Happy Monday, zany peeps!! Last week I was really adventurous and DEEP CLEANED my room. Real talk, it was such a mess, so dirty, and I’m 94% sure I had bed bugs. I know, I’m disgusting.
When it comes to cleaning my room, I’ve always had the problem of not knowing where to start. I look at the mess, get overwhelmed, and end up just sitting on my bed watching Netflix. This is not a great strategy, in that over weeks, even months’ time, the mess will continue to grow, until you wake up one morning, covered in laundry and bug bites (I would not recommend this experience).
My mom can attest to this statement, I’ve always hated cleaning my room. Growing up (and, let’s be honest, whenever she comes and visits my apartment), my mom does all the cleaning while I sit on my bed and talk to her. This is how it has always been, and this method has always worked for me. Until now, when my mom hasn’t been to my apartment in months and I’m naturally a ~cluttered~ person, the mess quite literally piles up, and sooner or later, it must be faced.
So, all of that being said, if you’re anything like me and get overwhelmed with a messy room, the good news is that ya girl braved the messy storm last week, and is coming at you with all the tips and tricks she picked up along the way.
Parting the Seas of Clothes
First things first, take care of those clothes. Don’t try to hide it, I know you have at lease one pile of clothes, clean or dirty, on the floor or on your bed, that you’ve been avoiding. It’s time to face it. Whether that means starting a load of laundry or folding/putting away, get rid of all piles of clothes.
Trash Bag Mania
Next step, get a trash bag (or two or three or four) and collect all trash around your room. This includes all of the random receipts, tags, baggies, wrappers, tissues, fast-food bags, and papers. Get rid of it all. (This part might have to continue throughout the whole cleaning process.)
Dreaded Desk
I know I’m not the only one who uses her desk as a catch-all during the day/week/month. Odds are, you’re the same, and you have a cluttered mess on what used to be a desk. Get one of those trash bags, and de-clutter. Throw away everything you don’t use, and find a home for all the random stow-aways. (Hint: you should be able to actually see your desk when you’re finished.)
Makeup Mayhem
Odds also are that you haven’t cleaned your makeup in a while. Go through all of the products you have and throw away what you haven’t used in 3 years. After getting rid of all the makeup duds, sort through the products you are keeping. Organize them by purpose, whether it be on your vanity or in makeup bags. It will be different for everyone, but for me, I have a bag for face makeup/brushes, a bag for eyes (eye shadow palettes, mascara, eyeliner, etc), and a bag for lips. This way it is easy and efficient to find products while I’m doing my makeup in the morning. I also have my skincare organized on my (makeshift) vanity.
While you’re at it, clean your makeup brushes!! I like to clean mine by mixing dish detergent and olive oil in a small bowl (dish detergent for cleaning, olive oil for softening), dipping my brushes in the solution, and washing with hot water over the sink.
Holy Sheet
This doesn’t really take a paragraph to explain, but while you’re at it, throw your sheets in the wash. They could use it. (Also I definitely laughed out loud when I wrote that title sitting at my computer. You’re welcome for the quality content.)
Disinfectant Dance
Now that we’ve got most of the clutter taken care of, it’s time to disinfect. You can choose to do this in a number of different ways. 1. You can use disinfectant wipes to wipe down all surfaces (aka desk, window panes, floor boards, mantels, etc) or 2. You can use disinfectant spray, and spray all of the areas I just mentioned. I used a combination of both.
Hit the Floor
Next up on our cleaning to-do list are the floors. This is a multi-step process. Begin with sweeping all of the dust/crumbs/grossness off of the floor, and dumping it into one of your many beautiful trash bags. When you’ve covered all the exposed area of flooring (math), it’s time to whip out the Swiffer. (If you don’t own a Swiffer, like I did not, it’s only $11.99 at Target, and it comes with 5 dry pads and 3 wet pads. What a deal!! Bonus is that you get to take a break and go to Target.) After you’re done dry Swiffering, you called it, it’s time to wet Swiffer! Your floors will be looking shiny and clean by the end of this process.
Pillow Talk
After the floor has dried and your load of laundry is finished, it’s time to make your bed! Before I starting making my bed, I wiped my box frame down with disinfectant wipes, just to make sure all the dust/bugs/any other grossness was taken care of. Then proceed with regular bed-making.
Look, Mom!
Last, final step, and maybe the most important, take a picture of your newly cleaned room and send it to your mom. No clean room is complete without the approval/affirmation of a mother.
Well, there you have it folks, that is how I went about tackling my disgusting, dumpster of a room. A clean room really does make a difference. Coming home to a clean room at the end of the day is such a good feeling, as is sleeping in clean sheets and not waking up with bites all over your body (lol, sorry to bring it up again). I am so much more productive in my space when it is clean and tidy. For all you scattered-minded, cluttered kids out there who don’t want to clean their room, there is hope! If I can successfully clean my room, so can you. Just face it head on. Trust me, you’ll feel so much better afterward. (Mentally and emotionally. Physically, you’ll probably be sore. Or maybe that was just me because I’m wildly out of shape.)
Happy spring cleaning!
Zany Lady 