Teresa's Family Cleaning | Long Island Home & Commercial Cleaning » Teresa Ward

HGTV Sends Thank You

Teresa Ward — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:06:48 +0000

It’s always nice when you get a thank you. We were happy to assist the HGTV crew in helping the couple highlighted in the episode. If you missed the original airing you can watch it again on May 25th at 9pm on HGTV. I know we are!

Advice on Spring Cleaning Services

Teresa Ward — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:57:47 +0000

March 18, 2010
By Kelli B. Grant

The signs of spring are here: warmer weather, the start of daylight savings time — and a rush to book housekeeping services for an attic-to-basement spring cleaning.

Residential cleaning services have been among the top 10 most searched-for services on consumer review site Angie’s List over the past 30 days. Even in the sluggish economy, residential cleaning services are a booming business, according to a January report from The Freedonia Group. Services reeled in $12.25 billion in 2008, and the industry is projected to reach $15.8 billion in 2013.

But don’t get taken to the cleaners by your cleaners. Before hiring a company or individual for your annual scrub-down or recurring service, there are precautions to take. Make sure you and the service agree on the work to be done, how many people will be coming into your home — and how they are screened — and who will be responsible in case of mishaps.

Open the Door to a Tranquil Home with an Organized Front Entrance

Teresa Ward — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:44:00 +0000

Front Entrance and Closet

The front closet and entrance is considered one of the most important parts of the home as it sets the mood for the remaining rooms in your home. If you tense up the minute you walk in the door because you’re tripping over the leash and can’t find a place to hang your coat or put away your shoes, your entire mood will be affected. By the same token, you want guests and family to feel welcome and invited when they step over your threshold, so paying attention to this often forgotten area is important when undertaking your March Makeover project.

There are dozens of ways you can organize your entryway storage area, but the guiding principle should always be this: keep your front entrance and closet free of clutter and free flowing. You want to smoothly usher people into your home by setting the stage in this space. Here are some practical tips for making your front entrance and closet a flowing, welcoming area in your home:

Designate a basket, box, or drawer for mail.
Hang hooks or set out cups for each set of keys in the home.
Hang a stylish chalkboard or white board so that you can leave each other notes.
If there are many people in your family, set up a coat and shoe area with one or two hooks and a shoe rack each. Include a shelf or hooks for school bags and a basket for hats, mittens, or an umbrella.
Make space in the front closet for sporting equipment and musical instruments so that it doesn’t block the front entrance.
Make sure there’s a door or curtain on your front closet so that you can close it up to avoid the distraction of stuff.
Use the entire height of your front closet by installing several levels of shelves to take full advantage of storage space.
Pack off-season outdoor gear in bins and store them out of the way in the closet or elsewhere in your home.
Set up two bins at the front door: one for things going outside, and one for things coming inside.

Here’s our top tip for making the front entrance and closet area the most organized space in your home: buy a piece of furniture with 6-10 small drawers. A tallboy dresser is ideal, but choosing something that will fit in the confines of your front entrance area is important. Then designate one drawer for each member of the family where they can place all of the small items that would otherwise clutter the front entrance and get lost, including keys, sunglasses, wallet/purse, eyeglasses cleaner, coupons, mugs, and lip gloss. Remaining drawers can be used for other items, such as reusable bags, clean mugs, returning books to the library, pens and paper for notes, the dog’s leash and doo-doo bags, phone books, bag ties, rubber bands, matches, and other miscellaneous items that do not have a home.

Remember that keeping the front entrance clutter free and organized will keep you in a positive frame every time you come home.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Teresa Ward, President of Teresa’s Family Cleaning and New York State’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year is often considered Long Island’s foremost authority on cleaning homes and businesses to create a cleaner and healthier environment for all. Our highly sought after, award winning weekly newsletter provides timely cleaning tips and other important Long Island information and charitable events for homeowners, businesses and not-for-profits. Visit us at http://www.TeresasFamilyCleaning.com to sign up and receive your copy today!

Top Tips For Re-Making your Living Room into a Cozy Retreat

Teresa Ward — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:36:18 +0000

Family Room & Living Room

Living rooms and family rooms perform many functions in our lives: they’re spaces for entertaining, rooms in which to hide away with a good book, and the place for relaxation with the family. But so often the clutter of everyday life prevents us from doing what’s most important in our living and family rooms: living!

