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Get those machines working first.
Load the first machine...the dishwasher.
Empty all dishes from sink, yes, the ones that didn't fit in the dishwasher. Place on counter ready to go. Clean the sink.
Leave leftover dirty dishes on counter together. Ready to go in on next load. That way when first load is done, you've got the next load ready.
Now to the next machine..Laundry. Have presorted baskets with how you do laundry. I sort whites, towels, and darks.
Have extra basket for rest of family to place their items. Sort from this basket into your presorted baskets. Turn clothes right side out, empty pockets, etc.
When sorting note which piles up first. When a basket gets full. STOP sorting. Mine is the colors. Start a load with that basket.
After getting first load going, sort again till next load ready. Again, it's the colors. 🎨
Next get like things together.
Get all trash together. Grab trash can and walk through house with it. Look for obvious trash. Old school papers, broken items left out, anything that needs to be tossed that you can see.
If you have a very messy space like this. ..Step in, glance for trash.
OK..obvious trash is out. Back out slowly..go to another room. ..yes, leave it..
Is trash bag full? Take it out. Yes .. Go on..
Running out of bags? Put on list right now.
Now let's move to dishes. Walk around house gather all dishes left about the house..water glass by the bed, snack plate left by video games...etc. Place on counter with other ready to wash dishes.
Yep there's dishes from last night's popcorn and lemonade.
Got all the dishes? Move onto laundry. Same thing..walk around house and find laundry. Place in basket to be sorted.
With laundry up, may find more trash and dishes. Just get those up and move to next room till all trash, dishes and laundry is together.
Now that's done. Take a break. Give yourself permission. Anytime you feel overwhelmed or getting upset ..take a break.
Re-evaluate. What else needs to be put together?
In my house, it's shoes...
...pens, pencils, crayons..
..uh..it's...what are those DVD's doing under the bed?...those too
..Kleenex boxes..I found 6!
...change..oh yeah!...money!
...hangers..
Oh yeah! Hangers..
We put up these shelves for extra storage. They make a great place for hangers. It's right by my dryer! Now that's convenient!
I can hang my clean laundry right there. Then grab and go.
Speaking of laundry. This loads done. Start next load. Presort for next load.
By the way, these handy over door hooks are great to hang up outfit that needs buttoned before I put away.
...And...I put the lint and dryer sheets in cleaned milk jugsâ™». These are great for starting fires.
Oh..and..All socks go in the sock basket to be sorted later while sitting.
..And...Laundry cabinets are superb for keeping cleaning supplies near.
Finishing Steps 1 & 2.
Step 3. Go back to that messy area.
Turn favorite music on and let's tackle this! Ok..start with trash again.
Trash out. Get dishes and things needing laundered.
Looking better! Get out hangers.
Found some more trash!
Left with toys and odd things. Put away with other like things.
All clear! Vacuum. ✨😃✨ Now I need to shampoo the carpet!
There goes the buzzer. Another load. TIP: I put away clothes on the left side. We pick clothes to wear from next item on right. ..(You can choose which side you want to do what accordingly.)
So on the right side these jeans looking spandex are next. So tomorrow's outfit will contain these.
...Or if you decide you don't want to wear these tomorrow. Ask yourself..Why? Not fit right? In need of repair? Just don't like them anymore? Ok get rid of them. You've just de-cluttered one item!
What's next? A summer top. Well that's out of season now. It's 54 degrees outside.
And what's next to that? A pair of shorts. Also out of season. Take those out.
We have a closet in the children's playroom just for out of season clothes. As we come across out of season clothes, we put in there. Now they are accessible but out of the way for daily use.
While putting clothes away you discover a messy drawer like this one.
Pull out the drawer.
Separate into like piles. I discovered a play shirt in wrong drawer.
And another.
Got my like piles.
Lets go through the pajama shorts.
I found 4 pair that don't fit! Donate, give to niece, or reuse the material for something else.
Much better.
Put in your drawer.
How about these sleeping shirts?
Found 3 are stained up. Cut up to use as 'cleaning rags'.
So much better. And easier for the child to pick from and keep clean.
Now looks like I need to go through the play clothes drawer. 😉
While we are in the closet..more tips. These hangers are super handy for scarves.
And this one for belts.
I use just plastic hangers. NO WIRE HANGERS! Isn't that what she said in that movie? ...anyway...
I have a few of these nice wooden ones that we use for heavy things like coats. They won't break from the weight of the clothes and they keep the shape of the clothes shoulder nice.
Ok laundry done, another load in, another presorted and ready to go. Step 4: Sort like piles. Make sure all of the like things are in your pile before starting.
You then sort into other like piles. I sorted these into ownership piles.
Now look through that smaller pile. Is that pile too big? Can it be sorted into another like pile? Maybe it's a pile of utensils. And you have 10 spoons and 5 spatulas, etc. Sort again.
From the pile you've decided to work with. Look..is any of it trash? In need of repair? Doesn't fit it's purpose? Tired of it? Like these shoes are not worth repairing. So I'm trashing them.
Find something in the pile that still use but not fitting in your designated space? These boots are not worn daily. I put on the shelf, still accessible but out of way for daily use.
Keep going through pile until have what will fit in designated space. These shoes, plus the shoes he has on will nicely fit into this designated container and be easily kept clean. Sort other piles.
Happy House Cleaning!
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