s room, only to find an unmade bed, make bed and find a sock, go to put the sock in the laundry hamper and realize the nearby trash can needs emptied, go to find a new trash bag in the kitchen and see all the dirty dishes waiting to be washed. Wash some dishes and when I need more soap, look under the sink for more soap only to realize I am out. Pull out notepad and start a shopping list. And it goes on and on.

All this running around leads to very little cleaning and an overwhelming sense of failure when I put that old cardboard box back in the coat closet accomplishing only a made bed and some wet dishes.

Deciding something needed to change, I decided to create a schedule. One room a day, or one section of the house, and that is it. I scoured Pinterest for the best schedule, coming to the conclusion that in order for it to fit my house, I was going to have to create one on my own.

I began by taking a paper and pencil and walking through my entire house, room by room. I wrote down everything that needed to be done (as I resisted the strong urge to do it all!) I typed up my list and put it in a sheet protector so that I can use a dry erase marker to check off each item when I am done!

My cleaning schedule. Very simple.

After making the list, I made another list of cleaning supplies that I would need for my house, checked my coupons, and headed to Target! Purchasing two different caddys seemed like the best option because I could keep one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. I filled them both with:

• Microfiber Cloths (Up and Up at Target has a great multipack!)
• All Purpose Cleaner
• Dusters (I like the Swiffer kind)
• Windex TouchUp (So simple to use and have out!)
• Paper Towels
• Magic Erasers (I got the Up and Up brand, why has no one told me about these before?? They are awesome!!)
• Furniture Polish
• Glass Cleaner
• Carpet Cleaner
• Sponges
• Odor Eliminator
• Empty Grocery Sacks for Garbage
• Gloves
• Toilet Bowl Cleaner
• Small Dustpan

There are many other items that might be home specific and I look forward to making some of those “make your own cleaners” I have pinned… someday!

I am almost two weeks into this and I love it! It is so nice to focus on one space per day and have a super clean house by the end of the week! Sometimes, I have Jason guess which day’s room it was when he gets home from work. 🙂 I feel very accomplished and know that at some point during the week, things will get done and I don’t have to race around my home or try and remember what still needs to be done.

Hope this inspires you to create something that will work for your home! 🙂