Ad: 14 Day Challenge To A Tidy Home

*In collaboration with VonHaus. I was gifted a handheld steam cleaner to help with the challenge but all words and thoughts are my own.*

I’m in fully blown nesting mode at the moment. I’ll be honest, it’s taken me by surprise because it never hit me at all when I was pregnant with Cece. I actively and eagerly awaited this famed part of pregnancy first time round. I was excited for all the things I’d get done, but it never came, and every time I even thought about cracking open the bleach I lay down until the feeling passed. It didn’t take long.

This time though I’m loving getting everywhere sorted. I’ve even been digging through cupboards that I’d normally keep shut. Who knew I had so much actual storage space?

The 14 day challenge couldn’t have come at a better time really. It gave me a plan to follow (even if I did rearrange it a little bit) and I enjoyed ticking off the list on a daily basis.

If you fancy taking on your own 14 days to a tidy home challenge here’s the list I followed.

Day 1: Bins and recycling: sort through all the bins in your house and get your recycling separated.
Day 2: Wipe down your kitchen units and steam the cooker tops. 
Day 3: Empty and clean out the fridge freezer – don’t forget the kitchen cupboards! 
Day 4: Vacuum Day: Focus on the floors, give all the rooms in your house a good vacuum. 
Day 5: Vacuum Day: Move the furniture and hoover those hard to reach areas of your home. 
Day 6: Clean the windows – inside and out! 
Day 7: Wash the curtains and wipe down the blinds. 
Day 8: Take everything off the sideboards, shelves and get dusting! 
Day 9: Get your bedding, blankets, and cushions washed – after all everyone loves fresh bedding! 
Day 10: Wardrobes: Clear out any old clothing, reorganise and wipe down your wardrobes. 
Day 11: Remove wrinkles from clothing, curtains, and upholstery. 
Day 12: Wash out your shower, shower screen and/or bath. 
Day 13: Let’s mop: antibacterial your floors and wipe down the tiles. 
Day 14: Finally take a trip to the tip: Declutter your home from unwanted clothes, items or food and take it to the tip, food bank or local charity shop. 

Like I said, I did rearrange the list a little to fit in with what was going on elsewhere in my life but I made sure I did do something every day. Also, jobs, like clearing out old clothes and reorganising my wardrobe, took longer than one day. I had a lot of clearing out to do. Some of the jobs I had to rope Tom in to help with too. In my slightly more rotund state, I’m starting to struggle to bend down.

There are still a few jobs that I want to get done before this baby arrives and a bit of clearing out that still needs to be done. But I definitely feel like this has helped me find my way and has got me through the difficult first bit when all the jobs feel a bit overwhelming.

I’m also pretty keen to get my steam cleaner out again. I have a yellow chair that is looking pretty grubby and a sofa that’s covered in milk and general toddler muck that I’m excited to try it out on. I’ll really be putting it to the test then.

If anyone fancies coming round to help me, I’d be super grateful. I might be nesting and totally ready to get all my jobs done but I run out of energy pretty quickly. I’ll make tea and cake to repay you through the day!

Also, one thing that I have found useful and in case you didn’t know, you can order big bags from the British Heart Foundation website and then get them to collect anything you want to donate too. I had a collection of about nine bags this afternoon, it was so easy to organise.

Now, here’s just hoping I can keep it clean and tidy for the foreseeable future. Wish me luck.