Cleaning in "Zones"

I read a blog from time to time (blog.cjanerun.com) and she recently talked about zone cleaning and that was how she kept her house clean. My mum would sometimes clean this way too, and I have my own type of "zone" cleaning that I do too, so I thought I would share.

Once Carter was born, I realized that my entire house would never be clean at the same time. As much as I love when it is, it was getting to be impossible, so I came up with this method. I have a 5 day rotation. Sometimes it takes me a week to get the five days done (this rarely happens) sometimes it takes 2 or 3 weeks if it's summer, if the kids skip a nap (since that's when most of the cleaning happens) holiday time, third trimester time, whatever. Either way it works well, and I love knowing at least one level of my house is throughly clean at any given time.

Day One
Main Level:
Clean green bathroom, dust bookshelves, picture frames, piano
Vacuum living room rugs,sweep kitchen floor, wash floor, wipe down cabinets, island and kitchen chairs. Vacuum our bedroom rug, make our bed, clean my dresser, dust, clean our bathroom.

Day Two
Upstairs:
Sweep and dust upstairs, clean kids bathroom (scrub the tub really good, clean cabinets) clean kids rooms, vacuum rugs, clean kids dressers and closets,organize linen closet,tidy laundry room.

Day Three
Vacuum basement family room, clean bathroom, sweep and tidy Darryl's office, windex doors, vacuum under couch cushions, dust everything, clean and vacuum play room, vacuum treadmill room, clean Ollie's bowls.

Day Four
Clean and organize 2 front closet, de-clutter everywhere, tidy/organize mail basket, clean the fridge, tidy yard, garage, car.

Day Five
Finish any job that hasn't been done yet, blog, make appointments for hair, dr, dentist, dog, etc. Pay the bills, go over money stuff, return phone calls,grocery shop and run errands.

Don't get me wrong here, I don't love to clean by any means. I would love a housekeeper to come in regularly, that would be heavenly. But it's not in the budget and I do absolutely LOVE a clean house more than anything, and this is my "balance" for right now in the world of busy toddlers. It works pretty well for me most of the time. One thing I don't have is a laundry day, since I have a bit of a laundry addiction, I rarely go a day without doing it, and my sister-in-law teases me that I never have more than one load of dirty clothes and any given time. It is my favourite chore. This is all easier to do now that I'm off for the summer, although the second trimester energy is slowly turning into third trimester uncomfortableness. Today was Day 3 for example, and I got almost everything done, got halfway through the playroom, and my left hip, which always bothers me when I'm pregnant, just wouldn't let me do anymore, which can be really frustrating when you want to complete something.

So there is the method to my madness.