Prepping your living and family room for a makeover

If you’re looking for March Makeover ideas for your living and family room spaces, look no further. At Teresa’s Family Cleaning, we approach home organization with old-world methods so that you can live Long Island style all year round.

Start by emptying out your living and family room spaces as much as is practical. Gather together all of the things that have piled up in the space over time, and as you pick things up, sort them into various boxes labelled “Give Away” (things you no longer want but that are still useful), “Recycle/Trash” (for broken and obsolete items), “Keep” (items that will stay in the living room), “File” (items that need to be taken to their rightful place in your home), and “Store” (those things that belong in long-term storage). You’ll want to evaluate the necessity of everything in your living room, including things like magazines, books, CDs, DVDs, toys, decorative items and nick knacks, games and puzzles, pictures, gadgets and electronics, linens, and lamps. Only items that are used on a weekly basis in your living room should remain in the “Keep” box; everything else should be sorted into another box.

If you’ve done a good job of sorting, the only thing remaining in your living room should be large pieces of furniture. From here, there are several big jobs to complete before your makeover is complete:

Care for upholstery and carpeting: Take a look at all of the upholstered surfaced in your living: couch, chairs, area rugs, and wall-to-wall carpeting. Start by giving each of these surfaces a thorough vacuum treatment. For furniture, be sure to remove cushions and vacuum every surface. To thoroughly clean carpet, be sure to shift furniture around to get every inch clean. Then using green sealed certified products, spot-treat any stains according to package directions. Follow that with a steam clean of each of these surfaces.
Clean hard surfaces: Whether you’ve got tile, hardwood, linoleum, or some other hard surface flooring, you’ll want to wash the floors down, including those spaces underneath furniture. Also wipe down hard surfaces on furniture and wash all of your walls.
Fireplace cleansing: If your living room has a wood burning fireplace, clean that out by removing all of the ashes, wiping down the hearth, and getting a professional to clean your chimney stack.

Your living room is now prepped and ready to be made-over with a new, more organized Long Island look to transform it into a cozy retreat.

Function and form in your re-organized living room

Packing many functions into one room can be a challenge, but here are Teresa’s Family Cleanings most practical top tips for creating a warm, inviting, functional space for your family in the living room.

Define living room zones: Space permitting, try to organize various zones within the living and family room spaces for the functions they need to perform. If TV watching is one of the functions, organize a couch and some chairs around the television in one end of the room. Likewise for reading or just snoozing.
Make the most of wall space: Your walls aren’t just for hanging pictures—they can also be re-purposed to store items that will be useful for the activities in your living room. By adding things like shelving units and cabinets along the walls, you can turn once unused space into high-performing spaces where you store books, DVDs, CDs, toys, and other necessary living room items. Use cupboard doors, baskets, and boxes to hide away items that are unsightly.
Choose multi-function furniture: If you’re like most of us, you’ll need to store all kinds of items for various purposes in your living room—magazine collections, board games, blankets, dog toys, and kids play things. When space is limited, choose furniture that does double-duty, like storage ottomans, wicker trunks, sofa beds, planters with drawers, and coffee tables with extra shelves. Leave no space underutilized and you’ll have no trouble hiding things away.

We’re confident that with these high-powered ideas, you’ll have a multi-functional, welcoming living room that will be the gathering place in your home. Take the time you need to makeover this space and you’ll be rewarded with many happy memories of real living here!

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Top Tips To Organizing Your Way To Laundry Cleaning Bliss

Teresa Ward — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:28:08 +0000

Laundry Room

As a catch-all for a good number of to-dos around the house—everything from mending to stain removal to ironing to cleaning—the laundry room can be a frustrating space given the amount of clutter and disorganization that gathers there as time goes on. And since most of us can just close the door and forget about the laundry room, it often is ignored when home organization is considered.

A cluttered, chaotic laundry room can quickly become a pit where socks and other clothing go to die—or disappear at the very least. But no more! As part of our March Makeover, these Teresa Family Cleaning tips will transform your laundry room from a disorganized mess into a highly-functional, workable space in your home.

