The Butler Speaks ~ Starter Cleaning Calendar

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Good Morning, and today is the last post from my “The Butler Speaks series”. I hope you all have enjoyed reading them. I know I have enjoyed the comments.

For this particular section of the book, Mr. MacPherson talked about a simple “starter” calendar. This calendar ensures that you will deep clean one area of your home per month, instead of doing it all at once a couple of times a year.

You’ll notice that there are no tasks scheduled in December. This is a month for us to entertain and enjoy time with our families.

January
* Deep clean kitchen (post-holiday entertaining)


* Flip mattresses


February 
* Clean out all closets


* Deep clean master bedroom


March
*Dust bookshelves


* Deep clean all other bedrooms








photo credit the French Manoir Instagram account

April
* Flip mattresses

* Check all outdoor lights burned-out bulbs

* Deep clean hallways, front hall closet, linen closet

May
* Wash windows

*Clean garage (post-winter mess)

*Deep clean laundry room and basement area

June
*Clean all outdoor barbecue items

* Deep clean outdoor entertaining areas

* Deep clean the kitchen





photo credit the French Manoir Instagram account



July 
*Flip mattresses

*Deep clean bathrooms

August 
*Clean garage (post-summer mess)

Deep clean kids’ rooms; prepare wardrobes for school (this would be done in July for us!)

September 
*Deep clean family room

*Check furnace for the winter season
October
*Wash windows

*Flip mattresses

November 
*Clean silver (preparing for holiday entertaining)

* Install holiday lights before the first snowfall

December 
*Enjoy your family and friends!

photo credit French Country Cottage Instagram account
(list via Charles MacPherson) 

The Butler Speaks ~ 10 Golden Rules of Housekeeping

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I hope everyone is enjoying my posts about The Butler Speaks. I am telling you I have learned a lot these past few days.

Today I want to list the Ten Golden Rules of Housekeeping. Now, I know most of us know these things but it is still quite wonderful hearing it come from a butler.

Here are the rules:

1. Before you being cleaning, get your caddy ready. ( I have been using one for about 8 years. It makes carrying supplies easier to carry up and down the stairs).

2. Clean from the least contaminated item in the room to the most contaminated.

3. Clean a room from top to bottom.

4. A good housekeeper moves his or her eye within a room from top to bottom, and from left to right. This helps you notice details that aren’t at eye level.



























Photo by Heather Ford on Unsplash

5. Look at a room from the user’s perspective. What will someone in the room see while sitting down at the table or lying in their bed?


6. Always clean under objects, moving them as necessary.



photo credit Jon Tyson


7. Use cleaning methods that are the least invasive or harmful to surfaces.


8. Dust regularly.


9. Tackle seasonal deep cleans to help reduce the time required for daily and weekly housekeeping.


10. Don’t bother with artificial air fresheners. A clean home does not require them. ( I don’t agree with this one. I have 2 boxers so I need a wallflower or 2 maybe 4! My dogs can smell bad and I love walking in my home and smelling “fresh cut tulips”. That is the name of the scented bulb I have been using).


Well, I hope you have enjoyed this list. I know I have and Friday will be my last post (for now) about the Butler Speaks. Enjoy!!

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

(list via Charles MacPherson)

The Butler Speaks ~ Deep Cleaning

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I am learning a lot from these snippets from Mr. Charles MacPherson about home-keeping. What I do know is that I love it! I don’t mind doing chores. In fact, I enjoy it!

Having a beautiful home is like giving your family a gift. And I have learned that they do appreciate it! Well, let’s continue with our understanding of cleaning.

Today I want to share Mr. MacPherson’s thoughts on deep cleaning…

Deep cleaning is what many households think of as “spring cleaning”; however, for me, deep cleaning includes special projects as well as scheduled cleaning tasks that may or may not correspond with the seasons.



























Deep cleaning special projects include polishing silver, vacuuming drapery, cleaning chandeliers, dusting and washing air vents, washing baseboards, and so on. 

photo credit This is Glamorous Instagram account
Scheduled cleaning events can be coordinated around a season. For example, the seasonal transfer of a wardrobe is the perfect opportunity to wash and clean drawers, closets, and shelves. 


I hope you enjoyed these tips just as much as I did. Once I receive my book I am sure I will share more. Until then, be elegant every day….

Photo by Sepideh Doost on Unsplash

Wait, I do want to share this video about polishing silver from my fav home keeper P. Allen Smith. He has a great channel on Youtube.
(text via Charles MacPherson)

The Butler Speaks ~ Housekeeping

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In our continuation of the Butler Speaks, today I will be sharing his snippet about housekeeping. On Wednesday I shared his snippet on house-cleaning. I never knew there was a difference but in his world there is.

