It is spring and that means Spring Cleaning!
This is a time honored tradition where every last inch of a home gets cleaned and freshened.
Just after the conclusion of the Tiny House Conference, Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life, visited our 120 square foot home and got to watch (and help) me put everything back in the cabinets after it had all been taken out and the cabinets deep cleaned.
One of my very favorite things about living in a small space is that spring cleaning doesn't take very long. We can move the sofa, clean the base boards, scrub the floors, and wash the screens without even breaking a sweat.
In our 2700 square foot house I hated spring cleaning so much I avoided it as much as possible. I'm not sure the outside of any of those windows ever got cleaned while we lived there.
This year in the tiny house we took everything out of the cabinets and cleaned every inch inside. Then we put everything back in. We moved the sofa to sweep and scrub the floors that otherwise never gets seen. We vacuumed the carpeting in the lofts and washed all the blankets and linens. We scrubbed the counters and the shower. The screens got taken out and washed off and the windows were cleaned both inside and outside. The house is sparkly clean, at least for now.
Someone recently asked me about our cleaning routine. Well, in a nutshell, this is it. But this is just the kind of deep cleaning we do twice a year. Every day we sweep several times to keep the dirt from outside at bay. We clean up after ourselves when we cook and do all the dishes and put them away. We do our laundry once a week. We scoop the litter box whenever it needs to be scooped. Our cleaning routine isn't much different from anyone else's except that our home is a fraction of the size.
That being said we have additional chores that others who live in on-grid homes don't need to worry about. Once a week we collect and haul water up from our spring. Every day I fill the Berkey with about 2 gallons of the water we've collected. I also dump the gray water bucket into our reclamation system. Every time we leave the tiny house or when we go to sleep, we turn off the power inverter so no energy is being wasted when we don't need it.
Cleaning a tiny house is a lot like cleaning a big house. Living in a tiny house is a lot like living in a big house. As they say:
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."
This is a time honored tradition where every last inch of a home gets cleaned and freshened.
One of my very favorite things about living in a small space is that spring cleaning doesn't take very long. We can move the sofa, clean the base boards, scrub the floors, and wash the screens without even breaking a sweat.
In our 2700 square foot house I hated spring cleaning so much I avoided it as much as possible. I'm not sure the outside of any of those windows ever got cleaned while we lived there.
This year in the tiny house we took everything out of the cabinets and cleaned every inch inside. Then we put everything back in. We moved the sofa to sweep and scrub the floors that otherwise never gets seen. We vacuumed the carpeting in the lofts and washed all the blankets and linens. We scrubbed the counters and the shower. The screens got taken out and washed off and the windows were cleaned both inside and outside. The house is sparkly clean, at least for now.
Someone recently asked me about our cleaning routine. Well, in a nutshell, this is it. But this is just the kind of deep cleaning we do twice a year. Every day we sweep several times to keep the dirt from outside at bay. We clean up after ourselves when we cook and do all the dishes and put them away. We do our laundry once a week. We scoop the litter box whenever it needs to be scooped. Our cleaning routine isn't much different from anyone else's except that our home is a fraction of the size.
That being said we have additional chores that others who live in on-grid homes don't need to worry about. Once a week we collect and haul water up from our spring. Every day I fill the Berkey with about 2 gallons of the water we've collected. I also dump the gray water bucket into our reclamation system. Every time we leave the tiny house or when we go to sleep, we turn off the power inverter so no energy is being wasted when we don't need it.
Cleaning a tiny house is a lot like cleaning a big house. Living in a tiny house is a lot like living in a big house. As they say:
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."
I love that quote.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about cleaning as a meditation.
Did I mention how bad I am at meditation? ;)
Just started my spring cleaning....Oh how I hate it! I try playing upbeat music while I clean or putting on an old movie musical that I can sing along to ,...but it all boils down to cleaning...yuck!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Joanne
I'm actually trying to meditate more too. Cleaning may be a good alternative option to help calm my mind actually. I was thinking of purchasing a big berkey too. Is this the one your purchased?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/big-berkey.html
My partner, baby daughter, little dog and I are about to move into a 220 square foot converted truck, so I was looking here for some ideas, thanks! I think staying on top of the sweeping is a wise move (especially as my little one will be crawling pretty soon!)
ReplyDeleteUse baking soda to keep flowers fresh: Mix in a tablespoon of baking soda into the vase of water to keep flowers fresher for longer.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late with my spring cleaning but better late than next year I guess. I live in a flat and it's also not very big, so maybe I can relate. Thanks for sharing your guide.
ReplyDelete