Fall Cleaning Challenge, Update #2

Well, after a very busy weekend in which I didn’t get any cleaning done, and after a busy Monday which took a different turn than I expected, I’m here to report that I’ll have to continue my fall cleaning for Challenge #1 into this week.

I did accomplish a couple more things toward the end of last week. I moved both dressers away from the wall, vacuumed the backs, and cleaned them with Murphy Oil Soap. While they were moved out, I swiffered the wall behind each dresser and vacuumed and washed the floor beneath them.

I thoroughly cleaned and dusted the objects on the dressers, too -- although, thanks to FlyLady, there are far fewer objects on the dressers than there used to be! My husband had a couple of small containers on his dresser where he would deposit keys, tie clips, wire nuts, lumber crayons, change, and other miscellaneous stuff from his pockets. I emptied those out and replaced them with one larger, more appropriate container -- a small ceramic bowl decorated with cattails. His mom had made this for me years ago. Now it has come into its own and is serving a most useful/decorative purpose. I tend to be very sentimental about things my kids have made for me, so one of the objects on my dresser is a small wooden tray. My son made it when he was probably 5 or 6 -- just took a piece of scrap lumber and glued popsicle sticks on it to form compartments “for your earrings, Mom.” Naturally, I still use it! I don’t keep all of my earrings there, just the ones I wear most often. They do get dusty after awhile, so I took this opportunity to give them all a bath in jewelry cleaner. Now both of our dressers are gleaming!

Another task I did last week was to change the display of “paper treasures” under the glass top of the desk I use as a sewing table. I have a nice collection of old postcards & greeting cards, newer cards given me by my kids or other family or friends, and other fun or interesting art I’ve clipped from calendars or magazines. I have these sorted out by seasons/holidays, and I change the display on my desk top seasonally. I admit it -- I find a great deal of fun and enjoyment in these “little things” that many people would probably never bother with. To me, such things are the “grace notes” in life that God gives us to add sparkle and enjoyment to every day.

This week I need to dust and declutter 2 nightstands, vacuum & wash the floor under the bed and elsewhere in the room (areas I haven’t done yet), dust the remaining furniture, and deal with an area of flat surface clutter - a bookcase top. I’d also like to declutter 2 totes of craft materials that live in this room. (And I’ve barely thought about the closets!) We’ll see how far I get!