OK, So I'd been sitting in my Ivory Tower so to speak. I've been an empty nester for a few years now.
No more kids dragging wet bathing suits, sand, snow, and whatever into the house anymore
The pets were all gone
Of course the house was going to be easy to keep clean.
Then I got a challenge – Move into my friend's house and help him get it cleaned up.
His wife died 8 years ago. And honestly, it wasn't clean even when she was alive.
Now it was just him and his 2 should be adult sons.
Where do I start?
The kitchen?
There was a portable dishwasher overflowing with dirty dishes. The sink was filled with dirty dishes. Every inch of counter space, you guessed it – dirty dishes. Even the dishes in the cabinets and the silverware in the drawers were dirty.
The cabinets were filthy and overflowing. Stuff just thrown in.
The white fridge was black, inside and out. Most of the food was expired.
The stove actually wasn't too bad. Go figure…
Pop sprayed on the ceiling. Grease on the walls.
Here's what it looks like so far. Still needs to be painted.
The bathroom?
Imagine a scene out of a horror movie. Can we just say that everything in that room was black? Now imagine trying to take a shower in that room without letting anything touch you because everything is So Gross!
The walls have been scrubbed, primed, and painted. I did manage to get the toliet clean. The sink, vanity, medicine cabinet, light fixture, towel bars and shower curtain and liner have all been replaced. The tub, surround and floor still need to be replaced.
I'm still dealing with grown boys who piss all over the toliet and leave hockers and cigarette butts in the bathtub, but its a whole lot better than it was.
Here's what it looks like now –
How about the dining room?
The dining room was a multi purpose room.
There was storage overflow – stacks of boxes.
The dining room is right outside the laundry room. There were piles of dirty clothes and clean clothes. These piles were 3-4 feet deep.
The room was also used as a party room by youngest son. The carpet looked like somebody had been killed in that room. The curtain rod was pulled out of the wall from people hanging on it. And like the walls in the rest of the house, the walls were dingy gray filth.
Here's a before and after –
There is still more painting to do, but the house is clean. And yeah, it took a few months of doing a little here an there to get to this point. But I'm happy to know that my housecleaning system still works like a charm – even in really bad situations. I'm not killing myself keeping this place clean. That is a bigger relief than you know…