{I must admit, I am starting to hit a wall on the house deep clean project. I’ve been working on it A LONG TIME. And it feels like I’m never going to be done. I get one area squared away and another needs work again. Or maybe I realize it was never really on my radar to begin with, but actually needs some attention. (::cough:: laundry area ::cough::).}
Today I made good progress. My husband and I cleaned the fridge. He took everything out, threw away anything we didn’t need anymore, and put it all back. I cleaned it. I don’t think it’s been cleaned like that since 2018, when we deep cleaned the house to prepare for AirBnB guests. I’ve definitely wiped it down a couple times since then, but I haven’t taken the shelves out to properly clean them in five and a half years. That feels like a long time. I’m curious how frequently you all deep clean your fridge. Is it a yearly project? Ours definitely needed it, badly. I am embarrassed by how dirty it was.
I also cleaned the downstairs kitchen. That was a massive undertaking. The downstairs kitchen was so, so gross. We don’t cook or anything in the downstairs kitchen – we only keep extra food there so we don’t have to go to the store so much – and I had let it get pretty dirty. It’s just so easy to walk in there, grab what I need, and walk out, willfully averting my gaze from all the scuff marks on the floor, stains on the counters, and junk piling in the corner. I honestly had no idea how disgusting the stove top was until I went to wipe it down. I don’t think it’s been used since 2022, when I had to boil our reusable respirator masks and hang them to dry.
Now that the kitchen is done, I’ll spend this week tidying the downstairs unit (our bedroom) so I can clean it properly next weekend. The floors especially need a good steam cleaning. Finally, the week before we leave I’ll clean our bathroom really well.
I also need to sweep and tidy the garage, especially over by the laundry area. (Seriously, how have I not noticed how bad this area is? Both machines are covered in lint!) If I know my mother-in-law, she’ll be doing laundry even if it’s not necessary. My kids always come back from sleeping at my in-laws’ house with their one set of clothes already washed. It’s kind of bizarre.
Thank goodness the cleaning person comes again the day we fly out. Speaking of which, I need to confirm that with her…
So yeah, it’s been a productive weekend. I wouldn’t say I’m starting this week well rested, but I did cross most of my most urgent tasks off my to-do list. I even made it through my first three hour training session at the dojo. It’s a really good set of classes, but it’s also exhausting. It starts with Sparring/Ground Fighting. which is physically exhausting, and then leads into High Belt, which is mentally intense, and finishes off with Forms, which requires memorizing difficult multi-step fighting forms. It’s just a lot. But it’s also a really good use of my time, training wise, so I’m glad I’m able to go three Saturdays this month.
Also, a shoe rack I ordered came and it fits perfectly and I was able to move the other shoe rack to a spot so it can still be used. It feels like suddenly we have WAY too many shoes, which means *I* have way too many shoes because everyone else in my family has a very reasonable amount of shoes.
My kids each have 3-4 pairs each. My husband has four pairs (black and brown work shoes, one pair of Vans and a pair of rain boots). Then I have enough pairs to fill an entire hang-over-the-door shoe organizer. I know I have too many, but I also know a lot of women have more than I do. I wonder how bigger families manage their shoes. Do they store shoes in each kids’ room? Is there a giant closet full of them? We have a door organizer (inside of entryway closet), a bench with two levels for shoes, a smaller shoe rack (with now holds my (multiple pairs of) Uggs. And a three level rack for the kids shoes on the landing of the stairs. So much shoe storage! How do you store shoes? I’m kind of dying to know.
Oh, and I’m stoked to have found a CAP dumbbell set on Craigslist because HOLY SHIT are dumbbells expensive. $35 for ONE 20lb dumbbell? What the what?! I have a rag-tag set of dumbbells, most of them from my parents, so I had no idea they started getting so expensive when they are heavier. I recently saw a set of them at Costco (six pairs, 5lb-30lbs on a rack) and balked at the $500 price tag, but now I guess I get it. Jeez. Anyway, I found a set you can put together to make 20lb-40lbs dumbbells each for $50 on Craiglist and I’m picking them up tomorrow. Yes please! Now I have all the dumbbells I’ll even need, and for less than the price of two 20 pounders.
The weather today was crazy, rain and high winds all afternoon. My son and I went to the mall to kill some hours and the power went out while we were in Target. It was a real trip. The weather hasn’t been so bad when we left, but by the time we got home the wind was howling. We stayed put the rest of the day. I hope our commutes are fine tomorrow.
Because tomorrow is another Monday. Another start to another week. I hope it goes by fast at least.
Lots of questions to answer. 🙂 Being burnt out on deep cleaning is real, but I’ll also say that after we did it because of our remodel 18 months ago, it’s been WAY easier to keep up with b/c we purged so much stuff (and have a monthly cleaner keeping me motivated).
I deep clean my fridge every year or so, usually because of a big spill in it that forces me to clean out part of it anyway so I take everything out!
