June Home Checklist by:Tara Aronson

Some tasks only need to be done once or twice a year

. The problem is that we forget to do them once or twice a year. Or else, we tend to save it all for spring cleaning which makes spring cleaning such a daunting chore that it doesn't occur, either.

The best plan is to break annual and seasonal tasks down by month and attack them on a scheduled basis. Nothing gets too backed up and things eventually get done. And without a major life overhaul. I also found that concentrating on one room each month is more rewarding because you can really see results.

Here's the schedule that has worked best for me for the month of June:

1 Is that Fluffy? June is the perfect time to clean stuffed animals to keep them sanitary as well as cuddly. Some can be laundered. Some you just have to wipe down. Do it when the kids are away.

2 Caution! Hazardous zone: While the kids are home from school, entice or enlist them to clean their rooms top to bottom. Be patient. This could take a while. (But then, the summer is young.)

3 The land down under: Clean under bathroom sinks. Organize your toiletries. Buy under sink drawer units or stackable baskets to make the best use of the space.

4 Take two aspirin and . Check their expiration dates. While you're at it, dump out everything in the medicine cabinet and rethink the whole thing. This is valuable accessible space. Do you really want to use it to store stuff like Pepto-Bismol that you only take after your annual New Year's Eve hangover? Put your daily makeup here. The pills you take daily. Your contact lens solution. Keep other meds elsewhere. Check expiration dates on everything and toss out the old.

5 Give shower curtains a bath: Put vinyl or plastic shower curtains in your washing machine along with two large bath towels. Wash in cold water on the gentle cycle. Remove the curtains before the spin cycle and hang them to dry.

6 White out the grout. Clean and seal tile grout.

7 Bare it all: Clean area rugs according to manufacturers' directions. Be sure to use pads underneath both to keep rugs from slipping and to lengthen their lives.

8 Awww! Go through family pictures that you've taken over the past year. Be ruthless. Toss the bad ones; send Grandma a bunch and file the rest (by month and year) until you finally get around to compiling that album.

9 Photo swap: Refresh the photographs you have on display with some of the best you've just picked through.

10 The Pink Period: Go through your children's artwork when they are not around. Put the best in a special box. Frame the very best and display it in a hallway. Circular file what's left.

About the author

Tara has appeared in numerous magazine, newspaper and online articles featuring her lifestyle, organizing and cleaning expertise in addition to writing her twice-monthly column, Coming Clean in the San Francisco Chronicle. Tara is also regularly a guest expert on news, feature, and talk-show programs across the country. She most recently appeared on the "Rachael Ray" Daytime talk show Feb. 4, 2009, in New York City. Tara appeared as the guest expert on Human Lab: Laundry.

In addition, Tara also puts her well-tuned journalistic skills to use on the road, writing travel articles about her as frequent as possible road trips to venues across the United States and abroad. Tara is a proud mom to three who cleans and writes in West Los Angeles.

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