Minimalism Zone 3: Stairs, Linen Closet, Laundry Room, & Kids’ Bathroom
This month’s zone might seem a little scattered, but this is a zone in my house that works well for me. You walk up the stairs to the landing where the linen closet, laundry room, and bathroom are located. None of these spaces take very much effort to maintain. I have changed some things up in my laundry room lately and I will share all those details in a different blog post.
So let’s get started.
Stairs & Landing:
This area only requires cleaning. I have zero items that live here.
Here are the steps I will take:
Spot clean the carpet
Vacuum all edges and carpet
Dust and wipe all baseboards
Dust the ceiling and walls
Clean/dust light fixtures
Dust blinds on stairs
Next I will move on to the linen closet. I have an entire blog post and video all about my linen closet HERE.
Pull everything out.
Purge anything that I haven’t used in the last 6 months.
Clean the closet.
Put it all back in a neat and organized fashion.
Note: This closet also houses all of my gift wrap. I have a blog post and video all about simple gift wrap coming up next week!
Laundry Room:
This room can easily be a catch all. Ask yourself, “What do I need to do laundry in here?” Anything that doesn’t pertain to that needs to be reevaluated. I do have a few other things in one of my laundry cabinets, but I have to be sure I have the room for all of the things I need for actually doing laundry.
Go through your laundry products and ask:
Do I use this?
Do I like it? If you don’t love this product, but you can still use it, use it all up before purchasing something new.
Once you decide the products you use on a regular basis, be sure to keep an extra item back stock. No one wants to run out of laundry detergent.
To clean:
Pull it all out.
Wipe everything down.
Be selective about what goes back - make sure it is something you actually use.
The final step is to look up on YouTube or in your manuals on how to clean your particular washer and dryer. It’s important that you do this to maintain the life of your washing machine and dryer.
The last tip on your laundry room is to get you dryer vents professionally cleaned. This is really important to keep the risk of fire at bay. It also ensures that you will continue to get the full drying potential in your dryer.
Last but not least is the Kids’ Bathroom. This is also the bathroom our guests use. In this space it's really important to only keep what your kids use and need access to. If you have older kids, get them involved in this deep clean and instruct them on how to keep it clean.
Deep Clean Tasks for the bathroom:
Clean bathroom tile grout
Baseboards
Light fixtures
Wipe down the inside and outside of all bathroom cabinets
Check over your bathroom linens
As you can see, this zone is full, but it’s one of the easier zones. We can easily split this into the 4 weeks of this month.
After this month you are halfway through your home! Thank you for joining me on this journey to find margin in our lives and homes.