Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 31 - Floors

We made it! The final day! Today we finish by cleaning the floors. Mine were in need of a good cleaning. I usually just vacuum the floors and wipe up spills as they happen, but I miss probably more than half of the spills. Plus, our little one has been throwing more food on the floor lately, so yeah, it was time.

We have dark laminate floors. I like the way the dark wood looks, but it shows crumbs very easily. I started by vacuuming up the crumbs. I recommend vacuuming in the direction of the planks, so to get all the crumbs that happen to fall between the cracks. I then followed up with a wet microfiber cloth. I just used warm/hot water, but you could also use vinegar diluted with water. You'll want to make sure not to let the water just sit on the floor, so I wiped it dry with another microfiber cloth.

Thank you for joining me in Taking Back Our Kitchens in 31 Days. Enjoy your newly cleaned and organized kitchen!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 30 - Baseboards

Today, we are focusing on our baseboards and trim. The baseboards in our kitchen get covered with food splatters and dust mostly. I actually use Scrubbing Bubbles shower foam to clean my baseboards and wipe with a wet microfiber cloth followed by a dry microfiber cloth. As always, a Magic Eraser can come in handy for those tougher spots. What I discovered while doing this task was how badly our baseboards need to be painted! The pictures don't do the difference from cleaning justice:

Tomorrow is our final day in the Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days series and we'll finish by cleaning the floors.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 29 - Doors

Just a few more days left...how are we holding up?

Today, we're wiping down the doors. We have two french doors that lead to our patio as well as a pantry door. My process for cleaning doors is similar to wiping down the walls...wipe with a wet microfiber cloth (with plain water) followed by a dry microfiber cloth. For those tough spots (like those blue marks you see below), I get out a Magic Eraser...and voila!

Tomorrow we will scrub down the baseboards!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 28 - Walls

Today's task took me a little while to complete, but the results were well worth it. There was so much dust, fingerprints and grease on the walls and I was happy to see it go!

All I did was wipe the walls down from top to bottom with a wet microfiber cloth (I just used plain water), and then went over the area with a dry microfiber cloth. Just look at the difference!

Tomorrow, we're going to wipe down the doors!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 27 - Blinds

Today we're cleaning the window treatments. We have wooden blinds, but you may have plastic blinds or curtains.

I started by dusting them with a Swiffer duster to get the loose dust off. Then I gave each slat a good look over for any spots that needed to be wiped. We have french doors right by our kitchen table so they often see splatters like the one below:

But it's nothing a Magic Eraser can't wipe off!

Tomorrow, we'll wipe down the walls.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 26 - Windows

this week, we're focusing on cleaning the kitchen room itself and we're starting off today with the windows. I have two small windows over our sink and two large windows that are part of our french doors off the patio. The windows on the doors get a lot of fingerprints on them, and they needed to be cleaned. I just use water and a microfiber cloth to clean our windows. I usually use paper towels when cleaning the outer windows because they are much dirtier. Now is also a good time to vacuum out/wipe down the window tracks, too.

I started on the inside and then moved to the outside. (and I decided that it is difficult to photograph glass!)

Tomorrow, we'll clean the window treatments.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 25 - Catch Up

We are in the home stretch of Taking Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days! Here's a recap of what we've done so far:

Introduction
Day 1 - Declutter
Day 2 - Oven Exterior
Day 3 - Oven Interior
Day 4 - Catch Up
Day 5 - Dishwasher
Day 6 - Microwave
Day 7 - Small Appliances
Day 8 - Ice Dispenser
Day 9 - Fridge Exterior
Day 10 - Fridge Interior
Day 11 - Catch Up
Day 12 - Upper Cabinet Interiors
Day 13 - Drawers
Day 14 - Lower Cabinet Interiors
Day 15 - Under the Sink
Day 16 - Upper Cabinet Exteriors
Day 17 - Lower Cabinet Exteriors
Day 18 - Catch Up
Day 19 - Lights
Day 20 - Light Switches
Day 21 - Sink
Day 22 - Garbage Disposal
Day 23 - Trashcan
Day 24 - Pantry
Enjoy the day off if you have done everything so far! This week, we are focusing on the finishing touches...the room itself. Walls, doors, floors, and more!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 24 - Pantry

Ah, the pantry. Ours goes through quite the daily beating with all the hands involved. I of course have a system and have foods grouped together, but my husband doesn't understand the system, and my daughter just likes to take things out of the pantry and scatter them all over the house. :) Honestly, it wasn't in that bad of shape today, but I feel better just knowing what is in the pantry right now. Here's what I started with:

I just went shelf by shelf. I took everything off the shelf and assessed what I had in front of me. We do a bit of our grocery shopping at Costco, so we have a lot of bigger packages of food. I tried to take things out of boxes, and put things in other containers like OXO Pop Containers. I also refilled my baking canisters that are on our counter. I was able to get a whole bag of brown sugar out of the pantry!

I also took the opportunity to update my pantry inventory. I don't put everything on it, just things that I often forget we have that I can use for dinners.

