Spring, er...Summer Cleanin'

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls Collective on behalf of Claritin®. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, then you know that Bob and I definitely have a "fixer-upper" on our hands. We've been through so many renovation projects in the 5 years that we've owned our home... I'm talking about a complete kitchen renovation, new half bathroom, refinished hardwood floors, new railings, new windows, new doors {including turning a window into a door} new roof, and, of course, our latest renovation project... our full bathroom remodel.

Now I have to be honest, when I watch shows on HGTV {don't laugh... I love that channel!} and I hear people complaining that their new house needs "a lot of work" because they have to paint a few rooms, I want to smack them. No, seriously. I really want too. We've just spent so much of our time {and money!} trying to make our house into a home. And not just any home, but one that we can be proud to live in. One that we've made for ourselves.

We try to tackle at least one renovation project a year {usually in late winter} and then really clean and organize our house shortly after. Spring cleaning, if you will. Like any one who has done a big renovation project knows... they're messy. I've found spackle dust in places that I didn't even know existed. Combined with the usual dust and grime that gets collected when your house hasn't seen an open window in months... things are downright dirty.

And that my friends? Is not good for the allergies.

This year, with the bathroom reno taking a little longer than expected, our spring cleaning has turned into more like summer cleaning. We've cleaned and organized a lot of the rooms in our house, but still have a TON more to do.

So far, we've planted some flowers {and hope to finish the rest this weekend...pics to come!} And I've learned the hard way to water flowers at night as opposed to early in the morning. Apparently there's much more pollen in the morning {I'm so sneezalicious}, so it's better for your allergies to water your grass, garden, and flowers in the evening! Get on it, people!
I also went out to Target and bought a ton of baskets to help organize the new bathroom. I promise there WILL be an "after" post showing you the new bathroom reno... but, like I said in this post, I refuse to do it until it's d.o.n.e. We did get the closet shelves up last weekend, and when we went to install the very last thing, the custom made {in 18 business days} closet door... it was too big. Nice.

But the new baskets are pretty, right?

We've also cleaned pretty much the entire downstairs of the house. Here's what's left:

• Finish the outside flower beds
• Take Kai to the doggy spa {deshedding him is a MUST... it makes me sneeze just thinking about the hair tumble weeds that float around and gather in the corners of our living room.}
• Clear out the kids clothes and hangup all their new/summer clothes
• Take down Carter's crib and put up his "big boy" bed {oh, there will be more on this later!}
• Dust the kids rooms from top to bottom! {We use Pledge Dust & Allergens}
  
• Clean, organize, and dust the master bedroom
• Clean out the toy box {especially before Carter's birthday party!}
  

Clearly, we still have a lot to do, but there is only so much time to take care of it all on the weekends. We hope to finish the flower beds and Brynn's room this weekend. Carter's room will likely take an entire weekend in and of itself. I want to post more about Carter's transition into a "big boy" bed later... I'm so nervous about it. EEEKKK!

So what does your spring {or summer... there's no judging here} cleaning look like? Do you do it all in one weekend, or take it a room at a time? What are some tricks that you've learned to help beat the awful allergies that tend to occur just in time for spring cleaning?

For more tips on relieving allergies visit www.Facebook.com/Claritin. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Your votes make me happy!