Spring Cleaning: Laundry Room

Water Hyacinth Laundry Hamper, from The Container Store

Tonight I’m going out to dinner. When I get home, I hope to relax with a little binge-watching marathon of Game of Thrones Season 1, thanks to HBO’s free Preview Weekend.

I don’t want to come home to a chore, but don’t want to skip out on my Spring Cleaning, either. So tonight I’ll choose an easy room of my house to Spring Clean: My laundry room! It won’t take me even a whole hour to finish my project before I leave for dinner.

QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:

Need to scoop out the litter box? Or is it time to fully empty it into the trash, clean and sanitize the box and start over with fresh litter?
Ready and refresh your home for the weekend. Empty trash cans from kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms; take out recycling; empty or fill dishwasher; remove any vases of dead flowers; declutter coffee table and dining table as needed.
Need to sort mail or organize your kitchen desk or the space you pay bills on?
Finalize your socialization plans for this weekend. You might be able to arrange some short-notice fun for tomorrow or Sunday if you call, text or Facebook your friends now!

TODAY’S PROJECT: Spring Cleaning the Laundry Room

Caldrea “Tangelo Palm Frond” Laundry Detergent, at Citron Shop

The laundry room is a very important part of my house. It enables me to wear clean clothes, bathe and dry myself with clean towels, sleep in refreshing sheets, and remove pet odors from blankets, rugs and other textiles around my home!

Tonight I’ll make sure my laundry room is tidy, organized, and well maintained. I am not strong enough to pull out the washer and dryer to sweep or mop under them by myself, so that will have to wait a couple weeks. Meanwhile, here’s a list of my tasks for tonight’s project:

Wipe down walls and light switch, dust ceiling fan
Wipe the top and front of washer and dryer
Wash the window and dust windowsill
Sort and organize my laundry detergents and the toilet paper and paper towels I store in here
Get rid of unused laundry items (starch spray I never use, etc)
Remove cleaning products from the cupboard; sort and organize; dust cupboard inside and out; replace supplies in an organized manner
Schedule a cleaning of my dryer vent and hose – I haven’t done this for a few years, and a professional company doesn’t cost much. Cheaper than losing my house to a dryer fire!
Wipe off the top of the pet food storage container I keep in this room.
Refold and organize the towels and rags I keep in this room for cleaning supplies. I have plenty of towels and rags, so should discard the five worst so my laundry room doesn’t get cluttered.
Mop the laminate flooring in laundry room.
Dust both sides of the wooden door leading into the laundry room, and dust the frame.
Fold and put away a load of towels that’s been sitting on top of the dryer for a couple of days.

I’m trying to look ahead to the future in each room I’m cleaning this Spring Cleaning cycle. What might need to be replaced in a few years? My washer and dryer work just fine right now, but are already 14 years old. I need to start a small budget to save for their replacements which I might need several years down the road. The shelving and cupboard in here are fine, and the baseboards look nice, but I’m noticing some painting issues. When I had almost my entire house repainted inside and out two years ago, I stupidly had them skip the laundry room. I might put it on a list of rooms that need repainting two or three years from now. Another thing to save up for!

On Sunday when I’m watching the season premiere of Game of Thrones and doing laundry, I’ll have a nice clean and organized space to work in!

Do you need to Spring Clean your laundry room? What difficulties might you run into? What would you want to prioritize?

LOVELY BEVERAGES: Deep Eddy’s Peach Vodka

I’m excited to try Deep Eddy’s new peach flavored vodka. I think it will be perfect for serving at my outdoor parties in summertime. I’d probably put it in 7-up or in tonic, with a couple fresh peach slices and mint leaves in each glass. I’m sure it would taste nice as a near-frozen shot, or sipped cold, too!

Deep Eddy Peach Vodka

LOVELY BLOGS: A Working Pantry

The main focus of A Working Pantry is building, using and maintaining a well-stocked pantry. She also writes about frugality. The author grew up helping with the animals on a farm, assisting with the family’s large gardens, and learning from her mother and grandmother how to can and preserve foods.

Recent posts include making her own potpourri; propagating fig trees; and there are several posts about her Pantry Challenges.

http://aworkingpantry.blogspot.com/

LOVELY BOOKS: Housekeeping for Little Girls

Here’s a 1912 book that provides an intriguing peek at early 20th century attempts to educate girls on the care of a home. (I’m fairly certain no little girl at the time dove into this book eagerly!)

Chapters include “A Well Kept Home,” “A Dainty Living-Room,” “An Attractive Upstairs,” “Law and Order in the Kitchen,” and “Holiday Preparations.” The second half of the book deals with food preparation, planning economical meals, and the chemistry of cleaning.

I might not read this cover to cover, but I’ll spend a bit of time tonight enjoying browsing through the antique pages here. What do you think of this book?

Housekeeping for Little Girls, at The Internet Archive

LOVELY DISHES: Crate and Barrel’s Silly Tiki Dishes

These new tiki themed appetizer plates make me chuckle. I thought the whole tiki craze was over as of, say, 2005. Apparently Crate and Barrel thinks it’s time to dip a toe into the tiki waters again. Even though I don’t personally decorate with tiki themed items, I wanted to show you in case you got a giggle out of these too. Perhaps you know someone who still has a thatched tiki-style bar in their backyard who might appreciate your gift of a few fun plates.

Tiki Plates, at Crate and Barrel

LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:

BBQ Cauliflower Pizza (The Toasted Pine Nut)

The Best Time of Day to Complete Your To-Do List (Time)

Blood Orange Mojito (Homemade Interest)

Blueberry Rhubarb Cardamom Crunch Bars (Kellie’s Food to Glow)

Chickpeas and Mustard Leaves Curry (The Spice Adventuress)

Creamy Three Cheese Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas (Host the Toast)

Grilled Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Pie (Therese Elgquist)

How to Add Year-Round Colour to Your Food Garden (Rose Hips and Rhubarb)

How to Break Free of Chasing Perfection (Best Friends for Frosting)

Masala Chai, Raspberry and Pistachio Layer Cake (Lili’s Cakes)