Here We Are! First Round Focus Cleaning, 2026

[Kittykatt]

A little more done! I'm finding this thread very helpful for accountability.
Kitchen deep cleaning / decluttering project:

Clean ceiling
Clean light fitting
Clean walls
Wash/ wipe paintwork and radiator
Clean clock
Clean string holder
Wipe light switch
Polish door
Declutter items hanging on back of door
Clean tops of cupboards
Oil chopping board, cheese board and bread board
Oil coasters
Polish knife block, lazy Susan and hand coffee grinder
Declutter /clean wall cupboards: #1#2#3#4#5#6#7
Declutter / clean under worktop cupboards : #1#2#3#4#5
Clean /declutter drawers: #1#2#3#4#5
Clean/declutter shelves: #1#2#3
Clean oven
Clean /declutter storage compartment under oven
Polish strips of wood with hooks that hold mugs and.utensils
Clean/declutter shelves of tall cupboard: #1#2#3#4
Pull out freezer and clean behind/ underneath
Defrost freezer
Declutter / clean trays stored next to freezer
Clean fridge
Clean bin area
Declutter / clean cubby with my gardening trug, spare cat food and???
Clean/declutter notice board
Wax floor
Declutter tea towels wip
Declutter tablecloths wip

My rewards:
Buy new tea towels
Decide which fabric for new tablecloths. (I have several in my basket! ) and purchase
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[Bama]

Porch/Entry
Bedrooms
Bathrooms
Office
Closets
Laundry

Listing all rooms worked in as a reminder to keep going.

Laundry room
Filled pet food containers
Filled litter boxes
Wiped down litter box
Used up remaining bird seed
Picked up empty cat food cans
Washed my clothes

All basics but needed to be done to clear up some room so I can dc and tidy some next.

[blessedw2]

yay!

[Kittykatt]

Update!
Kitchen deep cleaning / decluttering project:

Clean ceiling
Clean light fitting
Clean walls
Wash/ wipe paintwork and radiator
Clean clock
Clean string holder
Wipe light switch
Polish door
Declutter items hanging on back of door
Clean tops of cupboards
Oil chopping board, cheese board and bread board
Oil coasters
Polish knife block, lazy Susan and hand coffee grinder
Declutter /clean wall cupboards: #1#2#3#4#5#6#7
Declutter / clean under worktop cupboards : #1#2#3#4#5
Clean /declutter drawers: #1#2#3#4#5
Clean/declutter shelves: #1#2#3
Clean oven
Clean /declutter storage compartment under oven
Polish strips of wood with hooks that hold mugs and utensils
Clean/declutter shelves of tall cupboard: #1#2#3#4#5#6
Pull out freezer and clean behind/ underneath
Defrost freezer
Declutter / clean trays stored next to freezer
Clean fridge
Clean bin area
Declutter / clean cubby with my gardening trug, spare cat food and???
Clean/declutter notice board
Wax floor
Declutter tea towels wip
Declutter tablecloths wip

My rewards:
Buy new tea towels
Decide which fabric for new tablecloths. (I have several in my basket! ) and purchase

[Kittykatt]

More done!
Kitchen deep cleaning / decluttering project:

Clean ceiling
Clean light fitting
Clean walls
Wash/ wipe paintwork and radiator
Clean clock
Clean string holder
Wipe light switch
Polish door
Declutter items hanging on back of door
Clean tops of cupboards
Oil chopping board, cheese board and bread board
Oil coasters
Polish knife block, lazy Susan and hand coffee grinder
Declutter /clean wall cupboards: #1#2#3#4#5#6#7
Declutter / clean under worktop cupboards : #1#2#3#4#5
Clean /declutter drawers: #1#2#3#4#5
Clean/declutter shelves: #1#2#3
Clean oven
Clean /declutter storage compartment under oven
Polish strips of wood with hooks that hold mugs and utensils
Clean/declutter shelves of tall cupboard: #1#2#3#4#5#6
Pull out freezer and clean behind/ underneath
Defrost freezer
Declutter / clean trays stored next to freezer
Clean fridge
Clean bin area
Declutter / clean cubby with my gardening trug, spare cat food and???
Clean/declutter notice board
Wax floor
Declutter tea towels wip
Declutter tablecloths wip

My rewards:
Buy new tea towels
Decide which fabric for new tablecloths. (I have several in my basket! ) and purchase
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[blessedw2]

I am so impressed!!!

[Kittykatt]

Thank you, Blessed! I'm a little embarrassed to say I've been working on my kitchen since the beginning of January, but slow and steady gets there ( eventually!), and doing a little at a time means nothing gets missed and there's never a huge mess to deal with. For some of the worst cupboards, I've found crating the contents of each shelf very helpful when I take everything out, as it contains the mess, the kitchen remains usable, and I can really take time to declutter without feeling under pressure to get everything back quickly.

DH will almost certainly be retiring later this year, so my aim is to get the house cleaned and decluttered before then. It's been a marathon, as I started last autumn, but I'm enjoying the results. (Not sure if DH has noticed, but that's life! )

[Harriet]

Good job on pet-life neatness, Bama. I am sure KittyKatt and blessed as well. blessed's efforts against multi-fluffy-dog floor cleaning have been heroic for years. I still don't have the go-ahead from dr to take kitty litter over again. HRH does a very good job. He used to do it when we first married because first cat was his, brought to the marriage.

Trash and recycling here were both detoured/postponed because of the back-to-back winter storms and very tall (for us) snow. But that is done now, for pickup tomorrow.

Have cleaned another closet. It's Storage week in Focus.

Does anyone else appreciate Swiffer cloths or dusters (electrostatic texture) a lot? I do. I don't want to do what my dmother used to call "just moving the dust around", rather than really catching it up so that it's eventually thrown away. Truly can't see some of the surfaces I dusted today in top of closet, for instance, like a small ledge on top of the interior door, unless I were to take apart shelving. Don't have a periscope. But with Swiffer duster I'm pretty certain it was caught, not just moved.

[Kittykatt]

Harriet, I have something similar to the swiffer, made by Flash. And I love it! It picks up the distance well and gets into all those corners. And it cleans the skirting boards nicely without me having to bend right down or crawl on the floor!

[lucylee]

I like to use Swiffers also -- but I bought some off-brand ones from Amazon and I'm not sure they're as good. They do not fit on their holders as well, seem a little flimsy.
Of course, to look at the house, y'all wouldn't think I "like" to use anything.