Getting sudsy in the laundry room

If you haven’t already, start by going through all of the piles of personal items in your laundry room, sorting as you go into piles—the things you need to keep, those you need to give away, items that need repair or stain-removal, and those that need to be recycled or trashed. And don’t just deal with the laundry; be sure to go through everything, including cleaning products, laundry detergents and supplies (clothes pins, laundry bags, and drying rack), cleaning tools (brooms, rags, and buckets), home improvement items (paint, nails, screw drivers), and things that require storage. This room can be a dumping ground so a thorough sort of everything there is a great way to take stock and thin out.

Many of us keep our cleaning products in the laundry room as well, which makes the cleansing process of this makeover simple. Using your green sealed certified products, wash down the entire room, including countertops, drawers, cupboards, walls, and floors, as well as the inside and outside of your washing machine and dryer. You should also clean out the lint trap and air vent on your dryer as a way to improve its efficiency. Once you’re done, your laundry room should appear fairly empty and sparkling clean.

Arming your laundry room with high-performing organization

Your clean slate of a laundry room is now ready for you to put it back together to create an efficient, hassle-free space in which to work. Basic tools for a functional laundry room include two to three sturdy laundry hampers, a trash can, storage containers, a laundry drying rack, hangers, and laundry products. Once you’ve got that together check out these top tips for getting the job done:

Organizational tools: Using the storage containers, replace all of the items in your laundry room in an organized fashion, keeping frequently-used items easily accessible and other items neatly tucked away in well-labelled containers. If necessary, add shelves or cabinets to increase your storage capacity.
Clutter-cutters: Make it easy to deal with little things that come with the job of doing laundry, like loose change, keys, lip sticks, and extra buttons. You can use old containers or tins with labels for quick separation. You may even want a container where individual socks can live until you find the mate.
Air-drying options: Make it easy for you to save energy by hanging laundry to dry by setting up the tools you need. You’ll want a durable drying rack and hangers and an easy way to store them while not in use. One simple option is to install a clothes pole that extends over the back of the dryer area.
Folding and ironing necessities: Space permitting, you may want to set up an area for folding and ironing of laundry. You can set up a table as a work area and install an ironing board as well. Under this area will be ample space for more storage containers or laundry baskets in which people can deposit their dirty clothes, sorted by color.

You’ll save tremendous amounts of time and energy by bringing order to your laundry room. Happy laundering!

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Cultivating a Prosperous Home Office Space Using Feng Shui Tips

Teresa Ward — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:32:02 +0000

Home Office

Feng Shui organizational principles aren’t just for bedrooms and front entrances. They can also be applied to your place of work, whether you work from home or outside of the home. A home office in particular is a great place to apply Feng Shui concepts as a well-equipped work space will promote feelings of positive energy, wellbeing, and prosperity.

Cutting clutter to boost productivity

As with any space in your home, the key to producing a high-powered home office environment is to free it of clutter. Of all the spaces in your home, the office is likely one of the spaces in which the most clutter builds up. If you’re like most of us, you have stacks of old magazines, piles of bills waiting to be filed, boxes of photographs requiring sorting, workout equipment that rarely gets used, and plenty of other miscellaneous stuff. These are the things of home office nightmares.

At Teresa’s Family Cleaning, we almost always start a room makeover by creating several boxes for sorting through the clutter in a space, including “Keep” (items that will stay in the living room), “Give Away” (things you no longer want but that are still useful), “Recycle/Trash” (for broken and obsolete items), “File” (items that need to be taken to their rightful place in your home office), and “Store” (those things that belong in long-term storage). Put nearly everything in your office into one of these boxes, with the exception of furniture and larger items and then deal with them accordingly.

Of course, you’ll also want to clean your office from top to bottom, including washing all hard surfaces, steam cleaning carpets and upholstery, cleaning drawers and cupboards, and so on. You now have a clear palette on which to begin building your Feng Shui home office.

Feng Shui office organization

Before putting everything back into your office, be sure you’ve got some systems and principles in place that will help to maintain a clutter-free, organized work environment for many months or years to come. We’ve collected the top tips for making your home office as productive as possible:

Filing organization: Purchase an automatic labeller and regular files (we assume you already have a filing cabinet, but if not, get one of those as well). Organize and label all existing paper materials and file alphabetically in your cabinet. Then any time something new comes in, make a practice of handling it only once: deal with it right away and file it. And if no folder exists for that item, quickly make one with your labeller.
Minimize visual clutter: There are numerous small items that go into an average office. Hopefully by now you’ve weeded out the things that are not necessary, but what’s left can still block positive energy, so find ways to store it out of sight using cabinets, attractive boxes, baskets, and closet space.
Orientation is important: You’ll want to place your computer facing southeast to generate income, but remember that your back should never be to the door. Instead, putt your desk in the corner away from the door facing the entrance if possible.
Wire control: An office will inevitably have wires and cables connecting the computer, printer, monitor, mouse, fax machine, and more. But these, too, impede efficiency, so find ways to organize and hide them as much as possible.
Flowing water: A fountain can be an excellent way to stimulate positive energy as flowing water tends to uplift the mood and calm the mind.