Your downstairs kitchen looks awesome – great job!
My MIL sends my kids home with a clean set of clothes every time as well. 🙂
My kids’ shoes are also getting huge! Stella wears 8.5 and I’m 9-9.5 so she’s definitely stealing some of mine lately. The kids (and us adults) all have hanging shoe racks in our bedroom closets that hold shoes that aren’t worn often, and we have the Hemnes Ikea shoe storage rack attached to the end of our kitchen island to store the couple of pairs we wear often. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hemnes-shoe-cabinet-with-4-compartments-black-brown-80156120/
Weights tend to me $1/pound used around here, slightly more new. Definitely not cheap.
You’re doing great on your house – I bet it feels awesome!
So we probably deep clean the fridge once a year when the power goes out. LOL. I think every year since we’ve moved here the power has gone out long enough that we’ve had to throw everything out and start anew. That’s good motivation, but such a waste of food.
Shoes! I wrote a whole post about how I have 21 pairs of shoes (the average American woman has 19) and asked my readers to share their number. Ha. There are only two adults in our house and the shoes take over. We have a black rubber mat by the door for shoes, but it really only holds three pairs of shoes comfortably and we’re regularly trying to shove five or six pairs in their, along with the dog’s boots if it’s cold enough. I have a shoe rack that runs all along the bottom of my closet. I don’t even know where my husband’s shoes lives. I think mostly in shoeboxes in the top of his closet? I’d love better tricks on shoe storage, but I think it’s just a hard thing because you need easy access to shoes!
https://ngradstudent.blogspot.com/search?q=bloat+of+shoes
Wow. And I thought I had lots of shoes but actually only 4 pair. For most of my life I only had 1 and thought 2 was richness. Reflects changes in how we take care of our feet and that we have different shoes for different activities today. I think more attention to proper footwear for activities is a positive good thing! Also, the fact that people can afford to own more shoes is a real statement about affluence and affordability.
Impressed by all the cleaning you have gotten done AND by the fact your husband has so clearly been really pitching in, a steady change from…. say 10 years ago when it seemed he appeared to be less engaged.
I am so excited by your vacation and all the prep work you have done to make things orderly and easy for thee grandparents to stay at your home. I think you will enjoy coming home to the refreshed house.
Being a one person household, my refrigerator gets really empty regularly. Makes it easy to maintain it clean all the time. With more people it is WAY harder. I remember. No one is getting food poisoning and ‘science experiments on food preservation are not accumulating regularly’ is a win when you have a family the size and ages of yours.
Congratulations on all you are achieving! And the time away is almost here!!!!!
Well done on cleaning and organizing!! Now, your questions:
1. Deep clean every few months. We are a family of four but I do not like to have a stuffed refrigerator, I like to have space between the items. I don’t know why. If it’s a big spill- then clean it soon-ish before it becomes all crusty.
2. Shoes. In the winter I use two pairs of Thursday boots, two pairs of sneakers, one pair of tall boots. So, five? We store all of our shoes in the hallway closet which my husband remodeled a few years back. It’s difficult to explain, but in that closet there are two benches to sit and put your shoes on. The shoes in season are stored under the benches. The shoes out of season are stored in the big felt bins on the above shelves.
Deep clean fridge MAYBE once a year.
We have tons of shoes. We have a floor to ceiling shoe shelf in our closet – maybe two feet wide? – for all adult shoes. Kids each have a hanging shoe organizer on the back of their bedroom door for shoes they rarely wear. We have a shoe bench by the front door that holds the kids’ more often worn shoes. And I buy ahead sizes for kiddos at consignment sales so I have those bigger sized tucked in a wardrobe. I’m beginning to see all of this is not normal…
My question for you/your readers is: how often do you vacuum under your couch cushions and clean under your couch? We did ours this past weekend and CLEARLY need to do it more often… yuck!
Couch sit high and on legs you can see so it is obvious when there are things underneath. Makes it much easier than many couches that have a skirt or sit low so underneath is hidden. Also higher couch or chair is easier to get into and out of if pregnant or old…….. Reminds me of when I realized I no longer wanted a fast sporty low to ground car …. aging changes things. I am officially OLD.
Shoes. Is that all? I have way too many! (And no kids either.) I have a hall coat closet, and we keep our shoes there, in two shelves on the bottom, then I have one of those cloth shoe hangers falling from the coat rail that has my seasonal shoes. I also have several plastic boxes full of shoes I can’t bear to throw out (or seasonal boots etc) hidden under the spare spare bed. Now I’m wondering if I have too many shoes. (Don’t tell my husband!)
Fridge cleaning – usually when it gets too full of jars etc. Christmas was good – to fit in the all the food needed for multiple visitors, I had to find extra room, so lots of things needed to go! Occasionally I find things that are embarrassingly old. I clean out the vege drawers more regularly (eg when I can be bothered).
Now I have to go see where you’re going/what you’re doing.