Mr. MacPherson says:

Housekeeping is the day-to-day work that goes into tidying, reorganizing, and detailing rooms in a home after it has been properly cleaned. Housekeeping is that extra touch that goes into a good presentation.





















Photo by reisetopia on Unsplash




This includes fluffing pillows, positioning furniture correctly, organizing magazines and books, properly making a bed, and so on. 




photo credit Murphy Beckerart Instagram account


Without good housekeeping, a clean room is only a clean room, not necessarily an inviting one. I’m not saying clean is bad- it’s simply NOT ENOUGH. A good housekeeper has a FINE TOUCH and a KEEN EYE for detail (I love this)! A clean room can only reach its full potential with good housekeeping.

Photo by Elaine Howlin on Unsplash

I hope you enjoyed these tips from Mr. MacPherson. In my next post, I will be sharing his thoughts on deep-cleaning! Until then I hope you enjoy this video from Sir John Richardson. I have watched this a million times. I can’t get enough of it!
(text Charles MacPherson)

The Butler Speaks ~ House-Cleaning

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As I shared on Monday I ordered this book called The Butler Speaks: A Return to Proper Etiquette, Stylish Entertaining, and the Art of Good Housekeeping and I will be sharing some information from this book.

Today I want to talk about Mr. MacPherson’s thoughts on house-cleaning. He stated the following:

House-cleaning is the foundational work that goes into keeping a home clean. This includes washing floors, vacuuming carpets, dusting furniture, cleaning shower stalls and toilets, washing bed linens, and so on. Remember that a home can be tidy without actually being clean.





Photo by Dexter Fernandes on Unsplash
In many homes, the emphasis is on the surface details that define housekeeping and not on cleanliness. Conversely, a home can also be clean without being tidy. The cleanliness of any living space can be undermined by a lack of organization and attention to visual presentation. The standard should be a room that’s both clean and tidy.


photo credit Micheile Henderson

When cleaning a home, take the opportunity to perform preventative maintenance checks. Look for things like leaky faucets, improperly flushing toilets, wobbly door handles, and so on. It’s always best to address these issues before they become major ones and more costly to repair.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I really do look forward to reading this book. I think it will be a joy to read. If you wish to read about how I take care of my home see here. I will be updating this post with a new one. And lastly, if you want tips on being the perfect house-guest see my post here.



( text via Chares MacPherson)

The Butler Speaks ~ The Art of Housekeeping

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I have a lot of wonderful friends in the social media world. One of my friends Mrs. Shery tagged me in a photo of a book called The Butler Speaks: A Return to Proper Etiquette, Stylish Entertaining, and the Art of Good Housekeeping. I was truly intrigued by this. So I jumped on Amazon to find it and was really happy to see that it had the “look inside” feature.

So I was able to take a quick peek inside the book and may I say it caught my attention. I have the first Kindle so I tried to download a “sample” to it but I could not find it. I always try to download samples to my Kindle before I commit to buying a book. So I took a risk and went ahead and order it.

I don’t think I will regret this purchase. I read a few pages on Amazon and I was truly pleased.



Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash


Here is what author Charles MacPherson had to say about housekeeping:

In the Victorian and Edwardian eras, cleaning was a matter of pride and decency. Harsh techniques and chemicals were used to clean practically everything in the home. What we have learned today is that cleanliness is possible, even preferable, without the use of toxic chemicals. In fact, harsh techniques and chemicals actually damage the surfaces they touch. 


A furniture conservator and friend of mine, Mr. Greg Kelly, once described our role in caring for household items as “custodians of fine furniture for future generations.” Before he said this, I’d never thought of my butlering role this way. Instead of concentrating on the drudgery and stress of maintaining the cleanliness of every object in a household, I was heartened to think of my role-and indeed the role of all the household staff as that of a preserver of a kind of legacy. 






photo credit Olivier Bergeron

After reading that I thought wow…… my have things changed. We have no care for what our homes look like. In fact, people care less about how they look and live now than ever before! We have so many things to help us yet we are so lazy! I absolutely refuse this! My home is always clean and always will be. I agree with what he said, cleaning was a matter of pride and decency. Let us bring that back. 


                                Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
I will be sharing more from this book. I believe we will enjoy it!

(text Charles MacPherson) 


Principles of a Gracious Life ~ Geniality

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photo credit Ilyas Bolatov 
Whenever we have a warm, cheerful, positive disposition, we’re not only contributing to, but sympathizing with the enjoyment of life. People who inspire joy or happiness, who affirm and confirm others, are marked with genius, belonging to a higher nature. When we have a pleasant, friendly personality, we glow with a gracious, giving spirit, spreading the energy of light all around us.





~The Principles of a Gracious Life
by Alexandra Stoddard