One of the golden nuggets of office organization is to leave your desk uncluttered at the end of your work session. By cultivating clean desktop policy, you can leave your work space feeling calm and come back to it without a feeling of dread and frustration.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Take Back your Basement with these Top Organizational Tips

Teresa Ward — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:40:27 +0000

Basement

Just like any other room in your home, your basement needs to be kept organized and free of clutter if you want to cultivate a life that is peaceful and hassle-free.

As the repository for all manner of obsolete, unwanted, to-sort things in your home, the basement may require the largest investment of your time during your March Makeover project. You may have your work cut out for you as you sort through your things to determine what to keep, what to give away, what to trash or recycle, and what to store for later. But this stage is essential if you want a de-cluttered basement. Ask yourself questions like: Do I need this? Do I want this? Do I love this? And you’ll soon determine what’s important and what needs to go.

Thinning out your possessions is the biggest challenge of a Long Island basement cleaning, but once you’ve accomplished it, you can move on to employing some of our top tips for a clean, well-organized basement:

Mind moisture: Basements can have moisture problems which can lead to dangerous mold and ruin your belongings. To avoid problems like these, avoid storing items directly on the floor by using shelving units, pallets, and cabinets to raise boxes and bins off the floor by a few inches.
Use durable flooring: Concrete basements can be difficult to clean, especially if you have moisture problems. If your budget allows, look into installing durable, easy-to-clean flooring that will withstand moisture over time.
Define usable areas: Perhaps you’re looking for a space to work out or you need an area to do crafts with the kids. Delineate various areas in the basement for the activities you’d like to see happen in the basement. Who knows, with efficient use of space you may discover ways to expand your living area that you never thought of before! You can then separate those spaces using screens, cabinets, furniture, or curtains.
Increase storage capacity: Whether you need hangers for your winter coats, bins for old toys, or hooks for sporting goods, adding organizational systems to your basement will make it easier for you to keep things neat and tidy. Use durable rubber bins with lids for storing all manner of things and label them for quick reference. These can be stacked, won’t rust or allow moisture to creep in, and come in a variety of sizes. You may also want to hang shelves or cabinets, add dressers or hanging racks, or install hook boards for hanging various tools and sportswear. Choosing storage units that are movable and flexible will allow you to change the configuration of your basement if need be.
Adequate lighting: One of the reasons basements become so untidy is the lack of lighting. Shedding light on the various zones in your basement that need extra brightening up by using battery-powered track lighting, floor lamps, and other light fixtures will help you to spot clutter as it happens so that you can prevent it from getting out of hand. It also helps you to find the circuit panel if the power should go out. Make sure to switch your bulbs to the energy efficient CFL type.

Putting everything in its place in your basement will be important if you want to have quick and easy access to it in the future. Place like items together (all of the Christmas decorations in one shelving unit and all of the old sporting equipment on another, for instance) and leave enough room around storage areas so that you can move around freely.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Top Tips For Organizing Your Attic

Teresa Ward — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:28:37 +0000

The potential for your attic to relieve your storage woes is huge, but even if you’re the most organized person in the world, getting it right in the attic can be a challenge. This is especially true if access to your attic is somewhat cumbersome or difficult (those little step ladders are often steep and hard to climb!). We throw unmarked boxes into the attic thinking we’ll deal with them eventually, but over time, the number of unidentified containers mounts to the point where we no longer have any clue what’s up there!

STEP ONE: Sorry to say, but the first big step in organizing your attic, is to remove EVERYTHING so that you can start the sorting out process and easily get to the next steps which are cleaning/prepping.

