My cleaning philosophy or How I do, what I do

Moving on the living room this week. Yea ! That is the biggest problem room day in and day out for me. We actually do live in this room. We all sit about and watch tv (it's winter in the North that's what we do) my boy plays in this room all day , my dog and cat sleep out here, I do exercise in this room , heck, we even eat in here (way to much). It's almost like my family lives in one giant studio apartment somedays. We have 2 giant sofas in this room just because we like to lay about and stretch out. (I actually fell asleep in the living room last night ) The room is really to small for 2 sofas, but comfort is king. . .
I have made a small area in the corner of the room for the boy and his toys. A small 3 shelf bookshelf , a few storage pieces, with a small desk and chair. The living room has a large amount of floor space (on purpose) so he can drag out hot wheels, play sets, bowling and golf sets etc to set up and play with. I know, furniture shouldn't be slammed up against the walls, and one day it won't be, but it looks decent enough and I want the boy to have plenty of play area.

My house has been added on extensively over the course of the past 40 years. The public areas are amazingly "open concept " for an older traditional style ranch house. That makes it great to know what is going on while in the kitchen or living room, but a mess in one room is like a mess in all the rooms. So, when I think about cleaning, I break my routine up into "public" and "private" spaces. When I plan my cleaning and organizing I usually break it down like this- living and dining rooms get cleaned together, kitchen, laundry and bathrooms get cleaned together, bedrooms get cleaned together. My office is a giant pigsty right now- and a holding space "catch all" for stuff my boy can't get his hands on. I am going to organize that soon- and it will be added into the bedroom cleaning plan.

I use a modified "Mt Vernon" cleaning method- http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/cleaning/the-mount-vernon-cleaning-method-039113. That basically means that you start at the door to your space and work in a clockwise motion around the room, cleaning as you go. Now, I have modified it. I start at the door, but I don't care what way you go around the room. I also throw anything I find in the room that doesn't belong in the room, into the middle of the room. When I have finished the room, I take the piles in the center and move them to the correct room it belongs in.( Usually I try to put them away as much as possible, not just dumped into the next room. )Then I move into the next room. When the group of rooms are cleaned- then I vacuum the space. (yes, I know, dust gets blown back up when you vacuum last and should really be done first so you can dust after, but with a boy I can't vacuum until the stuff is up off of the floor- so for the time being I have to do this backwards.)

The bathrooms and kitchen are a little different too. The bathrooms are started by the door, but I skip over the toilet until last- so in my little bathroom I clean sink area, shower area , toilet then floor. Then I take out the towels and replace with new towels. Twice a month I wash the shower curtain. Every 3 mos. I replace the plastic liner with a new one.
In the kitchen, I start with the dishwasher. I empty it, then re load it and start it again. Then I move onto the countertops, the stove, the sink, then the fridge. Then I wash the floor. Now, my actual galley kitchen floor is approx 4 ft by 7 ft. I wash this by hand. Then, when I am done with that I move on to the pantry area, then the landing strip area (which is next to the pantry) and the garbage can area. That floor area gets swept and washed with a swiffer type cleaner. (it's bigger and more dusty than dirty) I don't clean my stove as much as I probably need to- maybe twice a year unless something is disgusting inside. I clean out my fridge and clean the inside about once a month to 6 weeks-it's easier to do this kind of job when there is a blizzard outside and can't possibly leave the house to do something fun . I try to clean and organize my freezer twice a year. (it's frost free so really I just need to worry about old food)
So that is my cleaning plan for my kitchen, living room and dining room. Next is the laundry. It is technically in my "public" space because you can see it from the kitchen. That room is for another post though....