Day 4 & 5 – Spring Cleaning Backyard Checklist

My family is getting on board with Money Saving Mom’s 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge. Today’s project is:

Surface Clean Extra Rooms

For our extra room, we tackled our children’s room. Three children under the age of five in one room calls for unique design and organization solutions. Our biggest problem is too much stuff in one room. It is definitely time to simplify. We are taking the clean slate approach and removing just about everything from the room and leaving the bare bones – the book shelf, the desk, the dresser, the beds, and the storage unit. Toys/items/clothes may only return IF they fit.

My husband directed the littles in organizing the toys on the floor and I went to work with what was going to be allowed back onto the dresser. For the time being, I decided on this darling Petite Lemon print that I received in one of my monthly Citrus Lane boxes (P.S. LOVE Citrus Lane – it was so much fun to receive trendy and fabulous full size baby products during my little guy’s first year! Highly recommend them and love that they have expanded to older child products as well)

Along with the Petite Lemon ABC print, I decided I need a more attractive way to store  diapers than in the giant purple Luv’s box. I filled up a wicker basket and hid the rest of the diapers away in the closet. Lastly, because of its height, the dresser is a nice way to store items that I don’t want my children to get to just yet. I put my children’s art projects for the next day in these great little totes from Target’s dollar bins.

The rest of the items from the top of the dresser were relocated. I had so many blankets on top of the dresser – many that didn’t even fit over my toddler anymore. Those went into storage in the closet. I’m loving the less cluttered look!

For our weekend project,  the sunshine-filled skies were beckoning us outdoors. My husband and I decided to spring clean our back porch which is an extension of our living room.

Our back porch was getting a little cluttered so we completed the following checklist:

1. Put away all winter items. Send the shovel back to the garage!

2. Throw away trash.

3. Spray down or dust children’s summer outdoor toys.

4. Sweep

5. Spot fix any trim or planters

6. Spray down outdoor furniture

7. Trim and prune plants

While my husband and I worked on the porch, our children played in the water for the first time this season. They loved it! And they were a huge help in spraying down their toys (after my husband had initially cleaned them off and checked for spiders!) I feel like we are ready for Spring now and can’t wait for the raspberries and strawberries to start growing!

What are you growing in your garden this year?

Where is your favorite place to shop for children’s decor and organization?

How is the challenge going for you? Leave me your link and I’d love to visit!

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