STEP TWO:
Cleaning your attic may be as simple as vacuuming and dusting to remove cobwebs, dust bunnies, and debris. You should also wipe down the rafters, clean out ducts and vents and remove any mold that’s gathered because of excess moisture. You may want to consider hiring a contractor or mold remediation expert to find out what is causing the excess moisture/mold, which could potentially become a health hazard.

• Deep cleaning: This might be an excellent time to have your ducts and vents cleaned since the attic will be free from clutter. Hire a professional and get it done right to bring fresh air into your entire home.
• Seal leaks, add ventilation: While your attic is clutter free, also think about stopping leaks in your attic to reduce the chances of moisture building up. You may also want to consider adding an attic fan (solar-powered is best!) to help keep your entire home cool during the summer.
• Free movement: Ask yourself this question as you configure your attic layout: “How would I organize this space if I were going to walk through it every day?” The answer to this question should guide how you layout the space, ensuring that you leave plenty of room between storage units to move around so that you can locate and retrieve things as needed.
• Augment with shelving: If possible, attempt to add some shelves or cabinets in your attic to use for storage which will help you maximize the space. Then place all of your possessions into rubber bins with lids, label them clearly, and organize them on the shelves according to season or theme. This will make your job of locating an item in the future quick and simple. Leave some empty storage space and unused bins in place so that you can quickly add things in the future.
• Climate and critter considerations: Regardless of how well you patch holes, your attic may still have moisture build-up, excessive cold, or blistering heat if not properly insulated. Be sure to take these climate issues into consideration when selecting which items to store in your attic. Linens and clothes may not be ideal in this space as they may make for excellent bedding for rats and mice. Candles and crayons may also not work well if your area becomes overwhelming warm in the summer months.

You don’t want to go through the trouble of organizing your items to be stored in the attic if you put them back and the space is not clean or has leaks or unwanted “guests”.

Teresa’s Family Cleaning FIVE “R’s” organizing categories:

• Remain: These are the item’s that have to remain such as important documents, family heirlooms, decorations for the holidays, and items of extreme importance.
• Recycle: These are items that you consider to be trash but can be recycled like certain plastics, aluminum etc. old computer parts, batteries, and the like. Please consider doing this instead of just throwing it in the trash.
• Renew: Okay now this category means that you are going to take an item that is in great shape, and one you will never ever use, and give it new life by donating it to someone who can “Renew” it’s use. Books, toys, electronic items, etc. Not recommending “re-gifting” here, that’s another topic.
• Reuse: This is an item that was used for one thing, such as a washing basin and now you are going to re-use it as a planter in your garden. Or perhaps those old tee-shirts you can now cut up and re-use as household cleaning rags, or tie together and make a pull toy for your pet. Put on your creative thinking caps!
• REMOVE: This is probably the most difficult of all organizing tasks as this is where you will part permanently from items you have never used, will never use, have no chance whatsoever of letting someone else use it, but for some reason you have to keep it! Well here’s the bottom line. GET RID OF IT! Only keep items that you use, and of extreme importance. It’s just that simple.

This is a time-consuming endeavour but an important one if you want to make your attic free of clutter and disorganization. Using these Long Island cleaning tips to keep this vital area of your home organized and functional is so rewarding and we at Teresa’s Family Cleaning are confident you’ll see positive results if you take the time to do it right.

© 2010 Teresa’s Family Cleaning — All Rights Reserved. Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).
Teresa Ward, President of Teresa’s Family Cleaning and New York State’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year is often considered Long Island’s foremost authority on cleaning homes and businesses to create a cleaner and healthier environment for all. Our highly sought after, award winning newsletter provides timely cleaning tips and other important Long Island information and charitable events for homeowners, businesses and not-for-profits.

Top Tips To Organize The Bathroom

Teresa Ward — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:26:10 +0000

Washing Bathroom Disorganization down the Drain with these Top Tips

For many of us, the day starts in the bathroom. Having a bathroom space that’s in a state of disarray can cause tension and frustration, which is no way to start out the morning! Creating a calming space in which to prepare for the challenges of day is important for any busy person.

Cleaning out clutter from cabinet and drawers. The stuff that clutters your cabinets and drawers must be dealt with in order to create an organized and serene bathroom. Overstuffed, unorganized storage areas only create frustration and inefficiencies that can slow you down in the morning.

