Sitting Down

Sitting Down

I am sitting in my lounge right now looking at my old stained carpet and all the collected junk and

wondering how we have lived like this for so long.

Every home has that one area that seems to collect everything. Sadly, I have three such areas. My

bedroom, the TV room and the worst is what is meant to be a home office ( which is actually part of

my lounge) so there is a screen which we put up to hide the collection of clutter.

It is definitely going to take more than 15 minutes to declutter my lounge.

Serving a purpose

Let’s start with the name – we call it the lounge and we have a TV room, we had a play room when

the kids where younger (now my bead room) but this room has many names in different homes It

can be the family room, the sitting room, the great room, but by whatever name you call it the room

definitely needs to have its purpose defined.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have this space, so defining areas of a room for a specific purpose

will help you declutter your space.

Get out of my house

I decided to start with getting rid of anything that is broken or damaged. Sadly this is not a 15 minute

task for me. Part of my lounge was designated a study for my husband but over the years has

become the place where things go when no one knows what to do with them.

Sweep South

In December 2015, I hired Sweep South to help me clean. The ladies they sent did the most amazing

job and then I let them down by not getting rid of the boxes of old books that we packed for

donation. It is out there!

I am using the opportunity of having my floors redone and the roof/ceiling fixed to try again. I have

already got rid of 3 non-functioning laptops and 2 printers and an old box shape computer screen!

The curtains are being washed in preparation for the completed work. My aunt does project

management and her builder has come in at the most reasonable amount.

Already my lounge has taken shape and will be where we keep our many books, which are currently

scattered all over the house.

The newly finished floors look incredible and my lounge is once again a place in which to sit

comfortably. I am looking forward to being able to hang up my curtains again as it is a little cold right

now without them.

Resolution

This time I am definitely not keeping the donation box. I have made a declaration to my family, ‘If it

doesn’t work, or you are too old for it, or it is just plain ugly, it may not come back into my house!’ It

is a good thing that it is winter and there is no rain as all of this is outside in the garden.

I have included a small cleaning schedule to help keep your lounge looking lived in but not untidy.

DAILY

 Sweep and/ or mop the floors.

 Give a quick wipe to dining room chairs, tables and couches and clean up spills and daily

living that happens

WEEKLY

 Vacuum your carpets and if you have fabric furniture do the furniture as well

 Dust any pictures, paintings and mirrors, wall units and bookshelves you have in these

rooms.

 Every 2 weeks polish your leather or wood furniture, polishing too often allows a buildup of

oil on your furniture making it harder to clean marks off. Sometimes you will find black build

up in the joints of wood furniture from polishing it too often.

MONTHLY

 Wipe down the TV screen and any computer screens.

 Clean the outside of your DVD player.

QUARTERLY

 Damp dust all the skirting boards

 Wash the windows

 Polish any silverware

BI ANUALLY

 Clean light switches, door handles and light covers

 Lift the couch cushions and deep clean. Also move the lounge suite and clean behind and

under it

ANUALLY

 Wash the walls, doors and ceilings

 Clean the grouting between the tiles, if you have tiles or wash the carpets.

What do you use your lounge for?