Just one corner at a time

I have had a hard time this year getting into the spring cleaning. Partly I think because it got so warm so fast and it no longer felt like spring, but partly because I just get overwhelmed with what has to be done.When you tackle one whole room it's just so much.

I know, I sound rather whimpy, don't I?

I tackled Faith's room when she was sick a few weeks ago. She was captive in bed with a fever and so I said,"We're cleaning this room. You lay there and tell me what I can throw away." Well, that really didn't work so well, because she is 10 and doesn't want to throw away anything. But she did (when she wasn't looking) and her room got cleaned. Of course, she's 10 and it stayed clean for two days, but at least I knew the shelves were wiped off and the baseboards cleaned. In other words, it was deep down clean even if the clutter gathered moments after I left.

I am slightly embarrassed to say, however, that it took me a whole day to clean one bedroom. Sheesh. There was an awful lot of junk to deal with, and every drawer needed sorted, but still, it was one room.

In the past week I have taken to cleaning one little corner of a room. It doesn't take all day, but I still feel like I have accomplished something. Frankly every part of the house doesn't need to be cleaned in the spring -- it's not like we burn gas and sooty candles for light, or have dirt roads outside. But parts of the house do need to be cleaned and reorganized. Cleaning a corner also gives the opportunity to switch things up a little and make it prettier, or maybe just different.

This pretty figure of Our Blessed Mother and the Infant Jesus was found in an antique shop. I think it was a planter originally.

Today I cleaned the corner of my kitchen where the school books are housed. It's the opposite end from the cooking area on the other side of the table. The white blinds needed cleaning (I hate, hate that job) and I pulled the bookcase out and cleaned all the baseboards around it. Everything came off the shelves so I could dust and they I sorted through what to keep and what to throw as I put it back up.

A beautiful scripture verse, printed in a pretty font and framed in a frame I already owned, repurposed.

I had nothing on the wall above, so I took the opportunity to make a pretty arrangement.

A beautiful card saved for just this purpose and placed in a frame I found for 50% off at Joann, a pretty plate from the china cabinet, and a little print block I bought a couple weeks ago -- Mother of Tenderness.

One tip for cleaning blinds -- use baby wipes. They are way cheaper than cleaning wipes, so it's not a costly method, and it's so much easier than constantly rinsing and wringing a rag. Plus the wipes are thin and it's easy to get them in between the blinds. I also use baby wipes for cleaning white woodwork. They work great.