Back to starting this on Friday for anyone who wants to start early. Honestly with doing the branches each month, it is keeping the house is great shape, IMHO.

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. (if possible in your schedule, it can be done in babysteps each day)

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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Need to do the entry closet!!! Have dumped things into it, and it is not looking good. The living room is my family room, so that is in good shape from last week's branch. Glad to have that all house cleanin branch,and it seems to work out perfectly when I am having company.

Clean out closet, remove items that don' belong
Mop floors
Dust all light fixtures in hall
Wipe down woodwork


DD2 and her family will be arriving here for a three day visit on Monday. Looking forward to seeing them, it has been a few months since they were here. Can't wait to see all of them.
Planning easy meals for dinner, and will make a big breakfast one morning. Lunch will be sandwiches. Want to enjoy their visit also.

I, for one, am glad to be starting a-new! I didn't get a lot done in the All House branch, this time around.

The living room is the tidiest room in the house, so, all I need to do is dust, vacuum, and put the newly washed slip covers back on.

wash sofa slip cover
wash curtains (they fall to the floor and kitty sleeps on them!)
sort papers on the shelf above my laptop (paid bills, notes...)
dust furniture
declutter coffee table I recycled two magazines along with weekly flyers and local newspapers, put 5 unread in the now clean platter, wiped the table and put the remotes in the drawer.

Planning on working in the closet tomorrow.

Made sure the closet was a priority this morning, and wasn't as bad as it looked! Got it all straightened out, will finish it up later in the week. Want to visit with the family, not clean!

progress...

wash sofa slip cover
wash curtains (they fall to the floor and kitty sleeps on them!)
sort papers on the shelf above my laptop (paid bills, notes...) * done
dust furniture
declutter coffee table *done AGAIN! filled it back up while sorting and going through more old magazines then tossed them and took away the dishes. Re-read good articles on forgivness, managing money and a few articles on organizing! some magazines where more than 5 years old, let's just say I ran through the style sections pretty fast...

Good going Bubblegum!

Apparently I am doing the Whole House branch this week!

Yesterday, I swept the living room, dining room and family room; swept and mopped the kitchen; scrubbed the stove top, counters and sink; and ran the dish washer.

Today, I swept the hallway, the bedrooms and 1 bathroom; redid the linen closet; tidied my dresser drawers.

I still have laundry to put away.

I'm late joining this we as DF has been in the hosptpal until an hour ago. He's a lot better but he's gotten comfused quite a bite. To the point of calling 911. Funny but that can't happen again.

Anyway I did clear the entrance table off. Now it just has the nessary things of life. Also I got the shampoer so hopfully I get it, study, and dining room cleaned this week. Going to wait until tomorrow to start on that,

Also working on ROTM which is school room and school stuff. Close to being finished. Need to go post it.

Cindy

Swept our long front porch, then a chipmunk came to ask for a peanut or two. I threw some out and told him not to eat them on the porch, but what do you know, he did anyway! So I swept that part again.

Cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeder. The peanut feeder was done last week.

Put away two pairs of shoes in the front hall. Livingroom doesn't need much except routine work, although I've just realised that the drapes haven't been washed in a long while........