Starting this on Friday for people who want to work on the branches over the weekend. Think of your home as a tree and each room is a branch of that tree.

First, break the house up into branches (manageable areas), which can be DEEP cleaned in a week's time.

For each branch, compile a list of all the tasks you'll need to do to get that room to SPARKLE! This includes cleaning, dusting and vacuuming the areas behind and under furniture, washing windows and curtains, etc.

Also, put together a Weekly Cleaning List to keep things looking good. Each week, finish your Weekly Cleaning THEN focus on doing some deep cleaning in this week's branch.

Cycle through the branches, one per week, to maintain a high level of cleanliness throughout the house.

Here's the schedule of Branches we'll be following:

Week 1: Entry/Living Room
Week 2: Dining Room/Laundry Room
Week 3: Bathrooms/Front Porch
Week 4: Kitchen/Back Porch
Week 5: Children’s Room/Guest Room + Closets for those rooms
Week 6: Family Room/Room of choice
Week 7: Master Bedroom/Master Closet
Week 8: All House Cleaning

Some sample "Choice" Rooms:
Office, Pantry, Craft Room, Garage, Attic, etc.

Make your master and individual branch lists work for YOU. The lists we share here are just our own examples; yours should be designed to suit your own home and situation.

If the branch you're working on needs decluttering, focus on that first. It's much easier to clean a room that doesn't have piles and boxes everywhere. Even if the whole house needs decluttering, this is a good way to focus on a room at a time on a regular schedule.

This isn't a competition. Just go at your own pace, as that will be exactly right for you. We are all here to support and encourage one another.

Start with a new branch each week. If you don't finish all the tasks on your branch list for the week, that's OK--you're already ahead of where you were before, and the unfinished tasks will still be there for you when you cycle back to this branch. If you finish early one week, you can go back to work on previous branches.

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This works out well for me this week. Decorating and cleaning as I go. It also is showing me all that needs to be done (IMHO) in the house for next year's plans. I am making a list as I go, before I forget!

I'll be joining the branches from now on. Have done the ROTM for the last 5 months or so and I've deep cleaned all the rooms in my apartment. Now ready to maintain that organized look

LIVING ROOM
weekly dusting
dust the inside of my entertainment cabinet
find Christmas CDs
dust all the books in my bookcase
seasonal decoration of my bookcase (it's horizontal)
dust plants
put rug back (toes starting to get cold!)

KITCHEN
babysteps in recipe sorting
clean inside of refrigerator
call for d/w repairs

MASTER BEDROOM
weekly dusting and decorate for Christmas
store last of summer clothes in cedar chest

BEDROOM #2
clean off work table
weekly dusting
put rug back (bet DD's toes will thank me!)

BATHROOM
weekly cleaning
clean shelves over appliances
Christmas decorations

EXTERIOR
back patio:
store exterior carpet in the shed
put cover on bbq
throw away dead plant
front porch:
change door mat
buy pine branches
throw away fall decor (dried flowers from DGF's garden)
install lights and decorations in flower planter
clean front door
put up wreath

So glad I have Friday and weekend off; lots to do!

Great minds Bubblegum! Been writing things down as I see or think of them for a new Master List, along with the branches next year. Now, I want to concentrate on decorating, then cleaning, and then I can bake and plan for Christmas eve. That is the biggie in our family. After that the end of the year quiets down, and I can start doing that master list.

Good timing, as always!

I "coasted" all this week, since I cleaned the whole house last weekend for the prayer meeting. But I need to do the weekly cleaning, this weekend and then, spruce up the place for next weekend's prayer meeting! For the most part, I can get away with a quick clean, this time around, since I did a lot of deep cleaning last weekend.

I was hoping that was the case for you Bless. How dirty can it get in a week? You aren't home and neither is DD, so does Dancer do a lot of entertaining while you are gone? LOl

I did the chandelier in the breakfast room, vacuumed under the cabinet and bookcase, vacuumed the blind (one side had a cat fur ball, the other side had a dog fur ball!) Have to remember to check that from time to time. Just need to steam clean the floor tomorrow.

Glad I have a small house.

My BR should be done today and I will certainly not let it go again like I did.

Thanks Diana, I need to do my lighting fixture over the DR table also.

I'm not entertaining on Christmas, as a matter of fact, I am staying home alone, but I still want to decorate a lot. Hope to get some more done today.

The house isn't in too bad a shape, just the usual weekly cleaning. I think I will clean out the refrigerator this week.

I'm also glad to have a small place! Diana, thought of you today while dusting the bookcase I pulled it from the wall to get the fur and hair balls! Yikes!

LIVING ROOM
weekly dusting *DONE
dust the inside of my entertainment cabinet
find Christmas CDs
dust all the books in my bookcase *DONE
seasonal decoration of my bookcase (it's horizontal) *DONE
dust plants *DONE
put rug back (toes starting to get cold!) *DONE

KITCHEN
babysteps in recipe sorting
clean inside of refrigerator *DONE
call for d/w repairs

MASTER BEDROOM
weekly dusting and decorate for Christmas *DONE
store last of summer clothes in cedar chest

BEDROOM #2
clean off work table *DONE
weekly dusting *DONE
put rug back (bet DD's toes will thank me!) *DONE

BATHROOM
weekly cleaning *DONE
clean shelves over appliances
Christmas decorations *DONE

EXTERIOR
back patio:
store exterior carpet in the shed
put cover on bbq
throw away dead plant *DONE
front porch:
change door mat
buy pine branches *DONE
throw away fall decor (dried flowers from DGF's garden)
install lights and decorations in flower planter
clean front door
put up wreath

Diana: LOL. There's no telling what Dancer gets up to, when we are not at home!

Today, I cleaned the whole house: dusted & vacuumed the living room/dining area, hallway, family room, & 3 bedrooms; cleaned both bathrooms, vacuumed the kitchen floor & laundry closet floor, and wiped the window sills and the insides of the windows. It's easy to clean when things are clean to begin with!

Tomorrow, I will clean out the fridge and try to clear the kitchen counters. And maybe do the chandelier.

Progress...

LIVING ROOM
weekly dusting *DONE
dust the inside of my entertainment cabinet
find Christmas CDs
dust all the books in my bookcase *DONE
seasonal decoration of my bookcase (it's horizontal) *DONE
dust plants *DONE
put rug back (toes starting to get cold!) *DONE

KITCHEN
babysteps in recipe sorting
clean inside of refrigerator *DONE
call for d/w repairs

MASTER BEDROOM
weekly dusting and decorate for Christmas *DONE
store last of summer clothes in cedar chest

BEDROOM #2
clean off work table *DONE
weekly dusting *DONE
put rug back (bet DD's toes will thank me!) *DONE

BATHROOM
weekly cleaning *DONE
clean shelves over appliances
Christmas decorations *DONE

EXTERIOR
back patio:
store exterior carpet in the shed *DONE
put cover on bbq *DONE
throw away dead plant *DONE
front porch:
change door mat
buy pine branches *DONE
throw away fall decor (dried flowers from DGF's garden) *DONE
install lights, branches and decorations in flower planter *DONE
clean front door *DONE
put up wreath *DONE (lady next door had a wreath, wanted my door to look different plus my wreath wasn’t ‘the natural look’ like my planter box... took leftover branches, tied together, put a bow and hung some plastic balls; voilà!)