To get started, gather up some boxes and get ready to start emptying out cabinets and drawers—and don’t forget the things on the countertops, either. As you pull things out of the bathroom, organize things into several piles:

Expired products: Medicines past their expiry dates are likely less effective and could even be dangerous. But don’t just toss them in the garbage or down the toilet—doing so could land all of those chemicals in your local soil and water supplies which is no good for the planet. Instead, collect all expired medicines and take them to your local pharmacy to be properly disposed of. Check expired cosmetics and personal care products—if they have an off smell, dispose of them, otherwise they’re likely okay.
Unused prescriptions: Got some old doctor-prescribed drugs that you’re not going to use? Even if these are not expired, take them along with the expired meds to your pharmacy for disposal.
Duplicates: Having more than one container of the same product will use up space, especially if they’re both only partially full. If these products are close in expiry date, combine them in the same container. If they have no expiry date and both appear fresh and usable, then combining them should be no problem.
Utensils: Take your brushes, combs, and other cosmetic and personal care tools and clean them thoroughly using mild soaps and warm water. Let them dry completely before replacing them.
Missing items: During your Makeover March cleaning spree, you’ll want to prepare to stock up for the coming spring and summer activities. To get ready, be sure to make note of essentials you don’t yet have, including sunscreens and Aloe Vera for burns, insect repellents and bite relief, as well as allergy medications. Make a list so you can pick up these items on your next shopping trip.
Unwanted products: Perhaps you’re no longer into that particular shade of blue eye shadow or you’re done with the lavender-scented bath salts. Regardless of the reason, take those cosmetics, personal care products, and tools that you no longer want or need and set them aside. You’ll need to go through these and either give them away (if sanitary to do so), recycle them, or throw them out.
Textile care: Go through your towels and cloths and determine which items are no longer suitable for your bathroom (wash these and use as rags or give to a local charity). If you have a shower curtain, remove it from the rack and clean it thoroughly. For sticky plastic shields, soak them in a solution of vinegar and water to remove soap scum and mold.

Once you’ve emptied every space and surface, give your bathroom a thorough cleaning, using green solutions made of natural ingredients. Green sealed certified products are Teresas’s Family Cleanings choice since they’ll protect your family and the planet from harsh chemicals.

Prep for organization: Now that you’ve culled the old products and cleaned and scrubbed every nook and cranny, you’ll need to prepare to replace things where they will be most useful. Start by gathering together containers to use for organizing all those items that are so common in our bathroom spaces—use things like decorative boxes, tea tins, and other washable and stackable containers.

Here are some top tips for making your morning routine as pain-free as possible:

Begin arranging your items in drawers, shelves, and cabinets so that the most-used items are easily accessible. Place less-used items in lower drawers or at the back of cabinets, but organized neatly. Stack only those items you use infrequently.
Group items by task (makeup brushes and sponges in one jar, combs and brushes in another).
When replacing items in drawers, cabinets, and shelves, be sure to replace them so that the most used items are at the front within easy reach.
If you have too much in your storage spaces, consider storing duplicates in another location in your home.
For shallow drawers, buy desk drawer organizers to separate small items that would otherwise slide around loose in the drawer.
To make better use of cabinets without shelves, use old wicker baskets, stacking cubes, hooks, and hangers to make efficient use of every inch of space. Better yet, install a shelf to maximize the use of those areas.
Add racks and hooks in your shower or bathtub to hold wash cloths, shampoos, razors, and soaps.
Use the back of the door by installing hooks for hanging towels, bath robes, and other textiles.
Space permitting, add additional cabinets on the wall or as floor units for towel or cosmetics storage.

Now that you’ve brought order to your once-messy bathroom, add a little personality with some decorative items. If you want to display some of your products on the countertop or a shelf, make sure they match your bathroom’s style, then arrange them in an organized, fashionable manner. You can even use this technique for your most used hand soaps and lotions.

© 2010 Teresa’s Family Cleaning — All Rights Reserved.Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).Teresa Ward, President of Teresa’s Family Cleaning and New York State’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year is often considered Long Island’s foremost authority on cleaning homes and businesses to create a cleaner and healthier environment for all. Our highly sought after, award winning newsletter provides timely cleaning tips and other important Long Island information and charitable events for homeowners, businesses and not-for-profits. Visit us at www.TeresasFamilyCleaning.com to sign up and receive your copy of our weekly newsletter today!

