Confession time: I’m kinda a rotten housekeeper. There are a lot of arenas of domesticity where I thrive—I’m a hell of a cook, I can sew, I’m a pretty skilled gardener and canner, but cleaning? Phew. Not my strong suit. Actually, that’s not entirely true. When I put my mind to it, I’m actually an excellent, thorough cleaner. But the problem is, 90% of the time, I really have no interest in putting my mind to it. Cleaning just falls way down on my priority list.
Craig is actually awesome at picking up my cleaning slack (he does the vast majority of our cleaning), but with him working full-time and running a small business on the side, it can be hard for him to keep things spick-and-span, too. That’s why seasonal cleaning is so important in our house. We have a baseline of neatness that we try to keep up with, but seasonal cleaning is where we really get down and tackle the nitty-gritty. Sure, it’d be better if we did things like wash our baseboards and cleaned out our fridge weekly, but the truth is, that just isn’t realistic for our lifestyle. So when we devote time to doing deep-cleaning, we really do deep cleaning.
Right now, we’re going room-by-room of the house and doing our annual Spring cleaning—and first up is the kitchen. Not only is it a great time to clean out the yucky stuff stuck under the knobs on the stove (gross), but it’s also an amazing time to declutter, reorganize and tackle any problem areas. This is especially important in the kitchen. If it’s hard to get to your favorite ingredients or the good pans in the kitchen, you’re more likely to order in pizza or pick up take-out. When a kitchen is clean and runs smoothly, it’s a joy to cook in!
Admittedly, the kitchen is also the absolute suckiest room in the house to organize and deep clean. It took us an entire three-day weekend to get through our kitchen—mostly because we decided to do a pantry reorganization at the same time. But once you’re through this list, the other rooms feel like nothing! And there are few things that make a home feel better than having a spotless, well-organized kitchen.
And it helps breaking the kitchen into zones. That way you can tackle a few zones at a time—instead of being overwhelmed with a ridiculously long list that you feel like you’ll never finish. Here’s how we tackled our kitchen:
Step 1 : Get Ready
Put on some good tunes
Gather all cleaning supplies
Do dishes, dry and put away
Empty dishwasher
Remove any non-kitchen clutter
Put linens (rugs, curtains, aprons, etc.) in laundry
Set up large box or bag for items to trash
Set up large box or bag for items to donate
Dust ceiling and remove cobwebs
Dust top of cabinets
Take out trash, recycling and compost
Step 2 : Drawers
Pull out all items
Sort into keep, donate or trash
Wipe out drawers
Replace any tattered drawer liners
Clean any drawer organizers
Place items back in neatly
Wipe down drawer fronts and knobs
Step 3 : Cabinets
Pull out all items
Sort into keep, donate or trash
Wipe out cabinets and shelves
Replace any tattered shelf liners
Clean any shelf organizers
Place items back in neatly
Wipe down cabinet fronts and knobs
Clean glass on glass-front cabinets
Step 4 : Pantry
Pull out all items
Trash any expired, old, stale or inedible food
Donate any unopened food you don’t want
Transfer open items to jars or containers
Combine like half-used containers
Wipe down pantry shelves
Replace any tattered shelf liners
Clean any organizers
Place items back into pantry neatly
Wipe down pantry door and knob
Step 5 : Countertop
Empty out utensil jar, sort, clean, replace utensils
Wipe down any countertop small appliances
Store any appliances that are use infrequently
Clean out toaster crumb tray
Descale coffee maker or kettle
Clean microwave inside and out
Wipe down knife block, sharpen knives
Wipe down paper towel holder
Clean fruit bowl/basket
Wipe down counters and backsplash
Wipe down any art and tsotchkes
Step 6 : Oven & Cooktop
Clean inside and outside of oven door
Put oven on self-cleaning cycle
Remove all knobs and grates, wash
Clean cooktop
Clean inside and outside of range hood
Step 7 : Fridge & Freezer
Pull out all food from fridge and freezer
Trash any food that is expired, old, or inedible
Wipe down shelves
Wash ice cube trays
Pull out drawers and wash, replace
Put food back in neatly
Declutter top of fridge, dust and wipe clean
Take down all magnets and papers from exterior
Recycle old papers, sort through magnets
Wipe down exterior, replace magnets and papers
Vacuum fridge coils
Step 8 : Sink & Dishwasher
Clean drains and garbage disposal
Scrub and polish sink, faucet and knobs
Sort through sponges and dish brushes
Wash dish drying rack
Empty food trap of dishwasher
Wipe down inside and outside of dishwasher
Run empty on a high-heat sanitizing cycle
Step 9 : Everything Else
Wipe down stools, table and chairs, and islands
Spot clean or wash any chair cushions
Wash windows and wipe down windowsills
Wipe down switch plates, doors, knobs, and walls
Dust and wipe down light fixtures
Vacuum dust from vent covers
Sweep floor
Scrub any problem areas on floor
Mop floor
Clean trash cans, recycling bin, and compost bin
Wash window screens and install
It doesn’t seem so bad when it’s all broken up into sections, now does it? And, I went ahead and made it into a printable—because cleaning is much more fun with a nice printable on a cute clipboard.
Happy cleaning!
Are you a good housekeeper?