Upkeep of house

I am intrigued with the idea of having a day for cleaning INSIDE cupboards!

We recently hired a cleaner because we found that neither of us could really be bothered any more. Two cleaners come once a month for 2 hours and leave everything sparkling. The sense of relief is unbelievable and she’s worth every penny!

Oreo, the larder is the perfect one to start with. Satisfying and horrifying in equal measure is exactly it, and out-of-date tins are the proof it needed doing. Write down the date you did it somewhere, then next month it's a check rather than a guess.

Luckygirl3, a day for the inside of one cupboard sounds daft until you try it. It's the only way the insides ever get done, because they never make it onto the ordinary list.

We downsized 20 years ago. Sold the large family house and bought our sons smaller, very attractive house. He was moving upwards for a growing family. We did this because we had our cottage by the sea, so two smaller homes was better than one large.

Now we have had to sell our cottage as it was getting too much for us to maintain and neither of us can drive anymore.
What a boon this has been.!
A very small garden which is easy to keep pretty, only two bedrooms but a big enough space downstairs for family/friends gatherings, as we’re
open plan with a conservatory.

Also we have train station and bus terminal 2 minute walk away, town 10 minute walk and lovely neighbours.

Update for you lovely Gransnetters and thanks so much for all your brilliant and amusing replies, which have got me moving.
I’ve tackled one big job every other day this week, inside windows today, my least favourite job and once I get everything on an even keel again, I should be able to keep it ship shape.
I do have a gardener and window cleaner who both come fortnightly, so all I do garden wise is look after my window boxes and planters, which have been my main concern during heatwaves, along with filling bird tables and supplying water for them.
I am contemplating asking my DD’s cleaner to do things I’m finding more difficult like going up ladders for the windows and holding a vacuum while cleaning the very steep stairs, both quite dangerous at my age.
So, I just needed a good talking to and I’m feeling more settled, so Thankyou.

greyfur16

I do enjoy "bottom" as a verb.

Me too!

A good old "bottoming".
Is it a Scottish saying?

DollyD -- I love your statement - "Last time the whole house was sparkling was when my Son and family who live abroad came to stay and that was March..."
Nothing like company to get things sparkly!
But really, I've heard 2 bits of advice on this:
- Boring women have clean houses.
- Only clean enough that people can't see the dirt.

That said, I clean in spurts. And I really don't entertain. Which suits me ;-)

Gmax3

greyfur16

I do enjoy "bottom" as a verb.

Me too!

Oooer. 😲
Sorry!

MissAdventure

A good old "bottoming".
Is it a Scottish saying?

My friend used to bottom one room each week and keep everywhere else clean and tidy too.
She was from the North-East.

My house was never as immaculate as hers.
I really should give the whole house a good bottoming.

I like to fettle, does anyone else?
( I don’t really but I like the thought of it)

Bottoming is very common in the North West.
“I need to bottom the kitchen” or “I’ve just finished bottoming the bathroom” and the best, “it needs a good bottoming”.

DollyD

Bottoming is very common in the North West.
“I need to bottom the kitchen” or “I’ve just finished bottoming the bathroom” and the best, “it needs a good bottoming”.

Next time anyone asks what I've been up to-
"just a bit of bottoming"

A good bottoming as opposed to a lick and a promise 😁

😲 actually, that sounds rather rude

Never heard of ‘bottoming’ only on here.
Sounds very strange but I do understand what is meant by it.

As a friend once said Take your glasses off. Everything looks much better

Gwyllt

As a friend once said Take your glasses off. Everything looks much better

Except I then trip over a rug or a box DH has randomly abandoned somewhere. I would rtaher see the dirt.

I am using roomba every day, today kitchen/diner and hall by one roomba and the other did en suite, bedroom and landing. I am thinking that the less dust on the floor, the less dust will float into the air and land on furniture tops or skirtings

I may well add the living room tomorrow while I am out enjoying the countryside on my bike

JenniRen

A good bottoming as opposed to a lick and a promise 😁

A ‘lick and a promise’ when we didn’t have time to have a good wash down or a bath, when I was a child.
I need the skirting boards, paintwork and behind the radiators to be thoroughly cleaned. I try to keep on top of everything else, and have a window cleaner for outside every 4 weeks and some help with the garden as and when, but having people to stay always gets me motivated. Not easy when you’re older, is it?

No.
And no matter what we do with the windows inside, they seem to be smeary. Just as well my specs are smeary too 🤓

Last week we had the chimney sweep and chimney specialist in. They were removing the rather ugly fire hood in one open fireplace and blocking it off ,and replacing the blocking material in another. This while also having a lime-plasterer in to replaster the fire reveal and take out part of the hearth. The house is currently sagging under about half an inch of dust everywhere.

I am throughly cleaning at the rate of one room a day, starting today with the heart of the mess - the dining room. Tomorrow the living room, day after the study and so on. It will keep me busy for the next week.

DollyD good to hear you've had a bit of inspiration.

It's always nice to get a few viewpoints as we don't all work in the same way.

I've finally got my bathroom, ensuite and kitchen sorted, along with the hallway and downstairs toilet. Even caught up on my washing. This week I'm attacking the wardrobe in between hospital visits to get my warmer clothes out and pack away summer dresses, shorts and tee shirts. So much easier to keep on top of it when things have been put away.