Top Tips For A Kitchen Makeover

Teresa Ward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:50:50 +0000

Cookin’ Up a Clutter-Free Kitchen Environment

In many ways, cooking is a process of bringing order out of chaos. You combine and re-organize piles of ingredients and spices into a delicious, masterful dish to be enjoyed by all. But it’s difficult to create any delicious meals in a disorganized kitchen space, especially if it’s a challenge to find the tools and materials that you require.

It’s Makeover March at Teresa’s Family Cleaning, and as such, we want to give you our top tips for bringing order and functionality into your kitchen space to make cooking a pleasure. With these Long Island kitchen cleaning ideas, you’ll be whipping up an Italian or Mexican masterpiece in no time at all!

Emptying and cleaning

Start by going through every storage space in your kitchen. Include drawers, shelves, cabinets, and the pantry. When you find items that are soiled or sticky, wash them in a sink full of soapy water or run them through your dishwasher. Take all of the contents out and place them on your countertop and table. We’ll sort through these items in the next step.

Since a clean kitchen is a much healthier place in which to work, it’s important at this stage to sterilize every storage surface. Just be careful what cleaning products you use to clean your kitchen. Toxic cleaners that are made with bleach (chlorine), phosphates, alkyl phenols, heavy fragrances, and other conventional chemicals will only pollute your indoor environment (and the natural world as well).

A greener alternative is to use natural cleaners you make yourself from things like baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice, or to purchase non-toxic, plant-based cleaners that are green sealed certified products from your local natural grocery store. Then, using microfiber clothes or regular rags, wipe down every surface—bottoms, sides, tops, fronts, and backs.

Inventory and downsize

Go through every item previously stored in your cupboards, drawers, shelves and refridgerator and sort them into four piles as follows:

Recycle or throw away: Place all broken items to be recycled or thrown away in a pile and then deal with it accordingly at a later time. Get rid of containers without lids, lids without corresponding pots, and obsolete appliances. Throw out all expired foods and spices.
Donate or give away: Start another pile for those things you no longer use so that they can be donated or given to a family member or friend. No longer interested in making your own bread? Give that bread maker away!
Store elsewhere: This pile is for items that are seldom used in your kitchen. You may want them at some future date, but you don’t need them readily available. For instance, if you can fruits and veggies only once a year, perhaps the utensils you use for that project can be stored in less accessible spaces, such as hard-to-reach cupboards in the kitchen or in other areas in your home.
Keep in the kitchen: This final pile is for items you will use daily or weekly. These items will stay in the most accessible storage locations in your kitchen.

Once you know what will be remaining in your kitchen, you can begin to apply some clutter-reducing techniques. Store items where you will most likely use them so that you can keep the flow of movement as unimpeded as possible:

Countertop freedom: You want to leave as much countertop space as possible available for food preparation. To do this, store appliances and utensils in cupboards and drawers and get rid of knick-knacks. Counter space between your stove and refrigerator is prime for cutting, chopping, mixing, and blending, so keep this area especially clutter-free.
Dishwasher smarts: Store your dishes, cups, and utensils close to the dishwasher to minimize the work you have to do when loading and unloading this appliance.
Cooking efficiency: Locate cooking utensils such as pots, pans, ladles, and steamer baskets close to the stove so that you don’t’ have to reach far for what you need as you cook.
Functional food storage: Minimize the use of bags for food storage. Instead, keep food in glass jars, tins, and plastic storage containers that can be stacked and labelled for easy reference and space efficiency.
Good illumination: Be sure that your lighting is sufficient, especially in food prep and cooking areas.
Easy access: Make it easy to access out-of-the-way items by stashing a small stepladder in your kitchen. This will help you safely reach into deep or tall cupboards to get the things you stored away previously.

We hope you will find these Long Island cleaning ideas the key to creating a kitchen that is both functional and harmonious. Happy cooking!

© 2010 Teresa’s Family Cleaning — All Rights Reserved.Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Teresa Ward, President of Teresa’s Family Cleaning and New York State’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year is often considered Long Island’s foremost authority on cleaning homes and businesses to create a cleaner and healthier environment for all. Our highly sought after, award winning newsletter provides timely cleaning tips and other important Long Island information and charitable events for homeowners, businesses and not-for-profits.

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT OR ADD MORE HELPFUL TIPS YOU MAY HAVE