Here is how my pantry is organized now:

Tomorrow is our last catch up day before our final week!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 23 - Trashcan

Today we're wiping down the trash can. I was lucky in that the trash actually needed to be emptied yesterday, so I was able to get a chance to wipe it down today. Mostly it was just dusty, but there were some spots on it too. I just wipe it down with an all-purpose cleaner. I like to use one that smells like lemon because it helps keep the inside of the trash can smelling better than the trash!

Tomorrow, we're tackling a big one...the pantry!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 22 - Garbage Disposal

No pictures today, as cleaning the garbage disposal is kind of an inside job.

1. Put a handful of ice down into the garbage disposal and turn it on. This helps to get the food that is stuck on any of the blades.

2. Give the rubber part (the visible part of the disposal) a good scrubbing.

3. Run the disposal with some citrus peels (like lemons or oranges). Enjoy the smell!

And that's it!

Tomorrow, we'll wipe down the stinky trash can.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 21 - Sink

Our sink was getting pretty gross, so I was kind of excited to tackle this one today. This is typical of how our sink looks after breakfast each day:

So first, I did the dishes.

Then, I cleared everything off of the sink.

We have a stainless steel sink and I use Comet Stainless Steel powder cleaner. We are in the process of switching over to natural cleaners, so I have been trying to use this stuff up. Per the instructions, it says to sprinkle the powder on the surface

then take a wet cloth or sponge and create a paste and let sit for 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, scrub and wipe with a wet cloth, then dry/buff with a dry cloth.

And put everything back (I threw away the nasty sponges. We don't even use them anyway!)

I also cleaned the back splash at this time. So much better!

Tomorrow, we'll clean up the garbage disposal.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 20 - Light Switches

Today was an easy one...wiping down all those outlets and light switches! I just used a Lysol wipe to do mine. I noticed the switch by the sink was the dirtiest. I assume it's because I usually turn on the light or garbage disposal while my hands are wet or dirty.

Tomorrow, we're cleaning out the sink.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 19 - Lights

For some reason, we have mismatching lights in our kitchen. One day, they will all match, but for now, it's what we've got. Today I cleaned them off and found lots of dust and dead bugs. But look at the difference!!

Tomorrow, we'll wipe down the light switches.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 18 - Catch Up

We are over halfway through Taking Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days! Do you feel better when you walk into your kitchen now? I know I do! Here's a recap of what we've done so far:

Introduction
Day 1 - Declutter
Day 2 - Oven Exterior
Day 3 - Oven Interior
Day 4 - Catch Up
Day 5 - Dishwasher
Day 6 - Microwave
Day 7 - Small Appliances
Day 8 - Ice Dispenser
Day 9 - Fridge Exterior
Day 10 - Fridge Interior
Day 11 - Catch Up
Day 12 - Upper Cabinet Interiors
Day 13 - Drawers
Day 14 - Lower Cabinet Interiors
Day 15 - Under the Sink
Day 16 - Upper Cabinet Exteriors
Day 17 - Lower Cabinet Exteriors

Got everything on the list done so far? Enjoy the day off! This week, we are going to clean and organize some miscellaneous areas like the lights, garbage disposal, trashcan, and more!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 17 - Lower Cabinet Exterior

Same task as yesterday, just on the lower cabinets. I noticed more spills from things like water dripping down the cabinets that were ignored. I don't know about you, but I am feeling so much better after cleaning out/off all the cabinets!

Tomorrow is a well deserved catch up day!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 16 - Upper Cabinet Exterior

I have been anxious to start cleaning the cabinet exteriors since we started going through the cabinets on Monday. I could see the grease and grime on the doors. All it took to get it off was a good wipe down. Our cabinets also had a nice layer of dust on the tops of the doors.

Tomorrow, we'll wipe down the lower cabinet exteriors.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 15 - Under the Sink

Today we're cleaning out under the sink. I keep my cleaning supplies under my sink. As I was taking things out today, I realized there were some cleaners under there that I don't even use...so out they go! I also like having a little shower caddy under the sink to corral smaller items like sponges and rags.

Tomorrow, we'll clean the upper cabinet exterior.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 14 - Lower Cabinet Interior

The lower cabinet interiors weren't too bad. I could tell which cabinets I open the most based on the number of crumbs I found. I did find a dead, dried up slug which totally disgusted me, but that's half of the reason of cleaning out the cabinets, right?

I started with the cabinet closest to our trash can. We keep our trash bags in there, along with a serving tray that is too large to fit in the cabinet with the other serving trays. I also had a vase in there, which we never use, so I moved it to an upper cabinet where there was room. Looks like I have some room to grow in here!

Next up was the appliances. Not too much change, but I did find some manuals that I then put where we keep the rest of our manuals.

On to my baking sheets. I love using the wire shelving to separate my baking sheets. I don't have to dig under other pans to get to them. My current issue was the blender box (yes, I have had this blender for over a year now and it's still in the box). It was getting in the way of the larger pans. So I switched it to the side with the smaller sheets and now my baking sheets don't have to be at an angle in the cabinet. I also had the smaller baking sheets in the taller wire shelf so the big baking sheets were really leaning over; now they stand more vertical.

And finally the last two cabinets. This is where I found the nasty dead slug! Not a lot of change here, just cleaned out.

Don't worry about under the sink yet. We'll get that one tomorrow.